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According to the GF, its all down to the recent Lunar Eclipse, where it wasn't just the Mowers or even 'Cherry P' as so many things went wrong that Week that I got so bored with being Paranoid that I was expecting disasters to happen from the moment I got out of Bed!
'Je ne disappointed pas! as they say in your neck of the Woods!
Top Tip or should that be 'Hot Tip!' if your Engine Catches Fire because you liberally Sprayed it with Brake Cleaner (before it caught Fire) You cannot Blow it Out! 'Ask me how I know or rather don't'
I haven't got a Manual but when I checked the Hydraulic Tank, it was empty! and so I filled it up
The Pump itself is Belt Driven from the Engine, although you have to Turn on a Switch in the Cab to get it to run, although I don't know why?
It may need Bleeding or maybe not, I'll have to wait and see
As for the Alternator Light, only one Battery was Charging, though I may have fixed that now, as when I charge one of the Batteries with my Battery Charger, the other one Charges up to (which didn't happen before)
That was hanging over my Car (with Cherry 'P') my newly acquired 'Cherry Picker'
Sometimes you've just gotta have one, for no apparent reason whatsoever, so when I was quoted 'Megabucks' to Cut an Overhanging Branch down from 'The Tree Of Doom' that was Hanging over my Car, I bought a 'Cherry Picker' (as you do) but 'Sight Unseen' from a Guy called 'Vince'
How somehow Convinced me (pun intended) that this was a real 'Peach of a Machine' a 'Cream Puff' and low Mileage 'Bobby Dazzler!'
Thankfully he wasn't wrong, as 'Cherry P' as the GF now calls her has only covered an Astonishing 5,000 Miles from New! with MOT's to Prove!
And Vince was a real Character, the like of whom they don't make any more! as I was about to find out, when I Climbed into the Basket of 'Cherry P' with Vince, where just a few Seconds later, we were over 45ft in the Air! as Vince began to show me all the Controlls
Thankfully there were only 3 Levers but push one the Wrong way at the Wrong Time and you could easily Frighten Yourself Silly! as it really does feel Scary when your that High in the Air!
At which point I then found myself looking, or should I say Transfixed by a Warning Sign inside the Basket
Vince! it says One Person Only! and there is Two of us!
Mate, Maaaate! no need to take any notice of that, as you don't look as if you Weigh more than a 'Bag of Sugar' so don't worry about it falling over, as it ain't gonna happen!
But Vince! they can fall over, as I've seen all those Videos on YouTube!
Mate, Maaaaate! some of those are probably Fakes and just Staged to get 'Likes'
Yeah Vince but not all of them!
Mate I've never heard of one ever Falling over but that was a long time ago and in any event he's probably out of Hospital now and the Chances are he's made a Full recovery!
As for me I'm Scared of Heights and Starting to feel Sick and so to ease the Tension, I asked another Question, to take my mind off it
Vince, what happens if I am 50ft in the Air and 'Cherry P' runs out of Diesel?
How do I get down?
Keep your Mobile with you Mate and make sure its Charged up! and also a Coil of Rope so that you can Climb down! and don't run out of Diesel, then you should be OK but Should is one of those words that Freaks me out!
Eventually Vince headed for home and left me all alone with 'Cherry P' where after Weeks of problems, when I managed to lose the Key of the Immobilizer, I was finally ready to tackle cutting down the 'Tree of Doom'
The 'Tree of Doom' was really High and you can see the Stub of the Branch in the Photo, which I had to leave behind because of Mechanical Problems that could have left me Stranded so High up in the Air (but more about that later)
The 'Tree of Doom' was hanging by a Thread! although eventually I managed to cut it down
'Cherry P' about to tackle the 'Tree of Doom'
Not Bad for a Grand! but 'Cherry P' then developed a very Expensive Problem! To be Continued............
Alex
If that tree is a weeping willow, I would be more worried about the big branch/trunk piece going up at 45¨in this photo, that looks like it has already been cut in earlier times as it has a square end.:
The GiF rolling acres has a weeping willow rather like the tree in OBT, and a piece of trunk that size fell off last summer!
I cut that Trunk off a few years ago, using my Hiab Crane to get me up there, although unlike the 'Tree of Doom' it wasn't very High
'The Tree of Doom' was about 30ft off the Ground and was literally hanging by a Thread, so I had to very Carefully Chop it down just a piece at a time, as I didn't want to risk the Weight pulling 'Cherry P' over, which apparently can happen, if it hits the Basket as it falls!
When I first got 'Cherry P' She only had one Battery to Start her and then the Alternator Light would go out but since I added a Second Battery, like She is supposed to have, the Alternator Light Stays on
At Start up Both Batteries had over 12 Volts of Charge but after about an Hour the Voltage in the Batteries goes down so much, that the Hydro Electrics can Stall the Engine (and nearly did!) which is why I had to leave that bit of Stump behind
It looks as if the Alternator isn't Charging the Battery, so I think the diodes may have gone, as the Current seems to flow in Both directions and so the Cheapest option would be to buy a New Generic one
Except for one small problem! as this is not your Average 'Bog Standard' Alternator, as this is also fitted with a Vacuum Pump for the Brakes, where a New one of these Costs 'Megabucks'
So Plan 'A' would be to go back to using One Battery and then see if the Alternator Charges in the way it did before
Or Plan 'B' is Connect both Batteries to my Generator (that has a 12 Volt Outlet) as well as 240 Volts and then leave it running, while I use 'Cherry P' as a sort of Auxiliary Charging Set Up, while I'm waiting to Win the Lottery, to buy a New Alternator (about £150!) which I'd rather not Spend at the moment
As I am going to have to buy myself a 'Semi Professional' Wood Chipper for about £500, as there are so many Branches to get rid of, that they are almost taking over the Garden
The only good news being that the Belt for my Ride on Mower arrived from China! as I couldn't get one in the UK but putting it on and refitting that Deck was a Nightmare, as the Sun was in my eyes all the time, although at least I managed to Cut the Grass, just before it Rained!
Uber Expensive Alternator with a Vacuum Booster Pump on the Back, where a New One of these also comes with a Brand New Brake Booster
I don't recall you mentioning how the 2 batteries are used within the vehicle? It could be in one of 3 ways:
- In Series, giving 24v to power both the Vehicle and the Picker
- In Parallel, giving 12v but with double the Ah capacity to power both the Vehicle and the Picker
- Independently, with one 12v battery powering the Vehicle, and one 12v battery powering the Picker.
I'm just guessing, that they are mounted in Parallel giving a single high Ah 12v circuit? Your post 3302 seems to imply that.
However, I'm slightly confused as to how you had it wired up when there was only one battery in situ? Because, in Parallel, you would connect the +ve vehicle terminal to one battery and the -ve vehicle terminal to the other battery.
Can you draw a diagram of how you've got the 2 batteries wired up?
The other factor is that, if you're running 2 batteries, they really need to be "equal" in terms of capacity, age and condition, otherwise you can cause damage to the charging and wiring if one battery is significantly depleted compared to the other.
Both Batteries are wired in Parallel and both were Charged to 12.6 Volts (approx) before Starting
If I put the Battery Charger on one of them, that also Charges the other Battery as well
Hard to draw a Sketch for this, as the Wires go into Separate Looms but when I first got 'Cherry P' with just one Battery on
The Battery on the LHS as you face the Bonnet was connected in the Conventional way, with one Lead on the Positive and the other Lead on the Negative
While on the RHS as you face the Bonnet where the Battery was Missing, the Positive Lead and the Negative Lead, had been Joined together
Maybe to Stop the Current running away from one of the Batteries to the other?
While its well worth Spending Circa £150 on a New Alternator 'Cherry P' is not something that I'll be using every day, so using my Petrol Generator as a 12Volt Aux might be the Best Plan as a 'Stop Gap' measure, as that Generator seems to run on Fresh Air!
So providing I keep it running while using 'Cherry P' Although it is Clearly a bit of a Sketchy Setup, since the Alternator is no longer doing the Job, I don't think I could make it any worse but you would probably know that far better than me
Out of interest, also checked the Price of Diodes about £45 but Since that Alternator is getting a bit old, it may not be the best idea to only do half the Job
05-09-2024, 05:36 PM
