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Re: (ET) New here, E15 and E12



Glad to have you on the list. Yeah I tend to stay far away from Facebook; it just doesn't work for me.

Meantime I refilled the BB600 cells on the E20 here and took a deep discharge down to about 10 volts or so on the pack. Don't do this with lead, these are flooded NiCD cells. I think I put them in back in 2002, so they are coming up on 20 years of service now. Hm, I may want to schedule an electrolyte replacement and general flushing of the cells in another 30 years.

Aside from that, tractor works well. Another month and the leaves will be falling and I'll hook up the vacuum and trailer for some serious mulching of leaves :-)

C

On 9/22/2021 2:12 PM, joeaverage frontiernet net wrote:
Super helpful!

I was able to find the card component part numbers from an email in the archives from 2006. I think I have enough info to move forward.

I'm stubborn so I'll try to run this old card (repaired) for a while and then if it becomes troublesome, I'll replace it with a new one.

Thank you for your assistance. I've been on similar email servers for a variety of topics for ages - since the 1990s.

Everyone drifted towards places like Facebook but the know-how and experience still seems to be found on these email servers.

Feels like home already!

Chris in TN

On Wednesday, September 22, 2021, 10:48:27 AM CDT, Dean Stuckmann <dstuckmann icloud com> wrote:


Welcome to the group!

I recently ran into similar issues with card one. Here is a copy of my final notes to the group regarding my fix.

/First off, many thanks to Nick Skinner for all his troubleshooting assistance. His knowledge of the details of how an Elec-Trak works, including which components on card 1 relate to each speed was incredibly helpful. With Nick's help I was able to replace some more components on Card 1 to get more speeds but the operation was sporadic. Probably because the components came from other old cards I had... /
/
/
/In the end I decided to install a new Card 1 from Jim Coate. I did not think it made sense to keep chasing things around on a 50 year old card.  Even If we got it to work, future component failures are almost guaranteed to happen on the old card. The new card was not that expensive and it should make the tractor trouble free for many years to come. Harold Zimmerman is also a great resource of knowledge and parts. /
//

So installed the card and everything worked perfectly - for the first try of all 7 speeds. After that it only had the first 3 speeds as the FW relay would not engage. :-(  A manual push of the FW relay got all my speeds back. The coil resistance in the FW relay turned out to be about 3 times more than new FW which I happened to have in my parts bin. A quick swap of the FW relay has it working like new!

Here are some basics Nick informed me about that would be of help in troubleshooting any issue.

  * Get a copy of the “Simplified Troubleshooting Guide”, goto
    https://www.myelec-traks.com/poppubs.html
    <https://www.myelec-traks.com/poppubs.html>  and download a copy.
  * Wash Card 1 with isopropyl alcohol (normal drug store 70% is just
    fine) and an "acid brush" you would find in the plumbing department.
    This will stop any leakage currents, and will also help to prevent
    corrosive damage.
  * Nick stated that he found the card components (scrs and transistors)
    are pretty reliable. However he replaced all of the capacitors with
    new. Capacitors have to be functional for the SCRs to trigger.  He
    had a bad SCR for the PTO, which he replaced with an NOS component
    from Jim Coate of http://www.ElectricTractorStore.com
    <http://www.electrictractorstore.com/>.
  * Check that the wiring on the relay is OK and that the terminals are
    OK. Other than that, just chase the wire route. I did not look close
    enough and found that a wire was disconnected. It got me the first
    speed forward and reverse again but I’m still working on the other
    speeds.
  * Verify that Card 1 Pad 4 isn’t putting out voltage when you enter
    speed 1. If it is, then there is a broken connection somewhere
    between Card 1 and the L contactor.
  * If not, make sure pad 6 on the Card 1 is getting 36V when the speed
    selector is in neutral. This is required to ‘reset’ the SCR. If it
    is getting voltage at neutral, I would suspect capacitor C2 (20uF
    @50V) (cylinder to the right of CR109), SCR 102 (square with 3
    prongs to the right of R107), or a broken lead or trace on the board.


Good Luck!

Regards,

Dean A. Stuckmann
5432 County Road U
Newton, WI 53063



On Sep 22, 2021, at 8:54 AM, joeaverage frontiernet net <mailto:joeaverage frontiernet net> wrote:

Hello folks, I just joined the list yesterday. I joined the GE Elec-trak universe just a few weeks ago with the purchase of an E15 and an E12S.

The E15 has good batteries but needed a little TLC to get moving. I've learned alot reading the archives here and elsewhere.

I have everything solved but card #1. There is a unijunction transistor labeled 103 above the yellow capacitor closest to the resistor bank card.

It has a broken leg. I'd like to solder in a replacement but I can't read any part numbers on mine due to oxidation. I'm hesitant to clip the transistor off to get a better look because it is my guide to installing the new one.

Can anyone identify that transistor for me? I've looked in the service manual PDF but can't find any specs.

I played with the FW relay last night and when I press the contacts together I get FWD speeds 4-7 which would be useful.

Once everything is working, I want to tear it down for paint. Maybe powdercoat it over the winter.

As for the E12S. I really like the E15. I think rather than let the E12S sit there I might restore it too. We have a pretty big patch of grass and it would be nice to have two mowers to halve the mow time.

The E12 is missing a few things that were robbed by the previous owner to keep the E15 going. I've robbed the traction motor circuit breaker myself.

Then I could sell my 1994 Cub Cadet. it is a great mower but it is noisy like all mowers and I've tired of the exhaust when there is an exhaust free alternative with these old GEs.

Thanks,

Chris in Tennessee
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