Well, it was yesterday, but I was so disappointed with the products of my efforts.
I had the starter in the crane changed by 10 AM, had the forklift rigged with lifting chains, and the whole day planned out for high production and getting stuff DONE.
Battery was topped off and I got into the crane and pushed the start button.
"click"
Exactly the same as the previous starter. So no, I had not bench tested the "old" starter... I just ran with the assumption that it was the same solenoid contacts problem that I have had in the crane over several years. I'll try to find the photos of the insides of the solenoid that I sent to the manufacturer last year. :
Seal tested by Wilson!
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If it was sealed, what do they do before shipping? Give a little spritz of battery acid in there?
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The contacts that are supposed to be copper colored:
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Those photos are all from around a year ago when I experienced the most recent starter problem... Not a big deal. While waiting for the new starter to arrive I cleaned the solenoid contacts (like delliottg described in his post the other day) and reassembled the solenoid and starter, and it ran like a champ. No problem, so I placed the brand new starter on the parts shelf and have been running with the "refurbished" old starter.
The other day when it came time to unload the forklift from the pickup, the crane engine turned over a mite slowly when I tried to start it, so I stopped cranking and put the battery charger on it for an hour... Tried to start it again and no turn, just a click.
Great! Solenoid contacts again! Not my first rodeo, me thinks in my normal state of profound ignorance.
So after discovering that the brand new starter wouldn't turn the crane engine over either, I placed a wrench on the crank end and discovered that I was not able to move the engine crankshaft.
I've hydraulically locked one other engine... But the circumstances were quite a bit different. I had a dipper control on a backhoe fail in the open position, so as the engine cranked over it slowed down as the hydraulic pump tried to pressurize a closed line.
After a certain amount of time, the pressure drained off and the engine would crank until it pressurized that dead-ended line again.
This crane thing- no motion at all, so I am guessing that I have a cylinder of the engine locked. Never experienced that before. Not looking forward to it. Have to get to it quick in case it's water in a cylinder... But shouldn't be, because the crankcase oil level is normal.
The diesel drives two big hydraulic pumps, one for the drive functions and the other for the hoist, rotate and boom functions. Maybe one of them locked up? Just kind of strange that I have no motion at all, just a click as the solenoid engaged. It is drawing juice for the locked motor, not just the solenoid.
I pretty much stopped there with the crane in frustration and disappointment... I was so sure that it was going to be fine. LOL
So next step was to figure out a way to have the planet Earth assist me in the task of moving the forklift from the back of the pickup to it's less energy rich position next to the ground. I did it, but did not get to enjoy the hefty rumble and thump of the miniature earthquake due to being on another machine.
Dammit, if I am going to drop 7000 pounds from 3.5 feet in the air, I want to be able to enjoy the thump!
I had to do that... Kind of a crappy position to be in having my only driveable vehicle be the one with a blown head gasket.
So after that was taken care of, I needed to get some things ready for a genset... I made up a "new" set of battery cables. The new parts were the battery post clamps and ring terminal ends, the cable itself is older than the hills, but nice and heavy. 2/0.
I also poured 40 pounds of lead ingots as I worked through some odd shaped lead as I was working through the clogged lead pot ayer.
Lately the Balrog has gotten into "cooking", and anytime that I sit down for a break, she hauls over one "dish" at a time and tells me exactly how I should eat it, whether with a fork or not, what noises I should make, and how I should congratulate her for her fine cooking... and makes sure that I do not forget to wash each down with freshly poured strawberry tea from the smiley teapot.
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