Bad Connection

[squonk 46,701]

@953 nut and I both preach " CHECK ALL CONNECTIONS!!!! "  I put a starter in my C160 about 4 years ago. It was used. Always fires right up and isn't overly noisy. I mowed this AM and shut it off. Mowed this afternoon and parked it in the driveway so I could blow the grass off of it like I always try to do. Tractor sat for about 4 hrs and when I went to start it the dreaded

" Solenoid clicks but it doesn't crank." Everything looked pretty good and testing at the starter terminal revealed 12.9 volts with the key in the start position.

 

Here is a picture of the starter and cable. Really doesn't look bad at all:

 

 

I put my hand on the terminal with the key in crank and a spark!!! So I yanked off the terminal and inspected it. 

 

 

Looked fairly clean but I got some sand paper out and polished things a tad and she fires up so I don't  have to push it! 

 

 

Just goes to show you what a little "fuzz" on a connection can do. 

 

[WHX?? 56,706]

Had that happen many times. 

[ebinmaine 79,037]

Yessir.  Good catch! 

[Achto 31,882]

1 hour ago, squonk said:

Just goes to show you what a little "fuzz" on a connection can do

 

I have taken up the habit of brushing a light coat of Super Lube on all connections. Use an acid core brush to apply it. Seems to keep corrosion from wire terminals.

 

A tub like this lasts a long time. 

https://www.grainger.com/product/44N722

 

 

[ineedanother 2,443]

For the sake of clarification, the key that some might not be catching is that a lot of grease is dielectric which does not conduct electricity and is not intended to be "within" the connection. Lithium and other dielectric greases are meant to protect connections, not make them. Clean and make connections and then apply dielectric products to seal them from moisture and keep them from corroding. You want to keep water away from electricity and dissimilar metals. 

[ri702bill 12,174]

Oxidation - akin to rust in so many ways....

[squonk 46,701]

Since/cents/sense this happened at the end of a day of mowing/ moving dirt and dog walking, I did enough to get it running and back into the garage. I plan on pulling things all apart and really clean things up, and maybe put a little Noalox on the connections. 

 

[953 nut 66,357]

8 hours ago, ineedanother said:

For the sake of clarification, the key that some might not be catching is that a lot of grease is dielectric which does not conduct electricity and is not intended to be "within" the connection. Lithium and other dielectric greases are meant to protect connections, not make them. Clean and make connections and then apply dielectric products to seal them from moisture and keep them from corroding. You want to keep water away from electricity and dissimilar metals. 

If a connection is good enough to pass the test of time a bit of dielectric within the connection isn't a bad thing.         It just makes sure no contaminants enter the connection. Fuse holders are an example, a dab of dielectric grease in each side of the fuse holder prior to inserting then fuse will protect the connection much better than an externally applied layer. The same is true for an ignition switch or other Packard 56 connectors, the design of the connector insures a tight fit but has some open space within it where the dielectric material can provide protection.

1 hour ago, squonk said:

put a little Noalox on the connections. 

       Noalox is well suited for connections with dissimilar metals. The small pieces of zink that are in the mixture will act as a sacrificial anode, just like the ones used in water heaters. Think about it, galvanized steel is coated with ZINK. It is primarily used for aluminum wiring but there is no reason it wouldn't work for other dissimilar metal junctions.