L3400 Ever had corroded fuses?

[tallyho8]

My buddy was using his 3 year old L3400 for about an hour and then killed it. He tried to start it a few minutes later and nothing.

After towing it back to his shop and spending hours diagnosing the problem, he found the bottom 3 fuses in the fusebox had corrosion on the terminals and corrosion on the terminals in the fusebox also.

After cleaning them the tractor performed flawlessly again. He always keeps his tractor in the barn and it has never been in water or in the rain but he has washed it a few times.

My question, has anyone ever had this happen to them or is it a rare occurrence?

 

[ccsial]

Mine is 5 years old with 285 hours and I just went out and looked at the fuses. They look like new.

Mine is stored in a garage and is used in summer and snowy winter but not in the rain.

I wonder if the humidity down in LA may be the culprit. Your near the gulf too so maybe there is salt in the air.

 

[leonz]

No its not really a rare occurance because of condensation and with heat it always attracts moisture and then the fun begins.


He may have had a lot of condensation under the hood and it dripped down over time.

A big can of contact cleaner works wonders-but before you do that disconnect the hot hot terminal on the battery or if you have knife switch for the battery open the contact. I dont want get yelled at for not telling you to do that first:laughing:


How close are you to Franklin and Weeks Island?



leonz

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Corrosion and electricity go together. If it's a possibility, electricians use anti-oxidant compounds to protect the contact points. It is available at any good building supply store in the electrical supply section. Look for a small plastic tube like a glue tube. Be careful not to use too much. The stuff is conductive, and will cause current leaks if you smear it all over. For fuses, a Q-tip would be a good applicator.

 

[Rocksprings]

Will it harm anything to spray them (fuse box) with WD40 now and then ?

 

[rbargeron]

I wouldn't expect WD40 to help - it dries to a paraffin-like waxy surface - might reduce the corrosion but insulate the blades anyway. My L345's exposed fuses on the firewall looked ok but needed shining up with emery cloth to actually work. On my L5450 the fuses are inside a cover that seems to help - no problems with those.

 

[tallyho8]

How close are you to Franklin and Weeks Island?
leonz

This tractor is about 100 miles Northwest of New Orleans, far from the gulf and salt water and it is a covered fuse box. I have wanted to pull the fuses in my 1 year old L4400 to look at them but have not had time yet.

 

[Earl Ohl]

This tractor is about 100 miles Northwest of New Orleans, far from the gulf and salt water and it is a covered fuse box. I have wanted to pull the fuses in my 1 year old L4400 to look at them but have not had time yet.

When you pull those fuses & after you clean off the corrosion (if you find any) do yourself a favor & put some dielectric grease on those fuse terminals. That'll keep them from corroding again.

 

[ccsial]

When you pull those fuses & after you clean off the corrosion (if you find any) do yourself a favor & put some dielectric grease on those fuse terminals. That'll keep them from corroding again.

I Agree, good advice.

 

[DiezNutz]

When you pull those fuses & after you clean off the corrosion (if you find any) do yourself a favor & put some dielectric grease on those fuse terminals. That'll keep them from corroding again.

Yes, this is better advice than No-Ox. No-Ox is better left to large single electrical connections that have adequate physical isolation from each other; blade fuses don't fit that description.

Dielectric silicone grease and specialty "bulb grease" (which is virtually the same thing) is rather expensive, but even petroleum jelly (Vaseline) is better than nothing. :thumbsup: