|
| I've had some trouble the last couple of years with my FmX, specifically in regards to operating my planter. The first one was that the display would lock up and shut down when I'd make changes in the FIQ configurations. When I'd back out of the setup screens and would hit "Reconfiguring...." the display would lock up. The second was the seed monitoring not functioning correctly. It would be complete nonsense of 60% skips and multiples with low population even though everything was planting correctly.
Setup: FmX, FIQ seed monitoring, Rate control mod for Starter fert, Rate control mod for 32%, Section control for Tru-count clutches, Rate control for Rawson drive.
We(me and my precision specialist) thought that the two problems were one problem and couldn't figure it out. We replaced every wire harness and FIQ module except one and couldn't fix it. We didn't think to replace the Rawson drive module because it was operating the Rawson correctly without any trouble, but we ended up replacing it anyways just to be thorough. The first thing I noticed is that the newer module came with a pigtail for the ground wire, my old didn't have that. Plugged it in, and.....seed monitoring worked. and worked flawlessly all season. I don't know if there was some kind of feedback in the ground wire that would scramble the data or what, but it seems like you need to ground that module to the frame for reliable service. However.....
The display would still lock up like before. So that means it wasn't one problem, but two different problems that just happened to show up at the same time. But I think I know what is going on with the display problems. The display will only lock up when I use the planter, I can use if for strip-till and sidedress without it ever happening...just the planter. But my strip-till and sidedress operations are very simple with one or two modules being used, my planter is quite involved with a bunch of modules. I'm thinking there is a big amp draw when the display goes to "Reconfigure..." all those modules at the same time, and my power wire either to the modules or the display might not be heavy enough to handle it without a big voltage drop. I'm tied directly into the battery for both, and my connections are all clean.
So my question is: Has anybody upgraded to a heavier power wire to power their modules/displays. Has anybody else even had this problem when running multiple FIQ modules?
Edit: I should add that I borrowed a display from my specialist and it did the exact same thing, so it isn't the display, its something in the wiring.
Edited by 00rooster 9/18/2013 11:12
| |
|
Solution to one, and maybe two Fmx problems
