10ee electrical question

Hello I have a 10EE that am in the process of getting it up and running. I have the motor generator and the drive motor out and at the motor shop currently. they are checking it out and making sure that its good to go. but in the mean time i think a caused a little hiccup. the pictures will explain more but maybe you guys can lead me in the right direction. there is a switch box next to the drive motor behind the end panel that contains the forward and reverse switch that controls the drive motor. behind this box there is some wires that appear to be isolated by ceramic insulators. this box was bumped some way shape or form and a wire was broke. i think this is a heat sink of some sort. can i twist the wire back together and be short a loop or should i do something else. any thoughts would be appreciated. thanks brian

The wires at the back is a resistor bank for dynamic braking.

No harm in losing a turn I guess but I'd find some mechanical means of connecting the two ends. Snap a single segment from a terminal block, remove the outer coating so it doesn't melt in use, pass each end right through the brass connector, pull the wires snug and clamp it up with the two screws.

upfberg said:

Hello I have a 10EE that am in the process of getting it up and running. I have the motor generator and the drive motor out and at the motor shop currently. they are checking it out and making sure that its good to go. but in the mean time i think a caused a little hiccup. the pictures will explain more but maybe you guys can lead me in the right direction. there is a switch box next to the drive motor behind the end panel that contains the forward and reverse switch that controls the drive motor. behind this box there is some wires that appear to be isolated by ceramic insulators. this box was bumped some way shape or form and a wire was broke. i think this is a heat sink of some sort. can i twist the wire back together and be short a loop or should i do something else. any thoughts would be appreciated. thanks brian

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The "switch box" is called the DC control panel. As RC said, the wire-wound ceramic devices (there are two) are resistors, basically big heating elements. I would take out the broken section and use an small-gauge, uninsulated crimp connector to fasten the ends together. Make sure you crimp them really well. There's a fair amount of current going through the wires, so a good connection is important. The resistance of the repaired resistor should be very close to that of the undamaged resistor behind it. If it's very much higher, you didn't get a good crimp.

Something like this connector should do the trick: Amazon.com: Baomain 75pcs Copper Metal Uninsulated Wire Ferrule Cable Crimp Terminals Butt Connector(1 -12 AWG (4.-6. mm2) / 14 -16 AWG (1.5-2.5 mm2) / 18 - 22 AWG (.5-1. mm2),each size 25 PCS: Home Improvement

The pair of fuses in the bottom of the panel are not original. Look at the wire number on the wires coming into the splices at the right and let me know to which wires the fuses have been added. What amperage are the fuses?

Cal

I wonder if you can get an appropriate wire and rewind the whole resistor?

rakort said:

I wonder if you can get an appropriate wire and rewind the whole resistor?

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Yep just determine what gauge wire you have then search Ebay for it.

Wire

ok thanks, that is what I had in my head....nichrome wire.

Not just any wire will do, you need resistance wire, something like Nichrome or Kanthal wire. Unwind the wire, measure the resistance, divide by the length to get the Ohms per foot. Find a resistance wire that's close to that value. Amazon carries resistance wire:
Amazon.com: resistance wire

Cal

the tags on the wire look like GA2 and E1 they go into a 20 amp 250 volt fuse. I really appreciate all your guys help. thank you. Briam

Cal is correct (as usual). Resistance wire is made in countless alloys with different resistances per foot. In this case you have considerable latitude because varying resistance will just mean different stopping times.

The first thing I would do is try to repair the existing one. Losing a turn will not be a problem but connecting the ends can be tricky. As others have said, only twisting them together will not work. You will have a high resistance point and it will burn up. Clean the ends where they will join by scraping with a pen knife to remove as much of the oxide as reasonably possible, then twist them together and snip the twist to about 1/2" long. Using the smallest tip for your acetylene torch with a neutral flame, position the end of the twist about 1/4"-3/8" from the tip at right angles to the flame and the twisted end out of the flame. Move the wire toward the flame until the end of the twist starts to enter the outer flame. The wire should melt and form a ball and you are done.

Remember that Nichrome wire becomes very brittle when it has been heated, so proceed carefully. The above procedure may or may not succeed.

If not, resistance wire is readily available. I may have some that is suitable. Some years ago I looked into making replacement resistors. A local pottery shop will make forms and winding them would be easy. I had a round dial panel in for refurbishment and made a drawing which is somewhere in my archives. I will check my drawings and see if I recorded the resistance and wire type.

Bill

upfberg said:

the tags on the wire look like GA2 and E1 they go into a 20 amp 250 volt fuse. I really appreciate all your guys help. thank you. Briam

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Are both fuses 20A?

There are already overload devices (the two tall rectangular devices above the forward/reverse contactors) that protect GA2 and E1. Unless they've failed, the fuses aren't doing anything for you. Particularly if the E1 fuse it 20A, since the exciter can only put out about 3 Amps.

Other than the inline fuses, the wiring looks pretty stock and the overloads don't appear to have been bypassed. You can probably remove the fuses if you want. Is there any evidence that any of the baby blue wires or the wires on the back got really hot at some point?

Cal

After trial and error and some research I have my resistor fixed in my 10ee. Now I’m all but ready to fire it up. I would like to thank all of you for your information and wealth of knowledge you gave me. Thank you so much. Brian

What was your end game solution?

I got mine out recently and checked them out. They are covered with grease and grime but when I hooked them up to a meter I think they both came out around 12 ohms.

NICHROME 80 WIRE 20 gauge. the original was 12 ohms and my new one was just over 12.

upfberg said:

NICHROME 80 WIRE 20 gauge. the original was 12 ohms and my new one was just over 12.

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Those slide-stacked segments of ceramic it gets wound onto - and their frames, IIRC - are still current items somewhere, too, though I don't remember where.