Re: (ET) RE: Installing Landis controller in an Elec-Trak E-20

[Don Cohen <bond007d netsync net>]

Jeremy,

If the timer is the original, the contacts themselves are probably bad. 
When they are, the timer usually gets pretty hot even on a short cycle. If 
it is really bad, it probably won't shut off even when you turn it to the 
off position (if it is already heated up). That is what was happening with 
mine recently. It was so bad, that after only a few minutes of being on, 
it wouldn't shut off by turning the control, and was already almost too 
hot too touch - had to unplug. So I ordered a new motor/timer assembly 
from Bill - about $35, I think. Now after a full charge, the whole area of 
the timer only gets slightly warm instead of steaming hot. Also, if when 
turning the timer knob back and forth past the off position you don't hear 
any strong clicks, that is a sign that the contacts are bad. My old one 
made almost no sound at all. I thought it was normal. When I got the new 
one, I was surprised at how distinct the "click" was when it hits the off 
position. 

Hope this helps,
Don Cohen

At 10:12 AM 6/26/03 -0400, Jeremy Gagliardi com wrote:
>Mea culpa and confirmation.  I must admit, last night, I went out and 
>checked on
>my controller/timer combo.  Late at night, batteries boiling, my timer was
>already halfway through a cycle that I didn't start, and the bottom of 
>the timer
>was hot when I unplugged the charger and unwired the timer.
>
>Indeed, the timer IS starting on its own in this situation.
>
>--
>Jeremy Gagliardi
>E20
>Bethesda, Md
>
>On Thu, 26 Jun 2003 00:34:55 -0400, "David Roden (Akron OH USA)" wrote:
>> On 25 Jun 2003 at 16:52, Garry & Terry Freese wrote:
>> 
>> > Mutual conductance is when 2 wires are close together,
>> > the wire that has current going threw it will transfer small amounts 
>> > of
>> > current threw the adjacent wire. It would not take very much to start 
>> > a small
>> > motor.  
>> 
>> I have never seen any case in which enough coupling occurred between 
>> insulated wires to run a motor -- except in transformers, where the 
>> coupling 
>> is designed in.  I can't imagine it being able to run the timer motor 
>> on an 
>> ET charger.  
>> 
>> BUT -- if the timer motor were wired in parallel with the transformer 
>> primary, I can see how having another switch in parallel with the timer 
>> switch could indeed cause the effect you mention.  Instead of 
>> paralleling 
>> the new controller with the timer switch, you might add a DPDT switch 
>> to 
>> select between the new controller and the old timer.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA
>> 1991 Solectria Force 144vac
>> 1991 Ford Escort Green/EV 128vdc
>> 1970 GE Elec-trak E15 36vdc
>> 1974 Avco New Idea 36vdc
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Don Cohen
DC Electronics
Shinglehouse, PA