Re: (ET) Speed controller acting wonky

[Kim Petty <kim coveside net>]

 Sounds like a bad connection to me. Do you still have the original style 
main switch? You can try and wiggle it or clean it up to see if it helps . 
If it is the old style get a new one from Jim.
Kimball
> On Apr 25, 2016, at 7:20 AM, Briggs, Michael <Michael Briggs unh edu> 
> wrote:
> 
> 
> I have an E-15 that I restored several years ago. Over the past year or 
> two, the speed controller has been getting increasingly wonky. When 
> going forward, it sometimes will not go past the lowest speed setting. 
> Especially if I turn the mower blades on first, and then try to start 
> moving forwards. It's more likely to obey my command to go faster if I 
> first move the speed controller to a higher speed setting, and once it's 
> going at that speed, then turn on the mower blades. Of course, that's 
> rather inconvenient.
> 
> Last weekend, I couldn't get it to go out of first speed no matter what 
> I did. I found something in the archives about connections 10 and 11 (if 
> I remember correctly) on card 1 being related to speed control, so I 
> cleaned those up with some Deoxit, and reseated the contact "plugs", and 
> that got it to work somewhat. It was still misbehaving a lot, usually 
> requiring me to start moving before turning on the mower blades, but at 
> least I could get it to go past first speed.
> 
> Anyone have an idea what the problem is? 
> 
> In general, I try to drive around in 3rd speed while mowing - so 
> bypassing the big resistive bands, but not using any field weakening. I 
> *think* that the system may often bypass speeds 2 and 3, but allow me to 
> do the field weakening. Is the resistor bypass controlled independently 
> of the field weakening? (I know the speed selector on the dash lets us 
> choose speed, what I'm wondering is if the field weakening circuit is 
> independent of the resistor bypass, such that the latter may work while 
> the former does not. I suspect that would be the case)
>  
> Hmmm... I should drive around in a higher speed for a while, and see if 
> the resistive bands are hot.
> 
> Thanks!
> Mike
> 
> Michael S. Briggs, PhD
> UNH Physics Department
> (603) 862-2828
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