Re: (ET) Red Hot Resistor

[Jim <fiskfarm mediaone net>]

This is a common problem resulting from the sloppy way the armature
resistor pack (in front of the charger) is mounted. It can move too
close to the front "grill" and short to the frame. I always perform the
following fix on all my ET's and when one comes in for repair. The only
ones that don't have this problem as far as I know are the E20 and I-5
which have a much heavier cage around the resistor bank (as well as an
extra resistor, giving them more speeds). On most models including the
WH this cage just "floats" around. Very poor engineering and on my pet
peeve list.

I drill a 1/4 inch hole on either side of the "resistor cage" right near
the headlights (and just clear of the resistor mineral insulator) and
place a @3" x 1/4 " bolt with a nut on each side of the cage panel with
the head extending forward toward (and hitting) the aluminum grill, in
effect creating a bumper stop up against the aluminum front grill. This
makes it impossible for the resistor terminal or even more likely the
ribbon resistor itself, to short to the frame (ground). You must realize
that these resistors get very hot and expand and when they do they bow
out and hit the grill and very often blow out at the point of contact. I
have had to repair these resistors on at least half a dozen tractors
over the past 5 years. If they do burn thru and you don't have a spare,
simply drill a hole at the point of the break right thru the insulator
and "bolt" the ribbon halves tight to the mineral block using about a
10/32 bolt and nut AND a penny (copper) drilled out as a washer. Voila!
Cheap fix and I'm sure Uncle Sam will forgive you. Soon I hope to have
pictures I took of this fix last summer added to my website "repairs"
page.

Jim

http://people.ne.mediaone.net/fiskfarm/index.html