Not Much to Explain... Mice
- Thread starter gpflepsen
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HSSC
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Wish I could keep some hungry cats around but the coyote make short order of them.
This is a good thread. Heads up, as I can see it will be a part of my furture.
I truly hate them critters................
This is a good thread. Heads up, as I can see it will be a part of my furture.
I truly hate them critters................
Yesterday I had a free afternoon so I dug into repairing the damage to the wires going to the two relay connectors. Each relay (high and low beam) has a four wire connector and they were all FUBAR, so the plan was to pull the wires out of the connector and solder replacments to the spade connectors, then reassemble. Then new wires were soldered into the wire harness on the tractor.
The spades are held into the plastic connector plug with little spring catches stamped out of the connector, so a thin narrow blade pushed into the end of the connector will release each individual connector. A pic below shows what they look like. In the past I've had some that were impossible to extract undamaged because they were so fragile. These are rather beefy, and I'm appreciative for that.
Once removed, the connector wire cannot be "uncrimped" without destroying the spade, so the strain relief wrap was pried open and the wire nipped off as close as possible. The connector was tinned and the new wire laid back on and held in place with the relief closed. Then the wire was soldered to the tinned area. Once all eight were done, the spring clip was checked to be extending enough and adjusted, then reinserted into the connector.
The mice didn't leave much room to work on the existing wires at the tractor, so it was a bit tedious working with limited exposure. The damaged wires were trimmed back, stripped and twisted with the connector wires and soldered. Shrink tube applied and heated. A couple zip-ties near the new joints would keep any stresses from reaching the joint and causing failure. Lights work- job complete!
I think I'll stuff several dryer sheets behind the dash while I have the cowling off, it can't hurt.
The spades are held into the plastic connector plug with little spring catches stamped out of the connector, so a thin narrow blade pushed into the end of the connector will release each individual connector. A pic below shows what they look like. In the past I've had some that were impossible to extract undamaged because they were so fragile. These are rather beefy, and I'm appreciative for that.
Once removed, the connector wire cannot be "uncrimped" without destroying the spade, so the strain relief wrap was pried open and the wire nipped off as close as possible. The connector was tinned and the new wire laid back on and held in place with the relief closed. Then the wire was soldered to the tinned area. Once all eight were done, the spring clip was checked to be extending enough and adjusted, then reinserted into the connector.
The mice didn't leave much room to work on the existing wires at the tractor, so it was a bit tedious working with limited exposure. The damaged wires were trimmed back, stripped and twisted with the connector wires and soldered. Shrink tube applied and heated. A couple zip-ties near the new joints would keep any stresses from reaching the joint and causing failure. Lights work- job complete!
I think I'll stuff several dryer sheets behind the dash while I have the cowling off, it can't hurt.
Attachments
Just a few more pics... One of the assembled connector, one of the installation at the tractor and a couple of the P.O.S. soldering iron that I used.
I've had this soldering iron for probably close to 15+ years, and this must be the first time I used it for any duration. It was maybe plugged in for 30-40 minutes inside, then another like time in the garage. The iron started to melt the plastic which secures it into the handle. Who'd a thunk a manufacturer would produce an iron than can melt itself?
Iron specifics: Model 910 K&S Engineering 60 Watt "Heavy Duty". It looks to be marketed towards the hobbyist, but that shouldn't matter as soldering is soldering and it doesn't care who is holding it. Proudly "Made in China" for American disposable consumption.:thumbdown:
I've had this soldering iron for probably close to 15+ years, and this must be the first time I used it for any duration. It was maybe plugged in for 30-40 minutes inside, then another like time in the garage. The iron started to melt the plastic which secures it into the handle. Who'd a thunk a manufacturer would produce an iron than can melt itself?
Iron specifics: Model 910 K&S Engineering 60 Watt "Heavy Duty". It looks to be marketed towards the hobbyist, but that shouldn't matter as soldering is soldering and it doesn't care who is holding it. Proudly "Made in China" for American disposable consumption.:thumbdown:
Attachments
It could make your tractor smell like a sissy tractor.
They do make tools that make it easy to retract the barbs that hold the spades in the connectors.
Toyota MR2's had a big fuse box just inside the left quarter panel that used to break whenever they got hit there. I would to have to one at a time, remove the old wire from the old box, remove the new wire from the new box, then place the old wire in the correct place on the new box, while working in close quarters with probably 50 wires, and no wiring diagram if I screwed up.
I don't miss that.
