Indicator Lites

[RMCIII 838]

I stumbled across this thread. Really enjoying reading about it.

Thanks for posting.

Glenn

 

 

 

I had forgotten how much I enjoy electrical work. In the beginning, I started to diagnose the issues in my head, before I would read what you had wrote as a cause/issue and solution... Needless to say, since I do not work on this stuff regularly, I only got about 50% of the answers correct. BTW - great job on the repairs of the board....

 

I realize most soldering irons work just fine, I was wondering, what type you use. While in the Air Force we had a model that had interchangeable heads. (1) particular head had (2) evenly forked point, looked like a "u". The "u" portion allowed you to solder, or de-solder, (2) contact points at the same time. It also had multiple settings on the handle of the gun..... Something similar to a welding unit. Based upon the type of solder you used and what you were soldering, you then selected the proper setting on the handle.... Would you by chance know of any gun similar to that being produced today? After reading this, it has reignited my passion for electrical work.

Thanks again!

 

Rob

[Save Old Iron 1,566]

Personally, I have at least a dozen different soldering stations and each one has advantages and drawbacks.

 

For a hobby level user, I would have you check out this station and its accessories.

 

http://www.mpja.com/Solder-Station-with-LED-Display-ZD-929C/productinfo/15845%20TL/

 

If I had to guarantee satisfaction with a product used in more professional settings with 8 hour a day 5 days a week reliability needs

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hakko-FX888D-23BY-Digital-Soldering-Station-FREE-SHIPPING-WIRE-SOLDER-SAMPLE/261527253272?_trksid=p2054897.c100204.m3164&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140407115239%26meid%3D43baececa86947daaae30f07041e635a%26pid%3D100204%26prg%3D20140407115239%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D30%26sd%3D380911584152

[Save Old Iron 1,566]

and stay away from lead free solder. seems contrary to lead health warnings but lead free solders are an absolute pain to desolder and require more intense heat to solder components onto a board - leading to possible damage to the board or components.

 

Kester 44 is the long time standard for rosin core solders

 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1311.R4.TR11.TRC1.A0.H0.Xkester+&_nkw=kester+44&_sacat=0

[meadowfield 2,594]

I really ought do a layout for this and make some boards - are they easy to come by or in demand?

[PhilPA 0]

First post and I'm late to the party.  This is a fascinating and wonderful investigation of an obscure electrical gremlin common to many Wheel Horses and bound to affect more as the circuit board traces slowly deteriorate. 

My grandson (12 HP Kohler) gave me a 1988 414-8 (3114K803, # 27720) a few years ago.  It was great looking then but I've scratched the hood while fixing the rattling hinge and the broken headlight bracket.  New seat a couple years ago made me tape the seat switch down.  Ignition switch became iffy last year and the solenoid gave out so I replaced them recently, didn't get the grounding quite right initially but it's good now (a lot better than a big screwdriver to start and choke to kill).  I'm not sure when the indicator lights last worked but it's been a year or three for sure so I've pulled out the board and it's ugly.  Not as ugly as Chuck's but close; I'll be replacing two edge connector pads shortly and patching a dozen broken traces, mostly along the line where the tape was over the lamp pins.  That thick green stuff they glopped on there may have been state-of-the-art in the '80s and it did the job for a good long time but it was bound to start failing at the edge conn area and the lack of gold plating on the edge pads sealed (or unsealed?) the deal.  The later (Toro?) boards got gold.  

My question is What spec are the grain of wheat bulbs?  Four of mine are burned out or have broken wire leads (the oil light worked with the test switch).  Those I could measure were each 18 ohm, not the 180 ohms others have seen.  My bulb glass is 4mm dia x 10mm long.  A common 7219 g'o'w bulb is 3.2mm dia x 6.4mm long, 12v, 60ma.  It wouldn't surprise me to find that my bulbs were part of a out-of-spec batch, purchasing agents and QC being what they were.  I mean take a look at the specified wire colors, kinda fast and loose there, eh?

I'm also curious about why there is a 470 ohm resistor between the IC.11 and the gate of the clutch switch transistor; none of the other transistor gates have resistors.

Thank you Save Old Iron and Wheeledhorseman for your time, effort, and willingness to share your knowledge.

Phil