E-Mag Power Issues

[Ando]

I'm having issues with my lowers. When I pull the battery saver plug the LCD comes on "X-Mod 1.8...bla..bla..bla" but then the lights dim after a sec or 2. I can pull the trigger 2-3 times then it just dies completely. I have 3 other batteries, all with the same outcome. I toss the batteries on my other lowers and they all work fine so It's not an issue with the battery.

It just all of the sudden started doing this. All the wires are 100%, only thing I can think of is the board went Tango Uniform but I don't see anything visually wrong. Nothing burnt, warped or fried.

Any ideas? This is a first for me.

[maniacmechanic]

connection at the hot lead above the battery & the ground at the board ??

[Ratt]

My first guess: bad ground. Take out the screw holding the board to the frame (AFTER you remove the battery from the marker). Clean the contact area around the hole using a swab dipped in alcohol. Replace screw.

Second guess: Did you recently replace the trigger or adjust the magnets in the trigger? If so, your HES may not be reading your trigger correctly, thus shutting down your board.

I had the same problem you are having. I swapped out batteries, and I even swapped out boards...problem remained. It wasn't until I reinstalled the original trigger that the problem went away. Installed the second trigger, problem returned. Adjusted the magnet, problem went away.

[ArmyEngineer]

Hey Ando,
Have you compared any voltages between the two sets of lowers using the same battery? The e-mag doesn't use a stiffening capacitor for when the solenoid activates, does it? If it does, that could be a culprit.

[Ando]

Not sure on the stiffening capacitor. I think they're mainly used for audio equipment on cars no?

The kids are down now so I can go tinker with my toys. I'll get back with you all later tonight on what I find.

[Tunaman]

remove the ground lug in the frame and clean it and the hole it came out of. Reinstall with an arbor press. Then run a 4/40 tap through the frame hole where the board mounts. Make sure the battery is disconnected before removing the screw that holds the board in. Let me know if that does it...

[ArmyEngineer]

Not sure on the stiffening capacitor. I think they're mainly used for audio equipment on cars no?

The kids are down now so I can go tinker with my toys. I'll get back with you all later tonight on what I find.

It's the same idea. The cap supplies high current to the amplifier when the bass hits hard. It's really just used as a storage capacitor for high current draw. I took a look in the e-mag and didn't find one. I have a Mako Storm trigger frame for my old Spyder Shutter and that definitely uses a cap to operate the solenoid, but then it doesn't use a 14 cell battery pack. The caps on board aren't old enough to have gone bad unless they were damaged or had a manufacturing flaw. It is unlikely that this is the problem, especially since you don't have a storage cap like the one below.

[Ando]

It was the ground at the board.

WTF is all I have to say about that Thanks guys for all the help.

[Tunaman]

You owe me now...

[Ando]

You owe me now...

I'll be at Tunaball. You can use me as your spoda for a day