Display monitor went out. All the obvious solutions such as fuses were eliminated. Wiring harness going to fuse box shows to be good but two different replacement monitors, one from China, and another from Spain, do not work when connected. Really do not want to have to haul to Cat to fix what should be a fairly easy repair but I, and much better mechanics, are stumped as to why we can't get juice to a new monitor.
Hello, What is your machine's serial number? When you post don't forget to mention machine's serial number. If you checked all the fuses then you should check the B+ supply (18-24V) to the monitor. As well as key switch on signal also should be checked at the monitor connector.(18-24V)
New monitors need to be flashed
That word may have a different meaning to some mechanics, shall we try "Initialized"?? LOL
Not sure on the C but other 320s I have found that where the wire harness goes along the floor in the side council there is a plug that gets corroded I think it is bat power to the monitor
SN is 0320CTPAB03811 Excuse my ignorance but I do not know what it meant by a new monitor needing to be flashed or initialized. After I exhausted my limited mechanical skills, I had a John Deere mechanic come take a look. He does a lot of work for me afterhours and is one of the best mechanics I have ever been around. He checked the individual prongs in the wiring harness on the machine and they show to be good. He then consulted with another mechanic who has logged many hours working on all types of heavy equipment, most of it Cat. This guy provided a schematic for the Deere mechanic to know exactly what each prong in the wiring harness is. So while corrosion damage is certainly plausible, seeing as how Cat chose to put the harness right on the floor where it is more susceptible to dirt, all signs point to the it being good.
What Part Number of replacement monitor did you purchase.? Flashing or initializing is a process whereby the operating software required for the monitor to function is uploaded via a laptop. The same P/N of Monitor could be used on a hundred different models. The software loaded into it effectively gives it an identity so that it knows on what model it’s installed.
This thread HeavyEquipmentForums talks of the connector that is susceptible to corrosion.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. Will check with my Cat dealer about loading the software.
It is my recollection that the monitor will power up regardless of the programming.
I agree. If it is the type of monitor that requires a software installation then it should power up irrespective of whether it has correctly-installed software in it or not. If it is not even powering up then look closely at the info in post #2 of the link mentioned in post #8 above regarding the wiring harness connector under the floor mat. As mentioned before, knowing the P/N of the replacement monitors you already purchased might also be useful.
Problem with today's meters is they don't load the circuits at all, which can be a good thing, but for power they'll show voltage just fine, but when you throw even a few milliamp load the bad connection drops the voltage to zero. I've seen corrosion in light circuits cross connections in a sealed connector and light up other lights. Hard to trace. Sometimes the old light bulb style test light will show if there's a weak connection somewhere. Or test voltage with the load connected by back probing.
Thank you for the explanation- I'm from -the old days- in electronics when FLASHING was firmware loaded onto a processor or control memory and 'burned' with applied voltage. The only way the firmware could be 're-flashed' was to expose the memory to UV light for a period of time. (there was a little 'window' on the memory chip)