2014 LT40 Woodmizer Autoclutch Problem

[beamero]

Hey guys,

  I decided it was time to give the mill an actual pressure wash. Well, after washing it, the autoclutch now continues to engage and disengage when the key is turned on, even with the autoclutch switched to an off position. I found a bad resistor on the circuit board, and replaced it tonight. When turning the key, it continues to do the same thing, and burnt up the same resistor I had replaced. I'm planning on calling support tomorrow, but has anyone had this happen after washing? I don't want to replace the board if something else is causing the short. I unhooked both sensors, and it continued to cycle. Would anything else cause a short on the board (beside it being a bad board)? It's been 4 days since I washed it, so surely everything has dried by now.

Thanks much!

[DR Buck]

Didn't have it happen after a wash but I did have it several times.   My first thought was one of the sensors so I changed it with no success.  Then I swapped out the second without ant success as well.  I found "by accident"  ;D  If I hit the mill lightly with a hammer on the edge of the autoclutch bracket it would stop and work fine for a fairly long time.      Every time it re occurred I could stop it just by tapping a big wrench on the 7/16 bolts that hold on the cover.

I finally took it apart and re-crimped all of the electric crimp lugs and loosened and cleaned under the mounting bolts.   That solved it permanently.  Well at least up until I sold it. :D     I suspect it was a grounding problem and cleaning and retightening the bolts on the electronics assembly at the top of the module is what resolved it.  

Yours may be a different issue as I don't recall seeing any resistors, burned or otherwise. 

[reswire]

I'm sure Marty Parsons would know the "fix".  I've got the same year and model, and don't have any issue with my mill.  I don't power wash my mill, I use a powerful leaf blower to clean my mill after each use.  I've worked with electricity/electronics my whole life, and know the destructive problems that moisture can produce.  I used to live on the Chesapeake Bay, and everything in my shed suffered from the moist, salt air that penetrated my garage.  From golf clubs to motorcycles to anything metal, I needed to keep a coat of oil or wax/polish on everything metal to keep the corrosion to a minimum.  

[beamero]

Everything checked out this morning with the voltmeter. Rechecked all connections and the sensors. All good. Replaced the blown resister again, with another fail. Called support and bought a new mosfet controller. Pretty expensive wash. Will be sticking to a leaf blower from now on! Hopefully this will fix it. 

[charles mann]

I agree, water, especially under med to high pressure can have adverse reactions to electrical items. 

Its kind of a moot point now, unless the new component doest fix the problem. But how long between the time you washed and throwing power to it? I read something about 4 days, but it seems to my understanding of the way you wrote it, you washed, not sure how long after, but turned on, acted wonky and eventually (4 days later), still having problems. 

For future use if for whatever reason, it gets soaked again with water, maybe open up all electrical compartments and connecters and cleaning the connectors. We use a quick burst (depending amount of hydraulic fluid or other contaminants) of contact clear, then spray with a compound called ACF 50, which helps with electrical current transfers. 

Even with water "proof" cannon plugs, water at times still gets into the plugs and can throw all sorts of gremlins in our hydraulic, flight control and aux power unit avionics and electrical systems. So after washing, we clean and lube as many cannon plugs that we can reach (close to 100 plugs) and rarely have issues, but it seems occasionally, the avi/ele gremlins show up, even without washing. 

Just an fyi and a good product for future use. 

[beamero]

New board fixed it up. Working fine. To clarify, it messed up right after the wash. I let it sit for 4 days and it was still malfunctioning after drying. Thanks all!