Need help with Eaton ELocker

Need some help...

Went out wheeling the other day and got into a branch that tore the wiring plug for my Eaton ELocker apart. Looked it over and put it back together, but it wasn't working. Went looking for a fuse, but... Eaton uses a 15A Manual Reset Breaker (see #2 in schematic below.) Unfortunately, I pulled that out and looked it over without taking note of how it was oriented. I did not see any monkey business and put it back in. When I checked to see if it made a difference a bad cloud of smoke came from the engine bay... and said breaker was melty toast! Clearly I have a ground issue and I can bet it is where I reconnected the wires at the rear end. I will check that more closely. Question is: can I just put a 15Amp fuse in place of that breaker looking non fuse thingy?

 

A 15a fuse could be used interchangeably with a 15a circuit breaker.

 

That is my thought, want hive mind confirmation... Thanks

 

just carry lots of extra fuses depending on the design of the breaker it might be slow trip .

Meaning the load can exceed 15 amps for short periods of time .

It might open a 15 amp fuse every time it is engaged. This was a very interesting and frustrating lesson.

Good luck.

 

The Eaton elocker has a max current draw of 10a with typical draw in the 5a to 8a range. A standard 15a fuse should work. But as suggested above, I'd carry extra fuses. However, makes me wonder why Eaton used a circuit breaker instead of a fuse. Could be, that as was suggested above, there is a spike in current draw momentary on locker engagement.

I have a Eaton elocker I plan.on installing soon, and was planning on using a fuse instead of a circuit breaker. Let us know how you make out. I'm curious.

See page 19 here for the current draw.

https://www.eaton.com/content/dam/e...control/Eaton-differentials-owners-manual.pdf

 

Thank You Sir for posting this!!

The manual tells me 10.7 amps of continuous current tells me your going to have a start up surge .

Will it open a 15 amp fuse time will tell. Me I would use the breaker within reach of the driver seat.

Good luck with your install

 

Thanks for the input. I will rewire the back end correctly (assuming that is the problem) and try a 15A fuse. Works or it doesn't I will order another circuit breaker when I get a chance.

 

Arrrg! The ELocker saga continues. Called Eaton today. Guy was really cool, but said I need to do a continuity check and determine where the grounding problem is... I agree. Something is grounding. But... electrical is kinda like women for me. I really like it/them but I am not adept at figuring out problems or bending it/them to my mechanical will... Oh well. I will figure this out. He said I can get a new harness or the parts if it is down inside the differential under warranty-but jezzzzz, if its in the diff I have a huge cluster getting it out and fixed. Sticks suck!

 

To bad I am about 1000 miles away.

For Me this would be a simple job. Were are not all able to do everything.

I gave up on women it is much safer and cheaper.

 

I looked into the circuit breaker vs. fuse choice a bit more. What is really interesting is that if you purchase a Harrop elocker (ie from Australia) the wiring harness that is supplied comes with a fuse. Installation instruction showing fuse in circuit here: https://www.harrop.com.au/downloads/201008_HarropELockerInstall(Low).pdf

These Harrop / Eaton instructions show a fuse: https://www.4wdbits.co.nz/ELOCKERMANUAL.pdf

If you purchase the Eaton elocker (ie from the United States) the wiring harness comes with a circuit breaker. These instructions show a circuit breaker: https://www.eaton.com/content/dam/e...control/Eaton-differentials-owners-manual.pdf

I am pretty sure the actual locker in all of the above instructions is the same, but for some reason a different wiring harness is used. In Australia a fuse is used, in the US a circuit breaker. So I am concluding that either a fuse or circuit breaker will work just fine. I have a custom fuse panel in my truck, so when I install the Eaton elocker, I will use a fuse instead of the circuit breaker provided, with a bunch of spare fuses sitting in the glove box. I'll have to add the flyback diode to the relay I plan on using.

 

The difference might have to with the temperatures in Australia winter is like 45 F here in winter depending where the Truck lives it can get colder .

Colder temperatures more inertia to over come. Yes they all use the electromagnet to engage

Good luck in any case .

 

Great point, something I didn't consider. Lower temperatures will result in lower wire resistance resulting in higher current flow. So US diffs may draw more current in the winter due to being colder...but you'd think that difference in temperature wouldn't cause a 'spike' in current draw, but rather a permanent difference. I suppose that if the elocker is engaged before the diff heats up, there could be a current spike if the diff is "frozen". Interesting stuff....would be cool to see an amp vs. temperature graph for the lockers. Once I get mine installed and try running it through a fuse I'll report back.