I did not add this to my post below thought it'd get buried. ..I'd delete the old post as the mods surely have enough work here but I don't know how or have permissions...anyway any help is appreciated now. Here's what I've tried.... I'm just about ready to just hook up the gun motor to the turret motor, just to have turret traverse..Or just buy a Stug upper hull!
The new traverse motor came and I tested it with a battery to see it works. I cut the wires from the upper hull connector (the 8 pin) and hooked the motor directly while working the lever (the Tx is known good 100%). Nothing. I tried measuring for voltage and continuity everywhere in the connection. The wire colors hookup is different from every schematic i saw- or I am doing something grossly incorrectly-the wire to it is not red but orange. The black ground wire showed continuity, at least, the hot wire connection is dead. Thought I'd just cut the wire from the orange cable BEFORE It gets to the connector since that's where voltage/continuity ends... That didn't work either. No voltage no anything. Then I just started measuring for voltage at the red wire while my wife worked the TX lever -aha voltage! Release lever-no voltage, push lever -3 v. voltage! I thought I'd get smart and not just cut the wire-i carved off an inch of insulation and spliced and attached the wires for the motor.....
NOTHING!
Does anyone have ideas??? Anybody ..? I forgot to mention the turret cable is the regular one piece 8 pin connector (not the newer two pc. connector on one end kind) red wire on one end the orange (turret traverse, hot wire) at the other...
HL PZKFW III Turret traverse still no fix!!! argh HELP PLZ!
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hawkeye3guns
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- Location: Grantham, Lincs, UK
Re: HL PZKFW III Turret traverse still no fix!!! argh HELP
Hi mate There is a post somewhere in the electrical section that is labelled RX-18 wiring I forget who by but it gives all the wire colours and each colour designation ie for example white is negative, red is main lights, blue is machine gun ect. sorry not sure which one it is exactly, I know it was there because a while ago I printed it out and used it to wire my sherman up and it all worked first time.
regards Denzil
regards Denzil
opp's you said get off the road
Re: HL PZKFW III Turret traverse still no fix!!! argh HELP
Hawkeye thx for the reply. Yes i have googled that b ut all the schematics for the turret show functions that seem to be different on mine. In the schematics the wire to the turret traverse motor is supposed to be red, the one to mine is orange and the red is on the other end of the connector. So none of the schematics seem to match up.
I'm not surprised since i'm in automotive and this happening is almost routine that a schematic turns into a loose "puzzle guide". But these are only 8 wires here. I think the tank (I got it used) got left outside in someones garage for a few years, and the connections got affected by moisture and that is what is causing the problem...I traced the problem to ONE tiny soldered connection, on the upper hull turret plug in 8 pin connector and perhaps i should just resolder it? But the rest of it stil woorks...
. I'm about ready to give up and just transfer the turret gun wires to the traverse motor simple to have traverse, and be done with it!
I'm not surprised since i'm in automotive and this happening is almost routine that a schematic turns into a loose "puzzle guide". But these are only 8 wires here. I think the tank (I got it used) got left outside in someones garage for a few years, and the connections got affected by moisture and that is what is causing the problem...I traced the problem to ONE tiny soldered connection, on the upper hull turret plug in 8 pin connector and perhaps i should just resolder it? But the rest of it stil woorks...
. I'm about ready to give up and just transfer the turret gun wires to the traverse motor simple to have traverse, and be done with it!
Re: HL PZKFW III Turret traverse still no fix!!! argh HELP
Marc,
You cannot use the colour as a guide. You need to trace from the RX-18 out, and make sure that whatever is connected to the 8 pin then gets to the traverse motors. The way the traverse motor work there is no hot wire per sa, as they just reverse the polarity to get the change in spin/rotation. So when you turn right one is hot, turn left the other one is hot. I don't believe the traverse motor goes thru the patch board, so you should be able to trace from RX-18 to the 8 pin plug/board and then directly to the traverse motor.
This is one of the simplest connection so there shouldn't be too much complication. Send a picture if you can and that would help us to see if there is something weird.
MichaelC.
You cannot use the colour as a guide. You need to trace from the RX-18 out, and make sure that whatever is connected to the 8 pin then gets to the traverse motors. The way the traverse motor work there is no hot wire per sa, as they just reverse the polarity to get the change in spin/rotation. So when you turn right one is hot, turn left the other one is hot. I don't believe the traverse motor goes thru the patch board, so you should be able to trace from RX-18 to the 8 pin plug/board and then directly to the traverse motor.
This is one of the simplest connection so there shouldn't be too much complication. Send a picture if you can and that would help us to see if there is something weird.
MichaelC.
Re: HL PZKFW III Turret traverse still no fix!!! argh HELP
Michael pictures coming up, maybe i am measuring voltage wrong or at the wrong spots. I do not know how much voltage it takes to spin the traverse motor. I activate the lever on the Tx on no voltage comes from anywhere. Even from the wires where it is logically supposed to be coming from.
You are correct in that the wires dont go through that small square board like the headlights and gun elevation motor-they come straight from the 8 pin wire, to the connector, through the soldered parts inside, and the orange one should probably be hot and the white wire next to it shoudl be grond, or reverse polarity or something-maybe grounding is my problem. I really have very little idea what im doing.
This is the leads coming from "8 pin connector A" as its called. The wires from the connector (in the upper hull) are red and black as you'd expect. The corresponding wires TO it on the cable are orange and white. I actually cut the orange wire and tried running it straight to the traverse motor. Shouldl have just stripped and inch of the wires and measured voltage because that had no effect either - Zero volts when working the lever.
The turret traverse did work when i got the tank, then a week ago turret conked out and just quit for no apparent reason. The motor is fine, the Tx is fine, the Rx is (i think) fine since everything else works and its a month old.
There is no logic to it since everything else from the turret 8 pin cable (old style one piece connector) works-headlights and gun elevation motor work. I'm either going to just swap the wires from the gun elevation motor to the turret traverse and try and use that (something tells me even though logically that should work it won't), or just give up and drive the tank how it is until a decent easy fix comes along. The connector is available to buy for $10 or so, of course, but no wires attacked. And soldering 6 or 8 wires with those tiny connections and trying not to melt the plastic etc. is beyond me. Maybe I'll find an ebay hull or at least the connector WITH wiring still attached. Some place called "RCparty.com" has a whole upper hull for about $25 shipped, which would be the easiest fix by far if the wiring came with it (but I'm guessing it almost certainly does not and you get a piece of plastic and that's it).
This image is the 8 pin wire from the Rx (the 2.4 Ghz one) and the arrow shows the wire that is closest to (and presumably operates) the traverse motor-its orange and the one next to it is the other wire to the motor, the white wire. Not matter what i do and how i try to measure i cannot measure any voltage coming from these wires. They go STRAIGHT to the traverse motor and there are only two wires, period, its a straight shot and why it should be such a mystery to get it to work, when it did used to work, and everything else on the tank DOES function- is baffling. I suspected a corroded or moisture damaged 8 pin connector and just on that motor but even bypassing the connector doesn't allow any voltage to pass...
If any of that made any sense to anybody any comments would be appreciated. If anybody happens to have lying around in their parts box an 8 pin hull turret connector A" (the thing in the image but with the wires attached-i can't solder worth a darn) with the wires to the turret motors etc. already
attached, i'm in the market to buy, name your price...
You are correct in that the wires dont go through that small square board like the headlights and gun elevation motor-they come straight from the 8 pin wire, to the connector, through the soldered parts inside, and the orange one should probably be hot and the white wire next to it shoudl be grond, or reverse polarity or something-maybe grounding is my problem. I really have very little idea what im doing.
This is the leads coming from "8 pin connector A" as its called. The wires from the connector (in the upper hull) are red and black as you'd expect. The corresponding wires TO it on the cable are orange and white. I actually cut the orange wire and tried running it straight to the traverse motor. Shouldl have just stripped and inch of the wires and measured voltage because that had no effect either - Zero volts when working the lever.
The turret traverse did work when i got the tank, then a week ago turret conked out and just quit for no apparent reason. The motor is fine, the Tx is fine, the Rx is (i think) fine since everything else works and its a month old.
There is no logic to it since everything else from the turret 8 pin cable (old style one piece connector) works-headlights and gun elevation motor work. I'm either going to just swap the wires from the gun elevation motor to the turret traverse and try and use that (something tells me even though logically that should work it won't), or just give up and drive the tank how it is until a decent easy fix comes along. The connector is available to buy for $10 or so, of course, but no wires attacked. And soldering 6 or 8 wires with those tiny connections and trying not to melt the plastic etc. is beyond me. Maybe I'll find an ebay hull or at least the connector WITH wiring still attached. Some place called "RCparty.com" has a whole upper hull for about $25 shipped, which would be the easiest fix by far if the wiring came with it (but I'm guessing it almost certainly does not and you get a piece of plastic and that's it).
This image is the 8 pin wire from the Rx (the 2.4 Ghz one) and the arrow shows the wire that is closest to (and presumably operates) the traverse motor-its orange and the one next to it is the other wire to the motor, the white wire. Not matter what i do and how i try to measure i cannot measure any voltage coming from these wires. They go STRAIGHT to the traverse motor and there are only two wires, period, its a straight shot and why it should be such a mystery to get it to work, when it did used to work, and everything else on the tank DOES function- is baffling. I suspected a corroded or moisture damaged 8 pin connector and just on that motor but even bypassing the connector doesn't allow any voltage to pass...
If any of that made any sense to anybody any comments would be appreciated. If anybody happens to have lying around in their parts box an 8 pin hull turret connector A" (the thing in the image but with the wires attached-i can't solder worth a darn) with the wires to the turret motors etc. already
attached, i'm in the market to buy, name your price...
Re: HL PZKFW III Turret traverse still no fix!!! argh HELP
Marc,
Sounds like you did a lot of the work already and I hate to say it but it could very well be the MFU. I have seen them failed on a single function but everything else works. Do you have another MFU to try out by any chance ? Even a HL one if you don't have a Taigen one handy ?
To go back to your question with regards to the 8 pin plug and cable, I have couple of them lying around and can send it to you (where are you located ?) not a problem, but as long as you have tested continuity then there really isn't a need to replace them. Just so that I get it straight, you did test the continuity using the Ohm meter from the wire to the 8 pin board for both the red/black and white orange pairing, right ? If you did that then you can rule out the wiring as an issue.
One thing you can try after you tested the continuity of the wires is to try to measure it directly out of the MFU. You should see a voltage change between the two pins (if you look at the MFU with the 8 pin plug at the bottom it would be the first 2 pins from the left, or the orange/white wires when connected to the 8 pin plug. The easiest would be to measure it at the 8 pin board, but if you are careful, you can also try touching it directly on the MFU itself but you have to be very careful and don't short anything else. If you wife is not around one trick I used is a rubber band and just wrap it around the control stick so it is all the way to the left/right. Just don't tell her you just replaced her with a rubber band.........
In terms of testing the actual traverse motor, you will need at least 3 volt if not 7.2 volts if there is a resistor on the motor itself. A 1.5 volt D or AA won't get it going. I highly doubt that it is the motor but you can definitely try soldering it to the elevation motor connection (should be on the 3 point patch board) and it will work as work. You might not even need to unsolder the elevation motor as there should be enough juice to drive both at the same time (I have connected two parallel traverse motors in my tanks).
Bottomline, there could be only three points of failure, at the MFU side, the wiring side, and the motor. The wiring should just be continuity issue as long as it is connected correctly, and the motor you can test independently. I think you have done both which leaves the MFU as the main culprit.
MichaelC.
Sounds like you did a lot of the work already and I hate to say it but it could very well be the MFU. I have seen them failed on a single function but everything else works. Do you have another MFU to try out by any chance ? Even a HL one if you don't have a Taigen one handy ?
To go back to your question with regards to the 8 pin plug and cable, I have couple of them lying around and can send it to you (where are you located ?) not a problem, but as long as you have tested continuity then there really isn't a need to replace them. Just so that I get it straight, you did test the continuity using the Ohm meter from the wire to the 8 pin board for both the red/black and white orange pairing, right ? If you did that then you can rule out the wiring as an issue.
One thing you can try after you tested the continuity of the wires is to try to measure it directly out of the MFU. You should see a voltage change between the two pins (if you look at the MFU with the 8 pin plug at the bottom it would be the first 2 pins from the left, or the orange/white wires when connected to the 8 pin plug. The easiest would be to measure it at the 8 pin board, but if you are careful, you can also try touching it directly on the MFU itself but you have to be very careful and don't short anything else. If you wife is not around one trick I used is a rubber band and just wrap it around the control stick so it is all the way to the left/right. Just don't tell her you just replaced her with a rubber band.........
In terms of testing the actual traverse motor, you will need at least 3 volt if not 7.2 volts if there is a resistor on the motor itself. A 1.5 volt D or AA won't get it going. I highly doubt that it is the motor but you can definitely try soldering it to the elevation motor connection (should be on the 3 point patch board) and it will work as work. You might not even need to unsolder the elevation motor as there should be enough juice to drive both at the same time (I have connected two parallel traverse motors in my tanks).
Bottomline, there could be only three points of failure, at the MFU side, the wiring side, and the motor. The wiring should just be continuity issue as long as it is connected correctly, and the motor you can test independently. I think you have done both which leaves the MFU as the main culprit.
MichaelC.
Re: HL PZKFW III Turret traverse still no fix!!! argh HELP
MFU is the Rx, the receiver? I guess it could have failed on that one function anything's possible with these Asian electronics. Like i said I eliminated everything else but the connection "8 pin A" as cause of failure. I was thinking of hooking up my old RX18 Rx, could just hook up the power and the 8 pin wire and see what happens.
Thing is i've hooked up the upper hull to another known good tank and receiver via just the 8 pin wire, and still nothing.
I'm in California, how much would you want for that wiring? Thank you for your kind offer might take you up on it. The connector itself is easy to get of course and cheap, but I am not even going to try to solder those 8 wires-it's beyond my talents. I was even looking at cold solder epoxy and so on last night but i'm not sure how good a solution that would be, if any since the joins are so close together. If you have just the hull connector with the wires coming out to the turret motors and lights, that would help a lot, i could splice them on easily. Please pm me let me know how much you want, i have paypal or could send you a check.
Thing is i've hooked up the upper hull to another known good tank and receiver via just the 8 pin wire, and still nothing.
I'm in California, how much would you want for that wiring? Thank you for your kind offer might take you up on it. The connector itself is easy to get of course and cheap, but I am not even going to try to solder those 8 wires-it's beyond my talents. I was even looking at cold solder epoxy and so on last night but i'm not sure how good a solution that would be, if any since the joins are so close together. If you have just the hull connector with the wires coming out to the turret motors and lights, that would help a lot, i could splice them on easily. Please pm me let me know how much you want, i have paypal or could send you a check.
Re: HL PZKFW III Turret traverse still no fix!!! argh HELP
Marc,
I just send some electronics out your way and it was $5 postage so I could put one of the 8 pin connector in the mail with the corresponding cable if you like for $10 ? The cable you need is the 8 to 8 connector right ?
My 8 pin boards are the old ones that doesn't have the 3 pin connector next to it like the picture. It will be the same as your existing one.
Well if you have hook it up to another good hull then it can't be the MFU then (MFU is the control board that you plug everything into). So there is no point in trying another RX-18.
I will PM you my email address.
MichaelC.
I just send some electronics out your way and it was $5 postage so I could put one of the 8 pin connector in the mail with the corresponding cable if you like for $10 ? The cable you need is the 8 to 8 connector right ?
My 8 pin boards are the old ones that doesn't have the 3 pin connector next to it like the picture. It will be the same as your existing one.
Well if you have hook it up to another good hull then it can't be the MFU then (MFU is the control board that you plug everything into). So there is no point in trying another RX-18.
I will PM you my email address.
MichaelC.
Re: HL PZKFW III Turret traverse still no fix!!! argh HELP
yes mike that would be great!
I can paypal to you or mail a check/cash which ever works. I'm in no rush, thank you so much for helping out a fellow moddeler! Just for a last description I'm guessing you know the part i need is where the 8 pin cable goes on the upper hull(it is the old style one piece/8 pin both ends)...then all the wires come out to go to the turret motors and the lights, this thing...i will plice the wires from it, then it should work?
I can paypal to you or mail a check/cash which ever works. I'm in no rush, thank you so much for helping out a fellow moddeler! Just for a last description I'm guessing you know the part i need is where the 8 pin cable goes on the upper hull(it is the old style one piece/8 pin both ends)...then all the wires come out to go to the turret motors and the lights, this thing...i will plice the wires from it, then it should work?
Re: HL PZKFW III Turret traverse still no fix!!! argh HELP
Marc,
This is what I am sending you on Monday:
MichaelC.
This is what I am sending you on Monday:
