Grove manlift with no joystick or movement control abilities from the bucket

[5030tinkerer]

I just picked up a Grove AMZ66XT manlift. Everything works fine on it from the ground, but from the bucket, none of the joysticks work. The prior owner indicates that everything did work when it left his yard. What is functional are the foot pedal to raise engine RPM's, the Aux power button to raise engine rpms, the bucket tilt switch, the bucket rotate, and the front and rear axle steering controls.

I can't start or stop the engine from the bucket, nor can I move the machine, or extend/retract, or raise/lower the bucket.

Any early ideas? Is there a common hot for these controls maybe?

All assistance appreciated.

[Fixxer]

Look at the cable that runs through the cattrack. The machine likely has an OEM Controls mux which sends joystick data down one pair of wires. If it has a PC board in the upper console, there will also be a headphone jack and (IF you're lucky) a programming keypad. It actually talks to you during programming and testing.

[Fixxer]

Where are you located?

[5030tinkerer]

I'm just south of Des Moines. I haven't made the time to check on that cable yet, but will. My hope is that something just got disconnected or chaffed. My fear is that I'll need a new board.

[Fixxer]

I'm just south of Des Moines. I haven't made the time to check on that cable yet, but will. My hope is that something just got disconnected or chaffed. My fear is that I'll need a new board.

If you determine that it needs repair, send me an email at bte at usinternet dot com. I can probably save you a metric truckload of money.

I am in the Minneapolis area.

[5030tinkerer]

Look at the cable that runs through the cattrack. The machine likely has an OEM Controls mux which sends joystick data down one pair of wires. If it has a PC board in the upper console, there will also be a headphone jack and (IF you're lucky) a programming keypad. It actually talks to you during programming and testing.

Where can I get an operator/maintenance/parts manual?

[Fixxer]

You can call OEM Controls, but they aren't necessarily going to be cheap. Same with Grove. It is important to understand the limitations of what the manuals will teach you- it might not be worth it to buy $200 worth of manuals that tell you nothing you don't already know. That said, it never hurts to have a good parts manual.

[5030tinkerer]

I opened the clam shell yesterday and confirmed that I do indeed have the OEM Controls mux that you referred to with the PC board in the upper console, the 1/4" headphone jack and a programming keypad. I had only an 1/8" mini audio headset available, so will go and pick up an adapter to hear whatever might be coming through it. Also found was what appeared to be a speaker that someone disconnected one of the wires on, about four 1/4" spade connector wires that weren't attached to anything, and the fact that neither the choke button nor the emergency power shut off button were connected to anything. I did find a pair of wires where the ends were twisted together to make the connection. Given their length and placement, my guess is that they used to be attached to the emergency power off.

Finally, I noticed that when I pushed the floor pedal in the bucket that causes the engine RPM's to raise, that an LED illuminated near solid red on the PC Board and a second red led a little further back on the board began flashing.

The OEM Controls sticker was labeled:

Grove 266 6/98
PF0341-2TR S/N 4506

At the base of the board were two blocks of a myriad of terminal screw connections that seemed to be in pairs, labeled 1-22 in the first block and 1-4 in the second. Many of these didn't have wires coming out of them. In the case of the 1-22 block, each connection was associated with a single number (e.g. the '13' connection), whereas in the 1-4 block, there was an A and B connection for each of them (e.g. 1A and a 1B plug in, etc).

Do you know what these connections are each for or what a logical next step is?

Any and all assistance most appreciated. Right now, I have a 23,000 paper weight. It would be good to put the machine to work!

[barklee]

Inspect that cable tray very very carefully. I had a machine with the OEM system that did about the same thing that yours is doing. It turned out that a bird nested in the bottom of the cable tray and used pieces of wood for its nest. When we put this out on a job the extending and retracting rubbed though one of the power cables and caused multiple wires to rub together and do crazy things..... but only at a certain point of extention. After a few days the wire rubbed though and nothing worked. It sounds like you have something like that going on.

[barklee]

I just noticed that the cables are internal, that was the same case as my machine. We actually had to pull the booms to discover the problem....... The groves have holes in the booms so you might have a better chance. I would rub your hand down all the electrical cables and feel for any cuts gouges flat spots.

[5030tinkerer]

I looked for cuts and or flat spots and nothing showed up. I'll look further, though. I am finding that parts availability is a challenge as well. Joy. Is there a source out there for the Grove's that anyone knows of?

[willie59]

If I'm not mistaken, MinnPar bought the rights to Grove manlift parts.


http://www.minnpar.com/