RE: surging, motor

[Christopher Meier <Christopher Meier cwix com>]

>;While
>;trying to push snow up a small incline, the belts slipped
>;while in any gear but low-low, and in fact slipped while in
>;low low with a "full blade" of snow. 

>Did the belt squeel?  Mine did with 15" of snow yesterday.
>It squeeled more in reverse (?!?).  I don't know if it can
>slip without squeeling.  BTW, us E12 users only have one belt.

No squeal.

>;Occasionally, the motor fails to go, even
>;though all contactors clack and power is given to the motor.
>;I reach down and turn the motor pulley just a bit by hand,
>;and then it works fine.

>Are you sure ALL the contactors were closing?  ...
>I did not try spinning the motor.  

Pretty sure, but I wasn't about to try spinning the motor
by hand while sitting on the tractor with the throttle on,
while wearing gloves... so I did the next best thing.  I
rocked myself forward and back on the tractor, so that the
wheels/tranny/belts caused the motor to turn.  The result?
Yup, motor kicks in, just like when I turned it by hand.

BTW, I should also mention that this 'dead spot' symptom
didn't start until our temperature dropped below 10deg F.
I plan to pull the motor in the next few days and give it
a look.

>;appears to be quite a bit of drag on it.

>I think mine free-wheels, but I haven't tried this in two years.  
>However, the mower blades on my old E12 have a 'electric-brake' 
>that shuts them down in about a second.  Since the E-12 is 
>a bit different than yours, it may be wired for either a brake or 
>as a generator on the main drive as well, for running on hills.  
>In either case, it would not free-wheel.  Large perminant magnet 
>motors don't spin as freely by hand as say an induction motor.  
>I really don't know.

I believe my E16 has regen; when mowing while going down an
incline, I see the 'power' meter drop down below the normal
draw for mowing on the flat.  I've also played with it by
going fast on pavement (usually down hill) then moving the
'throttle' from highest speed (of 7) to a lower speed, this
also results in what appears to be regen.  Only a guess though.

However, when spinning by hand, the throttle is off, and I'd
expect no regen at that time.  maybe I'm wrong.

>Larry Elie

Chris