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Electric Pto Clutches

2K views 12 replies 7 participants last post by  HDWildBill 
#1 ·
Is there any good way to determine if a electric clutch is going bad? The one in question is not mine, but one of my customers.
 
#3 ·
There's usually a resistance value given in the manual as well. If the insulation is wearing through on some of the windings that value will be off.
 
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#4 ·
How do you mean, the bearing or not locking up tight enough. Some clutches can be adjusted on air space clearance.
This one seems to jerk the deck harder than I think it should when you engage the clutch. It doesn't do it quite so bad if you engage it at full throttle. The only clutch I've had to replace, was one that if the clutch was hot from operation, and the owner would shut it off, then try to re-engage it, it would not re-engage until the clutch had cooled. Before I had put in the new clutch, the old one would jerk the deck harder than what would probably be considered normal (perhaps what the one I'm currently working on is doing). Once the new clutch was in, you could notice a difference in how much it jerked the deck.
 
#5 ·
How do you mean, the bearing or not locking up tight enough. Some clutches can be adjusted on air space clearance.
There's usually a resistance value given in the manual as well. If the insulation is wearing through on some of the windings that value will be off.
Last year I checked the "air gap". It acted like this last year. Maybe it's okay, since it went another season.
 
#6 ·
There's usually a resistance value given in the manual as well. If the insulation is wearing through on some of the windings that value will be off.
I've not seen any resistance value for this clutch in any of the manuals for this garden tractor. The service manual did say to set the "air gap", which I did last year. It did not seem to make any difference. It is a Warner Electric clutch.
 
#9 ·
Maybe the clutch faces are worn and it's grabbing quickly rather than slipping a bit when engaging. Perhaps disassembling it and inspecting all the parts may shed some light on what's going on. One other thing to check is the wiring and switch in the clutch circuit as well as the battery voltage while running. A low or high operating voltage will change the current in the clutch coil.
 
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#13 ·
When I pull a PTO off for any reason I will clean it up and use shop air to blow out debris. It's amazing what comes out sometimes. Do check your voltages, like Brian Suggested, I learned a lesson working on an electric fuel pump not long ago on what the wrong voltage will do.
 
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