Electronics, Gotta Love it

Simple little things, Warning Flashers on of All things the Wife's Mower. A little DEERE. come to find out the big ones have Similar issues where the Electro wizard's have been QUITE active screwing with stuff.

The machine needed service and the two busted off lights, misc crap to get ready for mowing so decided would take this on my own self! Maybe a BAD choice!

Installed new lights with Guards so she will have more issues knocking them off, had tail but no warning so went searching for the Buried Alive Flasher, $81 from Deere, 12 pin connection, oddball so replaced that STILL no lights but flasher clicking. Dig out a wiring Diagram, PERFORATED BOVINE!! This little piece of stuff has diodes ALL OVER, six to be exact so started the digging.

The Blue terminal ones are pretty obvious, but NO Not the one looking for, that would be the two little black turds, three wire, and $20 EACH. Could not EVEN rationalize this.

Does it have a manufactures part number on it?its amazing how much they’ll hike the price sometimes

No p/n just 1.5A, tried looking thru some electronics supply house stuff, nothing remotely similar. This is a Yanmar based Tractor, tried their site, totally different wiring in those.

Call me a Luddite, but this is one of the reasons I like my old Farmall BN! I did upgrade it to an alternator some 30 years ago that came off a junked Chevy back then so it has been "modernized" built in VR bit the dust last year so that cost me about $15.00 online and then the magneto was getting weak and dying when engine was hot so think it cost about $80 to rebuild that. Last time I did that was probably around the time I installed that alternator!

Now the big question which is going to fail next, the alternator, the magneto or the guy working on them. I have a feeling I may not have to worry about fixing those things again!

You did say it was a mower and not a space shuttle?

Hey, at least it is simple diodes that a man can understand and not a bunch of sensor inputs to a computer with no documentation about what it does.

Birken Vogt said:

Hey, at least it is simple diodes that a man can understand and not a bunch of sensor inputs to a computer with no documentation about what it does.

Click to expand...

That's in next years model.... heh heh

You increase the cost of any machine by introducing complexity. Every component added has a profit margin. So does anyone see a design trend?

I too am a Luddite, have two old Allis the 7G and a 180 Diesel. Service on the 180 is near the same as the little mower money wise, simple to fix, simple switches and could build a wiring harness in a day if need to, 7G has almost NO electrical other than to get it started, no lights no crap to fail, if it had a pony would be as simple as the Old CATS. Both those two are close to fifty years old still kicking, doubt this little deer will be that lucky.

This is the Old Flasher unit, just slightly over enganeared for two warning lamps and a second switch to make them also T/S when needed.
The square box with no markings is the actual flasher relay, uncertain the need for all the Other stuff.

Deere thought it would be cool to put a body control module on my Z970R zero turn.....neato! My mower has a brain!

They neglected to give the brain any memory.......shut the mower off and the codes are gone...WTF? Really?

How about a double WTF, WTF?

Ed

Am a thinking the reject derelict enga’s from GM Ford & Chrysler ended up in heavy trucks their rejects went to HE and those rejected from there are in the Ag market now
We are so screwed

It's been my opinion for quite awhile that the more electronic crap they add just means more stuff to go wrong!!
Mike

ol'stonebreaker said:

It's been my opinion for quite awhile that the more electronic crap they add just means more stuff to go wrong!!
Mike

Click to expand...

In many ways I too think that. Always figured adding one wire to a system adds three sources for failure. The input end of wire, the output end of wire and the wire itself. Then when you stick an electronic circuit board in the mix every little component on it is a possible source of a failure. Not to mention the connections to the harness!

It's not too bad if you are lucky enough to be running relatively new equipment with a dealer near by for support and have the proper tools like Cat ET sitting in the shop. But hate to think what it is like for someone trying to run a one or two man operation out in the desert or jungle somewhere. One broken wire or sensor calibration failure and you are dead in the water!

Guess that's why the equipment like the 966C loaders the place I worked sold at auction could bring such good prices at auction. Even the ones that were sitting there with no bucket and pieces missing sold for outrageous, to us, prices!