Squirrel damage to instrument panel (TC29D)

[FiveNines]

Greetings

I own (bought new) a 2001 New Holland TC29D. Red squirrels built a nest behind the instrument panel. They chewed a few wires going to the panel and the fuel sending unit, and the foam padding on the back of the panel. I spliced the wires and so far everything is working as it should.

My question is about the foam padding on the back of the panel. It’s about 80% destroyed. I don’t think its presence is important as it seems to be held in place only by the lightbulb caps and not glued to the back of the panel. Solder connections are now visible. I suppose the padding keeps dirt and water off the panel. The tractor is housed and seldom sees any rain. I give the tractor a shower every fall.

I don’t want the panel damaged as it’s probably almost impossible to replace. Any ideas on replacing the foam? I could cover the solder connections with liquid electrical tape. I can also remove the panel if it could get wet. Any other ideas?

 

[JC-jetro]

any pics? was the existing foam permanently affixed or need access behind the foam. What panel? any pics. if it is just to fill a void and no further access needed thane expanding foam in a can can fill the void, it can be somewhat troweled to approximate geometry needed.

 

[FiveNines]

Pictures added to original post.

The foam padding/layer is not glued in place, except for possibly a few spots. Functionally, it appears to keep the solder connections covered and provide a seal for the bulbs.

 

[thclimer]

I'm purely guessing here, but I wonder if the foam was intended to be an insulator from engine heat, but I never really thought my TC33D got that warm.

They sure did like that foam!

 

[JC-jetro]

I think the foam is just to protect electrical board from shorting out as the solder joint are exposed. I don't think there is any maintenance access required to the back of the board. I think, I would just clean out all the loose stuff, and smear a thin layer of 100% silicon that would stay soft , so if needs be to resolder something there, then it is the matter of peeling it off where needed. You want something soft, pliable and peel-able there.

 

[FiveNines]

I'm purely guessing here, but I wonder if the foam was intended to be an insulator from engine heat, but I never really thought my TC33D got that warm.

They sure did like that foam!

I didn’t think of heat from engine, so I measured the distance from the panel to engine. It’s ~10”. There is a thick metal panel various body panels bolt to between the engine and the fuel tank, and a large air gap over the fuel tank and under the cowling the instrument panel fits in to. Under certain conditions it is possible engine heat could affect the panel, either structurally or electronically.

I was fortunate the squirrels didn’t cause more damage, such as chewing the connectors or chewing the wires too short to splice. Knock on NH blue as this is about the only issue I’ve had with the tractor in 21 years.

I think the foam is just to protect electrical board from shorting out as the solder joint are exposed. I don't think there is any maintenance access required to the back of the board. I think, I would just clean out all the loose stuff, and smear a thin layer of 100% silicon that would stay soft , so if needs be to resolder something there, then it is the matter of peeling it off where needed. You want something soft, pliable and peel-able there.

I’ll try liquid electrical tape on small spot and see if it will peel off. And I’ll some type of silicone, but the current caulks adhere very well to most surfaces.

That brings up another issue – is there someone or a company that refurbishes and repairs instrument panels?

 

[thclimer]

I don't think there is a company that repairs them as I have seen post where owners have bought one from a salvage company because there were none available from the original OEM and when they are available the cost scares most away and they try to replace with just a stand alone gauge for what has failed. I guess there just is just not enough volume for someone to repair them to be successful.

Sounds like what you are doing is going to work just fine and your fortunate that the squirrels don't start to chew on the panel itself.

 

[JC-jetro]

That brings up another issue – is there someone or a company that refurbishes and repairs instrument panels?

I am sure someone can do it and you need to take the tractor and in your case the panel itself to them. if you do, I don't believe they will particularly do anything else much different that what I proposed. You also need to consider the rest of the pane that is "not chewed up" is not peel-able either. I suppose it might be better to use saome painter's masking tape, cover it up the chewed up areas with some overlap and then smear a thin layer of silicon over it. it would keep the moisture out and make it easier to remove if you need to re-solder something there.

 

[FiveNines]

An update from the original poster.

A suggestion from an electronics technician friend was to cover the back of the instrument panel (the actual circuit card, AKA PCB) with a conformal spray-on coating, which protects electronic components against moisture and dust and other environmental factors. I used the silicone type from Konform.

I lightly used compressed air to remove the dust. The remaining foam was attached to the PCB with an adhesive. I was unable to remove all of the adhesive. I tried white gas with no effect. Acetone might have worked, but I didn’t want to dissolve the any plastics. I removed the rubber caps over the lamp sockets, but did not remove the sockets. I sprayed the PCB with WD-40 electrical contact cleaner and let dry. I taped the panel and the wiring connector, except for the PCB itself. I sprayed the PCB. The shiny appearance is the coating. All solder connections are well coated. (The coating is not very thick.) Panel operates properly.

I’ll add that the metal on either side of the sockets on the PCB are the traces for + and -. The sockets have metal tabs that make contact with the traces. The coating covered the traces. It is possible that if a bulb is replaced the socket might not make electrical contact because the tabs would not align with the same spot on the trace (where there isn’t any spray.) If that happens, the coating will need to be scraped off.

 

[JC-jetro]

looks real good. It would be hard to realize the natue of the damage looking at the pic. you basically encapsulated it real well and still can change the light bulbs too.