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Re: (ET) 36 to 14 volt DC-DC converter (was Today's lessons with heavy snow)

O utdoor
P ower
E quipment
O peration

The folks that designed and produced these tractors.
My observation applied directly to the application mentioned in the original post.Reliable efficient ,inexpensive control for that application is apparently only constructed from Unobtanium. :)
It appears that you were victimized by the Field Reversing scheme that was in vogue during the E-12 S and the early E-15.Obviously an idea that was not well thought out, and poorly executed.Even a guy that fixed cars and trucks for a living could see that was a good one to repair, but not a good one to own. 

       {Unless the later armature reversed controls were installed.}<VBG>

         Funny, they got it RIGHT on the E-20 since Day One.
TheApollo Era controls have no potted boxes of mystery nor any IC that will likely fall out of favor and become unavailable long before the clicky-clack control parts are all dried up.There is very little evidence of the 'throw-away society' idea being used in the planning and execution of the original product.Solid state devices? A different time, a different mind set. But, this is all one disabled Luddite's observation, not to be taken as Gospel. A third generation remnant of a family that has been repairing electrical and electronics contrivances since the dawn of commercial broadcast radio. 
[And I STILL ended up fixing cars and trucks.]

On 1/2/2013 2:48 PM, David Roden (Akron OH USA) wrote:

On 2 Jan 2013 at 13:55, RJ Kanary wrote:


You have the braintrust that was the OPEO,using technology firmly
rooted in the Forties,using the pencils, papers and sliderules for the
basis of their engineering and design decisions, that 21st Century
technology has yet to better in a cost effective manner. <VBG>

I don't know what OPEO is, but I disagree that recent years have brought no
significant improvement.

I've used the GE controller, I've used an equally simplistic 
series-parallel-
and-resistor 3-step controller in another EV, and I've used several good
solid state controllers.  There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that late
20th / early 21st century technology is far superior.  True, the cost is a
bit higher, but for me it's worth it.

The GE controller is easy to work on, I'll say that.  Good thing, because
when I had it, I worked on it A LOT - control card, connections, and
especially that bloody reversing relay.  Ah, memories : plowing the 
driveway
with the hood up and the relay panel tipped back, reversing the tractor by
pushing on the relay.

I spent an afternoon rewiring the ET for my Alltrax, and since then I've 
had
zero control problems.  (Well, OK, I did have to replace the crummy cheap
reversing switch I used, but that was my own fault for grabbing a used 
Radio
Shack special from my junkbox.)

I can also move the tractor by centimeters in any gear, and choose the
prefect speed for any job.  The controller will even hold my ET steady all
by itself on a hill, if I'm so inclined, though I don't usually let it do
that because I don't think it's healthy for the motor.

The good news is that there are plenty of spares for maintaining the good
old GE click-clicker if you're so inclined, and there are also decent
options for modernizing if that's your preference.  We're really fortunate
that there's such a vital community supporting these tractors.



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