Re: (ET) New 'almost failure' mode... Motor power, etc.

["Hump" <thumphrey myself com>]

No Steve, I'm kinda glad you didn't post this sooner. It seems that
everytime someone posts a failure I get the same damn thing within a week.

Anybody want to hear about my problems this week?

Actually, overall, it's been a good week. Lets see where do I start....Oohh
yeah.  Remember my little escapade with the hole blown in one of my
batteries....(long story short...Don't use an angle grinder to cut off the
studs, theres something about hydrogen and sparks not playing nice 
together.
(Yeah I knew better, did it anyway.))

Anyway, I had posted that my old Trojan was sitting at a higher charge than
my new Exides. A couple people expressed that my new Exides were low. I
thought they were also. but they were gassing during charging so I also
thought they were full. Well I went out last night and measured them all,
Same results, Exides 6.3x volts, Trojan 6.42 volts.  So I figured aahh what
the hell, water's cheap, unless you buy it in 12 oz. bottles, and turned 
the
charger on to the 6-10yr setting.  went out this morning and it was off,
took some quick measurements before work. All Exides were 6.42 and the
Trojan was 6.44.

Two theories:

The Trojan is in fact of reduced capacity, So it filled up faster, that why
it was reading higher.

The Exides now for the first time have a full, full charge , not just an
almost full charge.

I suppose this is just another reason to get a Landis controller.

Next time I'll discuss my bent motor shaft that happened just two days 
after
reading about one right here on this bat channel.

Stay Charged!

Hump



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steven Naugler" <snaugler earthlink net>
To: <elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>
Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2003 8:32 PM
Subject: Re: (ET) New 'almost failure' mode... Motor power, etc.


> I too had problems when the wiring harness of my E15 rubbed aganst the
> traction motor pulley and shorted to ground several wires.  Got exciting
> that day when using the tractor.  Electric smell, intermittant operation.
> When I saw the damage I disconnected the battery cables ASAP.
>
> I had to remove the harness from the tractor, but I rebuilt it using even
> heavier cables.
>
> One important change I made was to fasten the harness to the tractor 
> frame
> more securely.  The harness as it passes under the tractor frame is held
in
> place with just a few wire ties.  This is OK so long as the harness
remains
> striaght.  Over the years min harness had twisted a little bit until it
> rubbed against the motor pulley.  I simply drilled a few more holes in 
> the
> frame identical to the original holes where the wire ties held the 
> harness
> to the tractor frame.  I doubled the number of wire ties, and I defy the
> harness to rub against the motor pulley.  (Oh great, now they'll all
break.
> I guess I shouldn't have said that.)
>
> This is an easy modification and I recommend it pre-emptively to owners 
> of
> large frame tractors.  Just be sure to use the black UV resistant wire
ties.
> The common ones will become brittle in sunlight and eventually will crack
> and break.
>
> I really should have posted this sooner.  But I did the repair a few 
> years
> before I knew of this list and kind of forgot I even did it.  These 
> recent
> problems reminded me about the repair.  If I restore another tractor it
gets
> the fix regardless.
>
> Steve Naugler
> snaugler earthlink net
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <Jeremy Gagliardi com>
> To: <elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2003 10:37 AM
> Subject: Re: (ET) New 'almost failure' mode... Motor power, etc.
>
>
> > On Mon, 2 Jun 2003 10:01:53 -0400 , "Elie, Larry (L.D.)" wrote:
> > > OK, a new 'almost' failure mode.
> > >
> > > I have been working on ET's for 7 or 8 years now.  I thought I had
'seen
> it
> > > all' (well, I knew better I guess...) but here's a new one:
> > >
> > > I go out to mow.  I go to lower the front lift and it doesn't go 
> > > down.
> I
> > > check the fuse socket (they get rusty... very common) but that isn't
it.
> > > Hmm.  I start looking around.  I go to trace the wire to the lift
> > > and... huh?  The wire isn't on the back battery!  When set up right,
the
> > > lift goes to a terminal on the back
> > > set under the seat, front battery on the right.  The terminal has
> MELTED.
> > > The wire fell off.  The tractor is STILL RUNNING.  The cable stayed 
> > > in
> the
> > > pile of lead that was the terminal.  I had been tilling, and I
> > > suspect the connection was very loose.  I got hot, but kept working.
It
> > > melted but kept working.  I touch
> > > the lift wire to the terminal and it still goes up and down.  The
> battery
> > > still tests good.  I'm going to
> > > try and make a more rugged connection to what's left of the terminal.
> >
> > I've had a post melt.  When I discovered it, I decided to check all the
> wires.
> > I found a battery cable under the chassis that had come loose and 
> > rubbed
> raw by
> > the drive belt.  I suspect the cable touched metal and created a short
> that
> > melted the terminal.  I also noticed a small wire crunched by the
steering
> gear.
> >
> > (---------------------------)
> >  mailto:Jeremy Gagliardi com
> >  http://Jeremy.Gagliardi.com
> > (---------------------------)
> >
>
>
>