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Re: (ET) charger problem

I'd also want to know what the voltages are doing, as the amount of humming is rather subjective.
You mention the resistance from the diodes to the heat sink plate is zero... this should only be true in one direction. And to really test them, you need to disconnect the diodes from the transformer wires.
I do have heat sink plates available, but... it is just a piece of metal, so it doesn't really go bad. It's job is to hold the diodes and dissipate the heat from them. The main reason for replacing the plate is that trying to press new diodes into a used plate generally doesn't work well - the aluminum is already stretched so the new diodes don't seat tightly and have a shortened life. (ie once it gets onto my web site, expect to see it as a complete unit: heat sink with diodes already mounted).
To answer one of Tim's Q's: The capacitor came from me (my store), so it is 4 uF, which is the most common size. Some chargers use a 20 uF with a different transformer, but the size difference is significant so should be obvious if trying to replace with the wrong thing. 


--
Jim Coate
*The Electric Tractor Store*
http://www.ElectricTractorStore.com

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paul mitchell2007 comcast net wrote:
Sorry, it's an E12, and yes, it should be S3, not S2. I understand that wire 30 has to be connected, but the loud humming noise seems unusually loud. When I first got the tractor, one of the diodes was blown and when I tried to charge, the charger made this same loud noise. So, there's the normal noise (a sort of soft hum) of the charger when it's not connected to the battery pack, and then there' this very loud noise (more of a loud buzz) when the charger is connected to the battery pack. It never used to be this loud.
Some background. I mowed the lawn for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and I think I was mowing in the wrong gear, since the power use guage was often in the red. Things seemed a bit hot when I plugged in the charger. When I left the garage, the charger was humming as usual. A few hours later when I returned to the garage, I found it had tripped the house breaker. When I reset the breaker and started the charger again, I got this loud buzz instead of the soft hum. When I removed the charger, I found that the capacitor top had bulged upward, rather than being flat. I suspected that was now trash, and replaced it with a brand new one. When I hooked it all back up again and tried to charge, the charger continued to make this loud buzzing noise instead of the soft hum it usually makes. 


----- Original Message -----
From: "RJ Kanary" <rjkanary nauticom net>
I'm confused.{ But then it IS Monday morning, and I've had but one cup of coffee.} What flavor of ET are we working on? The first charger diagram I pulled up (since I'm just guessing. <G>) shows an S1 and an S3 but no S2.
Wire 30 goes to CB-2.It HAS to be there, or the charger's output is not directed to the battery pack. The loud humming noise you hear when it's connected could well be the sound of the charger doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing. Charging. :) 

       What conditions existed previously to start this investigation?

Fetching that much needed second cup of Joe........

RJ


paul mitchell2007 comcast net wrote:

    My charger hums quietly when plugged in and the #30 wire from the
    circuit breaker is not attached to S2 on the charger, but when
    attached to S2, makes a very loud humming noise.  The capacitor is
    brand new and I a local alternator shop that rebuilt all my tractor
    motors told me that the diodes are fine (they recently replaced
    them).  The resistance from each diode to the heat plate measures
    zero.  Any ideas?  Do I need a new heat plate?  If so, where do I
    get one?