Re: (ET) E20 down, only one speed forward

[David Brandt <ev_dave13 yahoo com>]

That's one reason I wired mine from scratch, starting with appropriate 
fuses.  The existing wiring and circuitry is at the end of it's lifespan.  
If it has been kept acid free, and under relatively mild temperatures, 
then sure, you can get many more years out of it, but most of these 
tractors were stored outside in all kinds of weather, with acid 
accumulating over time on the components, with the accompanying problems.  
It's just plain worn out.

Chris, with your skills, you could make up your own controller, or at 
least simplify the circuitry.  I'm not saying it's easy, (and who has the 
time?) but it does pay off in the end, by avoiding all this 
troubleshooting.  Plus when something does go wrong, you pretty much know 
what the problem is.

David Brandt


--- On Sun, 11/22/09, Christopher Zach <cz alembic crystel com> wrote:

> From: Christopher Zach <cz alembic crystel com>
> Subject: Re: (ET) E20 down, only one speed forward
> To: noaddress drmm net
> Cc: Elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu
> Date: Sunday, November 22, 2009, 8:53 AM
> David Roden wrote:
> > I stopped having these kind of problems - and
> headaches with those flaky little connectors GE used on the
> card edge - when I put a modern (well, late '90s era anyway)
> transistor controller in my ET.  
> 
> True, there is that option, and to be honest it makes the
> Elec-Trak a lot more survivable than say my US Electricar
> Prizm. If that controller fails either we fix it or you have
> a large rock in your driveway.
> 
> That said, the thing that is annoying me about the
> Elec-Trak is the same thing that annoys me about the Prizm:
> Both controllers do not have proper fuses.
> 
> On the E20 there is a "fuse" for the controller circuitry,
> however it's rating is much too high for the circuits on the
> control boards. As a result if a component shorts you don't
> blow the fuse, you blow traces and the like. Very annoying.
> On the other hand this is a single-layer board, and is as
> dull as dirt to fix. Assuming I can find out the part
> numbers for the transistors.
> 
> That said, it looks like the smaller diodes are starting to
> die. The bigger ones for the field control have all been
> replaced, guess I need to get some smaller ones from Radio
> shack now.
> 
> Chris
> 
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