Help Mr Wizards!

Ian said:
I hate trying to diagnose electrical stuff over the internet with no multimeter on the other end. Just taking the switch out of the hole and isolating the body of it from ground should prove whether the switch is internally shorting or not.
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Not the same, but I got 35 years of work experience in electrical and electronics field, but I just don't have the Brain that can see. I am very visual, and need the stuff in front of me to give a valued opinion...most any attempt I can try to help with such things as these via interwebs is likely to be lame, to totally off base. BUT honestly, I am pretty good with this stuff if I am in person ;)
 
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JonB and You All!
I appreciate all the help you give me and have given me over the years! It always helps!
Jim
 
Guess we are in the monsoon season
Little chance of working outside without rain.
Got the new ignition switch but it did not solve the problem however it is a welcome replacement for the old original with the broken stub of a key and and crunchy action!
I have checked all the wiring and I think all of the warning control connections so I’m thinking that it may be in the other fixed controls like the solinode or other.
You tube is full of Vids showing how to trouble shoot a blowing fuse but they are only for a fuse that blows when you try to start the engine! Haven’t found one yet where the fuse blows when it is inserted in a system that is off so there has to be a dead ground somewhere I’m just running out of ideas where to look?
 
JWFilips said:
Was that the tiller or the 22 hp garden tractor?
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The tiller. I have 2 of them. I bought the first one while I was in Montreal.
I had a 115 acre weekend place just across the border in New York with a one acre garden. The ground was rocky and sandy. I could wear out a set of tines in one season. When I would come home on Sunday afternoon, the neighbors would come over and load up on vegetables. Here in Louisiana, I can go 10 -15 years on a set. The second one was given to me.
 
It is nearly impossible to diagnose something like that via the internet.

However, you’re getting closer to a solution. If the fuse is blowing with the new ignition switch in place but not turned on, we’re down to something that is energized outside of the switched circuit. Try a inserting a fuse with the plug removed from the new ignition switch. And then try disconnecting the large wire from the starter solenoid. (tape it up so you it can’t short against something when it’s off the terminal). If the power for the ignition circuit comes via a tap on the starter solenoid, that solenoid could have some internal fault. Without seeing the electrical system in person, it’s difficult to know what you’re dealing with.

If the unit worked last fall and doesn’t work now, that points to water damage or mice chewing on something.
 
It was working fine all this spring and right up until 20 minutes when this happened
Took it up the hill to plant some shallots in my big garden and I shut it off when I was finished (all of 20 minutes) i tried to start it and it stoped working
It has been running great up to that point all this Spring
 
JWFilips said:
today I took it up to my big garden, planted some shallots and then whet to come down to the house. Got nothing at the ignition switch so checked the 30 amp main fuse. Sure enough it had blown! This has happened a few times over the years especially after rainy weather.
I put a new one in and it blew when I inserted it ( ignition was off) I tried 2 more times
And each time the fuse blew
<<<SNIP
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You kind of threw me off with the "rainy weather" comment, especially since I assume there was no rain/water involved that day, right?
So it started friday, then later in the day it didn't start. Fuse blown sometime after the first start or during that first start?
Since it was 30 amp, I am assuming it's fusing the high current wire going to Starter.
We now know keyswitch is good.
I wonder if the Starter itself is shorted out?
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You might try hot wiring, directly from battery to large Hot wire on starter...BUT before you do this, I would disconnect the large Hot wire connection on the Starter...and the Positive battery terminal. Then just connect a piece of wire on the positive battery terminal and then just 'touch' the other end of wire on large hot connection on Starter. If the starter is good, it will spin and turn motor over...if it's shorted out, your will see a big show of sparks like welding, but shouldn't burn anything up, if it is done for just a fraction of a second.
 
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JonB ok. sounds doable. and you are correct; not raining that day it started blowing fuses without having the ignition switch on! That is what is making it difficult for me because it is shorting out on a shut down tractor! I need to find the areas that maybe responsible for shorting out on an unstarted electrical system! The internet is full of videos that explain how to trouble shoot a fuse blowing when trying to start the tractor but none for fuses blowing without starting or trying to start the tractor!
I put a meter across the the 2 sides of the fuse holder and I'm getting 12.8 Volts so it has to be a full dead short somewhere I checked for pinched or rubbed wires & now I have to find other objects that could cause this besides the ignition switch

Could I use the red wire from a jumper cable to test the starter?
 
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Sounds like the solenoid is shorted. take one side of the power off the solenoid and touch it to the other. Or just use a pair of needle nose to jump across them. If it tries to turn over then your problem is the solenoid itself or the trigger wire from the key to pull in the solenoid.
 
and yeah you can use a jumper cable to make the connection.
that's how you bench test a starter motor.
ground to an ear and the hot to the post.

but you got a short somewhere.
i'd undo the powered wire to the switch and use another wire to jump around it.
if it gets stupid hot the ground is down stream from the switch, if it turns over like normal your hot line is grounded out somewhere.
 
So the short is between the fuse and the switch, or there is another circuit the fuse powers OTHER than the switch which is shorted to ground. Take the main hot wire off the switch and isolate it, see if your meter doesn't read "OL" then.
 
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