Electrical Issue

[Coyote machine]

I have one further thought....As time went on, my battery cables corroded inside. While they still made connection, their internal resistance went up and they could not carry the current efficiently. Replacing these made the machine start like new again. Make sure you check, not only the point to point connections, but wire resistance as well.

Yes, I agree with this 100%. I hadn't seen it a lot, but I remember a whipped Audi 5000 that came to my shop for faulty charging system issues. It eventually turned out to be a bad ground cable, after a nightmare troubleshooting the battery, etc. the cable crapped out internally and would not function as the path to ground. Then I saw the exact same thing on a friend of mine's boat. Same dead ground cable wires shot internally. It's not as uncommon as one might think, so I make a habit now of starting there to eliminate what can easily get missed and drive one crazy.:confused2:

 

[woodlandfarms]

Its been nothing but rain these past few days so the tractor has just sat. I have until Tuesday to see how far I can get into the system. New battery cables (new enough) so not my greatest concern. Will pull the cover off the rear connection box tomorrow if time permits. Maybe try and get in some afternoon mowing which will be points toward solving this issue. My poor wife will be left with this machine if I cannot resolve the issue. Means that nothing will get done until I return.

 

[Coyote machine]

Any pics of your wiring/breaker/ schematics of wiring/harness for studying?
How much for the breaker? Availability? #hours on machine?

 

[SpringHollow]

Carl,

If you are thinking of running a new cable bundle and the old one looks like it will be hard to pull out and replace, try a temporary extra long cable that doe snot go through the tunnel with slack for turning etc. If that solves the problem, then you can go through the extra work to replace it.

As mentioned earlier. I would take a serious look at the electrical connector on the engine, the one that has the fuel shutoff in it. It would be very easy for that to have issues from heat, vibration, water from cleaning the engine etc, and from repeated connects/disconnects.

My fuse was blowing a long ways back when I ran for a while. I am afraid I do not remember the cause but I think I had a frayed wire near the PTO solenoid. I will see if i can find anything I may have wrote.

Ken

 

[SpringHollow]

Hi Carl,

It was my alternator that was making the breaker blow - high voltage. Very similar symptoms to yours.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...50-alternator-replaced.html?highlight=breaker

Ken

 

[woodlandfarms]

Well the high voltage is interesting.

When i start my PT I am getting 14 volts (have not put a meter on it). This is higher than what I have seen in the past (usually the meter says 12 or 13 volts max)

So Ken, how much??? As i remember the alternators are brutally expensive as all Deutz parts are.

 

[SpringHollow]

Hi Carl,

Mine was reading 15 or more volts with a digital volt meter. I had the alternator checked at a shop and they said it was fine. I replaced the voltage regulator any ways and still got that high voltage. I tried it with 3 different batteries, replaced the battery cables, ran grounds directly to the alternator - none of it made any difference. When I replaced it with a new one, the voltage went down to 14.7 which is still a little high but my breaker stopped popping. I do not remember what it cost. I still have the old one - never got around to returning it for the "core" charge. That whole situation still does not make any sense to me. The shop I had the existing one tested at, all they do is alternators so I assume they tested it correctly.

Ken

 

[Coyote machine]

Well the high voltage is interesting.

When i start my PT I am getting 14 volts (have not put a meter on it). This is higher than what I have seen in the past (usually the meter says 12 or 13 volts max)

So Ken, how much??? As i remember the alternators are brutally expensive as all Deutz parts are.

You SHOULD be getting at least 14.25-14.5 Volts on average from an alternator in any 12 Volt electrical system. Something in the 12-13V range is NOT enough to put charge back into the battery. 14.7 V is OK, but 15 V and above is where damage is going to occur, possibly including but not limited to overcharging the battery and possible explosion of same as the battery off-gasses excessive heat as a result of boiling the electrolyte. A definite no no at best.

Hi Carl,

Mine was reading 15 or more volts with a digital volt meter. I had the alternator checked at a shop and they said it was fine. I replaced the voltage regulator any ways and still got that high voltage. I tried it with 3 different batteries, replaced the battery cables, ran grounds directly to the alternator - none of it made any difference. When I replaced it with a new one, the voltage went down to 14.7 which is still a little high but my breaker stopped popping. I do not remember what it cost. I still have the old one - never got around to returning it for the "core" charge. That whole situation still does not make any sense to me. The shop I had the existing one tested at, all they do is alternators so I assume they tested it correctly.

Ken

Seems that your original alternator was bench testing OK but was failing to keep from overcharging and thus tripping the breaker to protect your harness. This is a perfect example of the breaker functioning as it should, doing it's only job; keeping the harness from frying from overvoltage.
The new alternator brought actual field use on the machine to within acceptable range; though agreed on the high side, and the result was your breaker was satisfied with the output. It happens sometimes, I've seen it over the years on lots of different machines. Sometimes it results in slow boiling off of electrolyte and corrosion of the battery box/plate area without further damage. Over time this can result in holes being eaten in the metal work beneath the battery. This is an ongoing issue right now with my old '03 Tacoma. I keep an eye on it to keep the corrosion from doing any excessive damage.

This issue could be relevant to the OPs problem, but it sounds like he may be undercharging, not overcharging, either way something that needs to be addressed.

 

[SpringHollow]

Yes, the breaker was acting as it should. And the battery did boil and blow off its caps. The acid stains on the ceiling joists are a reminder of that event.

Ken

 

[Coyote machine]

Yes, the breaker was acting as it should. And the battery did boil and blow off its caps. The acid stains on the ceiling joists are a reminder of that event.

Ken

Wow! You are lucky you weren't there, (I'm assuming) when the explosion took place?!

For the OP I'm thinking your problem may actually be that your alternator ISN'T working to charge your battery. When the battery gets too low to run the machine, and it starts to stall, the breaker blows at the moment of failure of the battery to have enough charge left to sustain a running engine. This would be fairly easy to determine by attaching a VOM to the battery and monitoring it's state of charge during operation of the machine, until it dies as you first described. I'm not saying this is cause/effect, but until you verify that your charging system is operating properly, I wouldn't rule it out.