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Indicator Lites

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pfrederi

On my 418A the oil light flashes when you use the test switch and when you turn teh ignition on. On the 418 it is an oil pressure indicator not an oil level. I know for sure as the pressure switch sprang a leak a few weeks ago spraying oil on the muffler making much smoke....but it did not trigger the warning light.....

The oil is the only light that flashes....

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Save Old Iron

On my 418A the oil light flashes when you use the test switch and when you turn teh ignition on. On the 418 it is an oil pressure indicator not an oil level. I know for sure as the pressure switch sprang a leak a few weeks ago spraying oil on the muffler making much smoke....but it did not trigger the warning light.....The oil is the only light that flashes....

Paul,

thanks for the update. There appears to be a bare spot on the indicator board which probably supports a circuit for flashing the OIL PRESSURE light on your tractor. Seems like they should have added a loud beeper to this function ( like a backup beeper on trucks) so that you would not have a chance to miss the flashing lite if you drop oil pressure while mowing.

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truckin88

on the 312 the test makes oil light up solid

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Save Old Iron

Chapter 2 - Starting the Circuit Board Repair

I had an opportunity to repair a few of the corroded traces on the indicator board last night.

I'm happy with my results on some connections and not at all happy with others,

this one I'm happy with - just wrapped a wire around the lamp post and soldered the ends of the wire to the good section of the corroded trace - then soldered the wire to the post - this reestablished + 12 volts to the rest of the indicator bulbs.

repairwiringpost.jpg

the same trace still had many open areas further up the board, so I flipped the board over and daisy chained a wire to each indicator lamp post that needed +12 volts.

repaired12vdaiseychain2.jpg

instead of this

12volttracecorrodedaway.jpg

but now the bad news.....

I lifted one of the traces from several attempts to re-solder the indicator posts - the solder joints always looked cold and ragged so the pad finally let go - not a problem really - somewhat expected

liftedindicatorpad.jpg

and the edge connector trace that was half eaten away needs to be redone - this will never fit into the edge connector.I will need to obtain a piece of adhesive backed copper similar to what is used on stained glass - glue it to the board and eliminate the wire in this photo that causes the lump to form (the lump is my poor craftsmanship - but it does give a good example of the wrong way to do the fix).

lumpyedgeconn.jpg

Stayed tuned - parts are on order.

Tomorrow while we wait for parts, I'll do a quick review of how to check out diodes and transistors with an ohmmeter.

:scratchead:

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Save Old Iron

old iron, ever consider using a conductive pen instead of solder to repair traces.

I do know these exist but I have never used one, unless you count the silver paint I used to repair the defroster grid on my car. Now that you mention it - I think I may still have some of that conductive "paint" out in the garage. Plus, at almost $50 for the pen, I'll give the stained glass copper a try first.

Some of the repairs - like the one shown to fix the indicator lamp post - needs mechanical backup to secure the actual post. The solder pen would not provide enough support for the post to secure it to the pc board - so I used the wire.

Here is a good link to describe the edge connector repair process.

http://solder.net/PCB/Edge_Connector_Repair_Instructions.pdf

:scratchead:

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Save Old Iron

Thanks Jim,

I'll see if that s the next alternative if the replacement of the copper trace doesn't work out.

The silver conductive paint is still $37 plus shipping and this old girl needs red paint for the hood more than she needs silver paint for the indicator board !!!

I'll keep you updated.

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sorekiwi

This is an awesome thread!

Thanks for easy to understand explanations for those of us that are electronically challenged! :scratchead:

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linen beige

This is an awesome thread!

Thanks for easy to understand explanations for those of us that are electronically challenged! :scratchead:

I'll second that! :hide:

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Save Old Iron

Thanks guys - it's great to see what can be accomplished when a group gets together behind a problem and works it thru to its end.

My offer still stands - If there are any other questions I can answer as we go along here - please ask and I'll do my best to explain the electronic part of this great hobby we enjoy.

This weekend I will update this post to show how to check diodes and transistors with a multimeter - the diode part can be easily used when checking diodes in the stator output circuits of some unregulated charging systems - stay tuned.

and thanks again for the kind words.

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nylyon

This is an outstanding thread, and I am really glad that we have it. One request, if you venture off the circuit board discussion and into other electronic components, please start a new topic to make searching for this easier in the future.

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Save Old Iron

Still waiting for some repair parts but I did get a chance to correct the excessive solder blobs on the edge connector of the indicator card

originally, the corroded edge connector trace looked like this - a definite open circuit

corrosioncloseup.jpg

the first attempt at fixing the eaten away copper trace was made by laying a wire across the gap and applying solder - turned out like this - unacceptable - probably would not fit in the molex connector due to the height of the solder blob

lumpyedgeconn.jpg

so I decided to scrape away the corroded connector entirely

oldtracescrapedoff.png

then using self adhesive pure copper film (used for constructing stained glass windows)

copperstripunrolled.png

a small piece of this copper tape was attached to the previous location of the corroded trace - the copper was trimmed to the proper width

copperstripeplaced.png

a little touch of solder applied to the new copper - and make sure the original thin trace at the top of the pad is touching the new copper - and you get a very acceptable solder joint that will work well.

traceresoldered.png

that fixes up the dozen or so corroded areas and traces on this pcb

I am still awaiting delivery of the grain o wheat bulbs to replace the missing and burned out bulbs

I will post the results of this effort probably by week's end.

On suggestion from the moderators, I will start a new post on checking the diodes and transistors on this circuit board. Checking the diodes can be useful for other areas on the tractor including unregulated stator outputs for lightweight charging systems.

Stay tuned - all comments and questions are welcome.

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Save Old Iron

I have not forgotten about giving you folks an update. I'm actually thinking about substituting LED's for the indicator lights and actually thinking about repositioning the indicators onto the warning decal area of the hood of this 416-8.

Sorry, but I think that flat real estate could have been put to better use than a warning decal :notworthy:

I have to get all the wiring and all the bypassed safety switches to function before any of these lights will work in the first place.

So maybe I'll start a 416 dash board design contest and see where that goes.

Stay tuned

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camarojim

this is a great article thanks for sharing it. im ready to repair or rebuild the lights im missing one of the red lens covers does any one have one? thanks

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can whlvr

this indicater board is the only thing i dont like on my 414

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zieg72

this is a great article thanks for sharing it. im ready to repair or rebuild the lights im missing one of the red lens covers does any one have one? thanks

Thanks for bringing this one to my attention, I must have missed it. My 417-8 has nothing working...

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Aussie

camarojim - you can still get the red lens covers and rubber grommets new from Toro

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312Hydro

camarojim - you can still get the red lens covers and rubber grommets new from Toro

Here is a link to parts tree Indicator lights. They are still available for my tractor (1991 312H ) . $4.18 each. Just do a search on your tractor to be sure.

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km3h

I know this is an old thread but I thought I would add my two cents. If someone had a donor board that the parts could be stripped from there is a photo process that can be used to protect the circuit parts of the board and using an etching solution eat away all the rest of the copper plating. Once a negative is made, the blank boards can be reproduced all day long.

I can't tell you how many times I did that back in the days I was building components for my Amateur Radio Stations. Also built some satellite receivers that way.

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Theroundhousernr

I have made many repro boards for LGB trains that I repair with the same process. Works great and you are left with a brand new one for minimal cost. I just have yet to come across a bad circuit board in a wheel horse to copy one. My 416H is actually in great shape under the dash. NO grass build up or corrosion. It is missing some red lens covers for the indicator lights but that's all. Maybe SOI has done this already I assume but if not . I would be happy to make a few for people.

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Save Old Iron

I have made many repro boards for LGB trains that I repair with the same process. Works great and you are left with a brand new one for minimal cost. I just have yet to come across a bad circuit board in a wheel horse to copy one. My 416H is actually in great shape under the dash. NO grass build up or corrosion. It is missing some red lens covers for the indicator lights but that's all. Maybe SOI has done this already I assume but if not . I would be happy to make a few for people.

I have not begun to fab any indicators boards. I hesitate to sell those for the same reason I hesitate to begin building reproduction wiring harnesses. Both would be time intensive to build and if either assemblies fail to "plug and play" on the buyer's tractor, the seller is now morally obligated to help troubleshoot other issues which may have caused the board or harness to fail in the first place.

 

The indicator boards could be drawn up quickly in Eagle CAD and probably sent off to a fab house for less than $20 per board. I personally do not have the free time right now to pursue this but it would offer you a great opportunity to use your skills to help out the group.

 

p.s. I would probably mount chromed or nickel plated LED holders in the current holes in the hood stand and solder hi brite red LED's to the circuit pcb - which would then mate up with the back of the chromed holders.

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km3h

Oh I fully understand the vicarious liability involved in both of that above processes, plus the fact that it looks as if there were several different production runs on the boards using better or even different parts. Of course with the boards the issue is a bit different. You power up the board in a test jig and check the output and know that the board is sound before you ship it. That way you know a failure is at fault on the buyers end. Probably not a very large market for the boards anyway, as you don't see many questions on the subject. Blank boards for those who can solder would be the easiest and best way to do it.

This board is fairly simple with no pots to adjust, not like building radio circuits where everything needs final adjustment with a scope.

As for the wiring harness, there are so many different combinations needed, that building them for sale, would be next to impossible. You would need a donor harness for each model tractor.

This is and was a great thread. I just wanted to say thank you for getting it up here. There is enough information here for most to be able to repair their own boards without much difficulty. I am glad I found it.

The board from one of my tractors was in pretty bad shape when I got it and I already repaired it some time ago. Several of the tracks had actually lifted of the board. I had some copper strips left over from the old days and glued them down and of course laid solder over them. Good as new and works fine now. I recoated the board with epoxy. Should have taken photos of the process as I was doing it but I didn't.

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andy001

Trying to restore my board and already proved a few lights work by replacing them with what I could find. .12v 50ma grain o wheat bulbs. .where do I find the correct ones. Another problem is in the pic below. .what are the rusty parts called. .what is their rating?

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JERSEYHAWG /  Glenn

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

Thanks for posting.

Glenn

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