2003 Traxter Max MPEM Fuse Keeps Blowing
#11
04-21-2011, 12:50 PM
If you are having a problem with the fuse blowing, and it wont start. And this has started after you have tried to jump start or even just charge the battery I may be able to repair it. It is a problem with the mpem (computer.) Call me and leave message and I will call back. (208) 847-2874 Larry Bush or (801) 674-4680.
#12
02-08-2012, 11:11 AM
It takes a couple days, since use of solvent is required to remove some of the rubber-like potting compound.
I'd be interested in the old module if you still have it around. Since it's blowing the fuse only when you turn the key ON, it sounds very much like the problem I have been able to repair.
I'd be interested in the old module if you still have it around. Since it's blowing the fuse only when you turn the key ON, it sounds very much like the problem I have been able to repair.
Please advise contact for "Edgecase"so I can contact re MPEM repair. My email is igduthie@gmail.com. THX
#13
07-03-2012, 03:14 PM
Solvent type to remove potting compound
It takes a couple days, since use of solvent is required to remove some of the rubber-like potting compound.
I'd be interested in the old module if you still have it around. Since it's blowing the fuse only when you turn the key ON, it sounds very much like the problem I have been able to repair.
I'd be interested in the old module if you still have it around. Since it's blowing the fuse only when you turn the key ON, it sounds very much like the problem I have been able to repair.
Thanks in advance,
Nick
#14
04-03-2013, 07:03 PM
#15
04-03-2013, 11:34 PM
Well since this thread is not dead, I will share my experience when I repaired my Mpem last summer.
With the Mpem PCB sealed in potting compound, I had to find something to make the compound easier to remove. I took three pieces of compound which I carved out and sunk them in three different solutions: 1- Paint thinner (varsol), 2- Acetone, and 3- Lacquer Thinner.
Results:
1- Paint thinner: Didn't do nothing to the compound;
2- Acetone: Compound got a little softer but not that much and I was scared that the Acetone could damage some of the eletronic components;
3- Lacquer Thinner: Bingo! Compound was swelling and breaking up in chunks! Lacquer thinner is nasty stuff for your skin but it's pretty safe for metal and most plastics.
So first thing I did is used a dremmel to dig a trench about 1/4" wide all around the edge of the plastic casing between the casing and the PCB. 1/4" is about all you have of clearance between the PCB and casing wall. Don't damage your casing cause you'll need it again!
After digging the trench, I filled it with Lacquer thinner and let it sit overnight so the compound in contact would swell. The next day I was able to remove a bit of compound all around the PCB. You'll need to make yourself a special tool such as long thin blade not wider than 1/4" that you can bend 90 degree to an "L" shape so that you can get to the bottom of the casing and rotate in the compound between the casing bottom and the PCB.
It took me a week, every day taking a bit of compound off and adding new lacquer thinner until I was able to pull the PCB out of the casing.
After that, it gets much easier. You will need something like small wood carving tools to delicately carve out the remaining compound around the components but only remove what is needed around the components of interest.
There is really just one component that failed and that is the large Diode "MR2535L". However since I damaged the 470uF capacitor with my blade during the compound removal step, I decided to replace this one and also all of the 1000uF caps while I was at it since I didn't know if the Lacquer thinner could have infiltrated and damaged the caps.
After soldering the new diode and caps on the PCB, I covered the aluminum back plate with electrical tape (just to make sure I don't short any connections on the PCB) but I did put back the screws to secure the semiconductor backside to the plate which is used as a heatsink.
Then I plugged the PCB on the Traxter and tried it and everything was working! Then the last step was to seal back the PCB in the plastic casing and the cheapest solution is to get GE silicone II which is safe for electronic components and solder joint (no acid composition - no corrosion during curing).
The traxter is back on the trails and we even did a waterproof test (not intended!) when the traxter was in the water up to the handlebars and didn't stall and it didn't affect the Mpem which was completely under water!
Here's some photos with comments:
Picture 1 showing the 1/4" clearance (between red lines) between the casing side wall and the PCB.
Picture 2 showing inside of plastic casing after PCB was removed.
Picture 3 showing the PCB removed with still some compound on the components and the dead diode circled in red.
Picture 4 showing the PCB with most compound removed. You'll notice the 470uF cap on the right side of the dead diode that has been damaged while removing the compound with my thin blade.
Picture 5 showing zoom of the dead diode. This is a MR2535L.
Picture 6 showing zoom of the 1000uF caps which I decided to change because of the possible damaged by the lacquer thinner.
Picture 7 showing the beat up 470uF cap which I also changed.
Picture 8 showing the dead diode (MR2535L) removed from PCB.
Picture 9 showing new caps installed on PCB.
Picture 10 showing new diode installed on PCB.
Picture 11 showing zoom of new diode installed on PCB
Picture 12 showing PCB with Aluminum back plate reinstalled with spring clips to keep semiconductors (2) touching the plate for heat sink purpose. Note that I covered the backplate with electrical tape to prevent shorting any connection on the back of the PCB.
Picture 13 showing PCB back in casing and filled with Clear GE Silicone II which is safe for electrical components (non corrosive). Note that it took me 2 tubes of silicone to fill the casing and I have sunk the tube in 80 degree celcius water for 10 minutes to ensure the silicone would flow easily everywhere.
Picture 14 showing Mpem ready to go back in the Traxter.
Picture 15 showing happy kid on Traxter back from the dead and in the trails we go!
Cheers,
Nicolas
With the Mpem PCB sealed in potting compound, I had to find something to make the compound easier to remove. I took three pieces of compound which I carved out and sunk them in three different solutions: 1- Paint thinner (varsol), 2- Acetone, and 3- Lacquer Thinner.
Results:
1- Paint thinner: Didn't do nothing to the compound;
2- Acetone: Compound got a little softer but not that much and I was scared that the Acetone could damage some of the eletronic components;
3- Lacquer Thinner: Bingo! Compound was swelling and breaking up in chunks! Lacquer thinner is nasty stuff for your skin but it's pretty safe for metal and most plastics.
So first thing I did is used a dremmel to dig a trench about 1/4" wide all around the edge of the plastic casing between the casing and the PCB. 1/4" is about all you have of clearance between the PCB and casing wall. Don't damage your casing cause you'll need it again!
After digging the trench, I filled it with Lacquer thinner and let it sit overnight so the compound in contact would swell. The next day I was able to remove a bit of compound all around the PCB. You'll need to make yourself a special tool such as long thin blade not wider than 1/4" that you can bend 90 degree to an "L" shape so that you can get to the bottom of the casing and rotate in the compound between the casing bottom and the PCB.
It took me a week, every day taking a bit of compound off and adding new lacquer thinner until I was able to pull the PCB out of the casing.
After that, it gets much easier. You will need something like small wood carving tools to delicately carve out the remaining compound around the components but only remove what is needed around the components of interest.
There is really just one component that failed and that is the large Diode "MR2535L". However since I damaged the 470uF capacitor with my blade during the compound removal step, I decided to replace this one and also all of the 1000uF caps while I was at it since I didn't know if the Lacquer thinner could have infiltrated and damaged the caps.
After soldering the new diode and caps on the PCB, I covered the aluminum back plate with electrical tape (just to make sure I don't short any connections on the PCB) but I did put back the screws to secure the semiconductor backside to the plate which is used as a heatsink.
Then I plugged the PCB on the Traxter and tried it and everything was working! Then the last step was to seal back the PCB in the plastic casing and the cheapest solution is to get GE silicone II which is safe for electronic components and solder joint (no acid composition - no corrosion during curing).
The traxter is back on the trails and we even did a waterproof test (not intended!) when the traxter was in the water up to the handlebars and didn't stall and it didn't affect the Mpem which was completely under water!
Here's some photos with comments:
Picture 1 showing the 1/4" clearance (between red lines) between the casing side wall and the PCB.
Picture 2 showing inside of plastic casing after PCB was removed.
Picture 3 showing the PCB removed with still some compound on the components and the dead diode circled in red.
Picture 4 showing the PCB with most compound removed. You'll notice the 470uF cap on the right side of the dead diode that has been damaged while removing the compound with my thin blade.
Picture 5 showing zoom of the dead diode. This is a MR2535L.
Picture 6 showing zoom of the 1000uF caps which I decided to change because of the possible damaged by the lacquer thinner.
Picture 7 showing the beat up 470uF cap which I also changed.
Picture 8 showing the dead diode (MR2535L) removed from PCB.
Picture 9 showing new caps installed on PCB.
Picture 10 showing new diode installed on PCB.
Picture 11 showing zoom of new diode installed on PCB
Picture 12 showing PCB with Aluminum back plate reinstalled with spring clips to keep semiconductors (2) touching the plate for heat sink purpose. Note that I covered the backplate with electrical tape to prevent shorting any connection on the back of the PCB.
Picture 13 showing PCB back in casing and filled with Clear GE Silicone II which is safe for electrical components (non corrosive). Note that it took me 2 tubes of silicone to fill the casing and I have sunk the tube in 80 degree celcius water for 10 minutes to ensure the silicone would flow easily everywhere.
Picture 14 showing Mpem ready to go back in the Traxter.
Picture 15 showing happy kid on Traxter back from the dead and in the trails we go!
Cheers,
Nicolas
The following 3 users liked this post by Nick_ATV:
#16
04-04-2013, 03:29 PM
That looks great.
Thanks for the great pictures. They made me happy and sad at the same time. I was hoping to be in the same boat as you but when I got to the diode I found my board also burnt out. Easiest thing for me will be to find an old one with the dead diode and fix it. But I can't find where anyone is selling the broken mpem. Funny part is I see quite a few traxters that are being parted out due to mpem issues. I am not paying a grand for electronic module. Brp should be flogged for this debacle. Ok I'm done venting.
#17
04-05-2013, 12:53 PM
Used Mpem hard to find
I feel your pain...Last summer when I was looking for a new Mpem, it was $1655 in Canada and $1250 in the US. Then I tried finding a used one. I phoned a local guy who had tons of used parts but as soon as I mentioned "Traxter Mpem" he started laughing and told me this was "rare as pope's ****" and told me he never has any in stock.
That's when I concluded that I had nothing to lose by trying to fix my own.
I wish you best of luck in finding a used one or one you can fix! If you are looking for dead Traxters to extract the Mpem, you may also want to look at John Deere Buck 500 since I think they use the same Mpem.
Cheers,
Nicolas
That's when I concluded that I had nothing to lose by trying to fix my own.
I wish you best of luck in finding a used one or one you can fix! If you are looking for dead Traxters to extract the Mpem, you may also want to look at John Deere Buck 500 since I think they use the same Mpem.
Cheers,
Nicolas
#18
04-27-2013, 10:46 PM
The plunge...
I took the plunge and bought a couple of parts quads to salvage mpem's from.. And to my dismay, the 2 year 2000 traxter mpem's will not work with the 02. Apparently these are supposed to work on 98 to 01. Yay... So, anybody looking for a mpem? I have two of these on ebay now. I need just enough money from both of them to buy one 2002 mpem.. Ugh.. Lesson learned.
#19
12-05-2014, 09:57 AM
Nick..do you still have the pictures of the Mpem repair? I can't get them to down load off the web site. Also where did you purchase the diode for the repair?thanks for the time . Baxtersj@msn.com
#20
06-22-2015, 09:23 PM
MPEM repair
I am in the process of repairing a Bombardier MPEM for a 2002 Traxter for a local bike shop. I do various kinds of electrical and electronic repairs for this customer, and they contacted me when the repair shop reached a dead-end on the electrical problem, and the cost of a new MPEM was prohibitive.
If you still have the old MPEM, and you can confirm the same symptoms, I may be able to repair the module economically. Send me a private message if you are interested.
The blowing fuse problem is caused by a shorted diode. The customer was "boosting" the Traxter due do a bad battery. It started and ran a short time with the lights flickering (due to the short). The next attempt to start it failed. If the fuse is replaced with the standard size, it blows when the ignition switch (key) is turned on. If the fuse is replaced with a 30 amp (careful here... this was done with an external battery and jumper cables, which likely limit the possibility of dammage due to over current) there is a faint ticking sound. This is the result of an oscillation caused by the key turning on a transistor, switching on power to the circuit with the shorted diode. The short caused the voltage to drop, switching off the transistor, removing the short, which causes the voltage to rise again, and the cycle repeats.
If you have a Traxter, I suggest you don't *ever* try to start it from another vehicle with the engine running. I believe the shorted diode is a result of "boosting", where the running vehicle's alternator overshoots the voltage at the instant you stop cranking the Traxter, frying the MPEM. Jump starting from a nother battery, possibly in a vehicle, should be OK though.
If you still have the old MPEM, and you can confirm the same symptoms, I may be able to repair the module economically. Send me a private message if you are interested.
The blowing fuse problem is caused by a shorted diode. The customer was "boosting" the Traxter due do a bad battery. It started and ran a short time with the lights flickering (due to the short). The next attempt to start it failed. If the fuse is replaced with the standard size, it blows when the ignition switch (key) is turned on. If the fuse is replaced with a 30 amp (careful here... this was done with an external battery and jumper cables, which likely limit the possibility of dammage due to over current) there is a faint ticking sound. This is the result of an oscillation caused by the key turning on a transistor, switching on power to the circuit with the shorted diode. The short caused the voltage to drop, switching off the transistor, removing the short, which causes the voltage to rise again, and the cycle repeats.
If you have a Traxter, I suggest you don't *ever* try to start it from another vehicle with the engine running. I believe the shorted diode is a result of "boosting", where the running vehicle's alternator overshoots the voltage at the instant you stop cranking the Traxter, frying the MPEM. Jump starting from a nother battery, possibly in a vehicle, should be OK though.