Combines electrical woos late1480 early 1680

[m]

i would put money on it that it is your alternator, just my thoughts though but 95% chance that what it is

 

[Mav]

Polarbear, I would guess that the problem is the alternator. On a 12-volt system, the voltage gage should read about 14 volts when the alternator is working. If the voltage gage reads around 12 volts, then usually the alternator is not working and all the electronics are pulling power from the batteries. Hence, this would explain the drained batteries in the morning. If the voltage gage reads 15 volts or higher, then it is likely the alternator is overcharging the system. Also it may be expected, since the batteries have been drained a few times, that battery complications may develop (e.g., losing charge, weak starting, etc.).

 

[Weap]

polarbear, your problem is likely the wiring to the alternator from the cab to the alt. If you look in your ops manual you will see that a wire from the key switch goes thru the alt dummy lite and then thru the wire harness back to the alt to excite it and produce voltage. The wire is shorted somewhere along the way to the alternator thus not exciting it and luminating the idiot lite. Easy to check by putting power from battery to that terminal on alt and see if it starts to charge. I don't have my manual in front of me or I could tell you the terminal designation and wire color coding. If it works post reply. Weapon

 

[Polarbear]

Well got to pull to altenator today and got it tested....no juice whatsoever....getting rebuilt, back on monday...would be nice to get abck sooner, but its gonna rain so guess it doesnt matter...will keep ya posted..

 

[Mav]

Just as a side note, I am a little wary about rebuilding combine alternators, particularly if the reason for failure is from overheating. From my experience, any alternator we had rebuilt lasted only a couple of days before it shot craps again. My hypothesis on this is that when alternators overheat the insulation on the coils breaks down and they short out. That is why I consider it very important to perform the necessary measures to keep them running cool. This entails blowing them off, keeping them free of dust to allow proper cooling, throwing water on them (just kidding),and etc. I simply feel it is worth the investment for a new alternator just to provide insurance against another failure. This might be caused by my unwillingness to sit in a 120F cab at 110% relative humidity because there is not enough electrical power to run both the electronics and the air conditioner. Happy Harvesting Everyone!

 

[Polarbear]

Thanks for the heads up on keeping them cool. The buisness who we take our starters_alternators to are very good. By rebuilding they simply replace everything, since its cheaper to do it that way then to buy a brand new one..Either way we have never had a repeat failure so soon on any of our steigers or small farm tractors...Will keep ya posted tho, will be back tomorrow...

 

[Polarbear]

got the altenator back today...put it in hooked up the batteries and fired the key and everything is back to normal. Well almost having some auto header problems, but its just annoying for right now...Thanks for all who chimed in w_info.-Adam

 

[Polarbear]

Hey Mav, I think you proved me wrong...As last night my lights blew fuse twice...then today i noticed that slowly my temp was raising again just like before. The alt gauge seemed to be reading higher and higher throughout the day to...Alsoearly this eveing, when i was out changing a pin in the head, i had the lights on and you could notice the lights get bright and then dimmer the whole 6-7 mins i was out there..I was thinking maybe i had the belt adjust to tight or something, when i shut it off i climbed up the back quick and it didnt feel tight, maybe abit loose...

 

[Mav]

Well, to benefit your case, I would prefer to be wrong. Hopefully a loose belt is the cause of your troubles today, since I know how maddening it can be to have difficulties with the wiring. It always seems that as machinery ages, a blown fuse is imminent. Our old 1486 necessitated a modification to the lights to discontinue replacing fuses on an hourly basis (moved the back lights to a new circuit, replaced wires that were possibly short circuits, etc). It just seems that as machinery gains in years, it becomes an everlasting process of trial and error to reveal solutions to those problems that are quite vexing. We are in a three-year process of locating an air leak in the fuel system of our 4366. The injection pump randomly (one in ten times) looses its prime while sitting; starting requires engagement for 5 seconds before it fires off. I know it is not a huge quandary, but it is something that we grimace upon. I guess I should have added that after we tired of rebuilding alternators, we not only replaced them with new ones, but ones having a higher amperage output. I do not know if the solution was a new alternator or one with higher amperage, but it resolved our predicament. ;-) Also, we do not allow the machinery to idle for extended times while running high electrical loads. For example, we turn off the lights to the rear while working on the header. I am sorry I have not given any insight for your troubles, but maybe the words of encouragement will assist you. Have a Safe Harvest!