RJ,
Mine's an AA.
An update on what I've looked over:
Since the fuel gauge wasn't showing anything, I decided to
try
tracking the path around it to see where the path was broken. From
the
positive end of the pack to the fuel gauge was fine, the problem was
on
the end from the - end of the pack to the fuel gauge. The path was
fine to
the fuse holder, and fine from the fuel gauge to the side of the
fuse
holder closest to it. So, that would seem to indicate blown fuse -
but the
fuse was fine. What I ended up finding was that with the fuse in the
fuse
holder, it had no connection to the screw terminal where the wires
connect.
I tried just cleaning everything out well, filing off any
possible
rust, and then sprayed it down with De-Oxit cleaner, but still
nothing.
The rivet connection where the fuse holder is connected to
the
plate that the screw is on (where the wires connect) was loose and
wobbly,
apparently not making a good connection. The other fuse holders
looked
nice and tight at that rivet, but not this one - so I figured maybe
I had
somehow weakened the rivet when I pulled out the blown fuse to
replace it.
So, I figured I'd try soldering that connection to make a
better
contact between the fuse holder and the screwed in connections. That
may
not have been a great idea (that block with the fuse holders
connected
doesn't seem to like the heat), but it did at least get it where now
when
I engage the power disconnect, I do get a reading on the fuel meter
gauge
- but it was much lower than it should have been, and still nothing
works
- no drive motor, no PTO, etc..
So, for the time being I pushed the tractor back into the
garage
(man that thing is heavy - especially when you're pushing it up a
hill).
Got a good workout though. :)
It may just be that the fuel gauge is reading low due to
some
additional resistance somewhere in the path (perhaps at the fuse
holder),
but I'm also suspicious that the pack may have been slowly
discharging
through some short somewhere - so I disconnected the negative-most
battery
terminal.
Apparently something other than just the fuse did blow, I
just
need to figure out what. What could cause this symptom of no power
to
anything? The fuel gauge meter was showing nothing also, until I
tried
soldering that fuse holder connection - but perhaps I shouldn't have
done
that. When I then decided to check the resistance between the fuses
themselves and the wires connected to the terminals on the
fuseholders for
the other two fuses, they also seem to have no connection (between
the
fuse and the screws on the fuse block) - don't know if they were
like that
initially, if they're supposed to be that way, or if I screwed
something
up when soldering that one fuse block.
Thanks,
Mike
--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Michael S. Briggs
UNH Physics Department
(603) 862-2828
---------------------------------------------------------------
On Sat, 29 Jul 2006, RJ Kanary wrote:
Once again, I will ask what flavor of E-15 you have. Since they
have three
different wiring configurations, knowing which revision yours is,
{AA, BA and
so on.} would help me help you. The pertinent information is on
the data
plate under the hood.
Thanks.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael S Briggs"
<msbriggs alberti unh edu>
To: <elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>
Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2006 4:08 PM
Subject: (ET) ok, not the fusible link
Found a post from Wombat in the archives saying where the fusible
link is
- just a wire going across two terminals on the Power Disconnect.
Ok, so
the fusible link is fine, so it's apparnetly something else.
Based on the wisps of smoke that came up around the speed lever,
it seems reasonable to suspect something underneath it may have
blown.
There's that big ol relay down underneath there - but that's just
the PTO
contactor. Unless it's failure mode is creating a short across
the
batteries, I can't see that being the problem, since it's not
just the PTO
that's not working - nothing is.
I suppose the smoke could have come from something in the speed
control itself, but that shouldn't cause the no power at all
problem (at
least from looking at the schematics, I don't think it should).
From looking at the Troubleshooting sketch schematic for the
E-15
in the manual, and just looking at what might result in the fuel
level
gauge not seeing squat, the only things between the fuel level
gauge and
the batteries (so the only things that keep it from reading batt
voltage)
are:
1. Power Use gauge - checked it with the multimeter, it's fine.
2. 20 Amp fuse 3 - it blew initially, I replaced it with 20 amp
light fuse
for the moment.
3. Wire 13 goes from that fuse to the PTO coil (is this the PTO
contactor?
Or some other coil?), but you don't seem to need to have a
connection
THROUGH the coil for the fuel gauge, since line 13 comes off of
that same
connection point on the terminal, and continues to the fuel gauge
- on the
negative side of it.
4. Line 5 comes off the + side of the fuel gauge, goes to fuse 2
(the lift
fuse, but doesn't go through it, just connects to one end of it,
and
continues on from that same connection point), continues to the L
contactor, but not through it, and to circuit breaker 1. Hm,
haven't
checked that yet - isn't that the main circuit breaker on the
back of the
panel that has the forward/reverse relay and such on it? I
pressed it to
reset in case it was the issue, but it seemed to be fine. I'll
check again
in a minute just in case.
5. Power Disconnect, which presumably doesn't itself fail in any
way -
I'll check though.
6. Fusible link - fine.
7. And then to the + side of the pack.
So, presumably something in there is failed. I'll head back out
with my
multimeter and trace the line all around.
This is kinda fun, albeit somewhat frustrating, since I had
other
things I wanted to do.
Mike
--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Michael S. Briggs
UNH Physics Department
(603) 862-2828
---------------------------------------------------------------
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