The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

Hi all - have a major diesel. Has previously been fitted with an amber warning beacon which has never worked since I got her. Has sidelights and headlights operated from a switch - these work fine. With a bit of time on my hands been trying to get the beacon working again so tried to follow the wiring from the beacon but lost it somewhere under the rear axle. Question - any idea on whether the beacon would work off the same switch as the lights - ie lights on beacon on? Cant find any other switch that could possibly operate the beacon which is why I wanted to trace back the wires to see if I could find one. Any ideas appreciated.

regards

Alan

Alan,the first thing I would do would be disconnect the current wires from the beacon, fit 2 new lengths of wire and put 12 volts through to see if the beacon works.If it lights, just thread new wires through to the dash and fit a new 12v switch with a fused live feed,if it doesn`t work change the bulb and try again. Some switches have an amperage limit and can heat up if overloaded, a separate switch won`t cost much and its quicker and easier to put in new wiring than fiddle about with old stuff - so speaks someone who repaired some old cracked wires with insulation tape, turned the ignition switch live and created a welder effect when the key fob touched the dash! Dave

I feel that the first thing to do is to check whether, or not, you have volts at the end of the wire feeding into your beacon. If you have then make sure the bulb is OK and that the beacon has a good earth return. If these checks are positive then the fault is inside the unit's mechanism. Whilst you're about it see if your beacon is the rotary type or uses a flasher unit. Knowing the difference is beneficial if, as Dave suggests, you need to re-wire the supply circuit as the rotary types can get by with using 5 amp wiring; whereas the flasher unit type are pulsing current through the wire continuously at greater than the normal 2 amps [for a 21watt bulb] which will cause wire overheating and voltage loss unless higher amperage wiring is used.
My beacon is wired to the parking light terminal of the standard light switch, which is quite robust enough to handle the extra load. As far as I am aware there are no fuses on the Majors.

Pavel.

I had a flashlight type warning light that would not work. Changing the wires around because we have plus to chassi wirering solft the problem.

I`ve recently fitted front and rear lights to my Power Major so I fitted a fuse box as it seemed a good idea. Pavel`s comment about Majors not having a fuse box has made me think how is the lighting circuit protected? Dave

It aint, Dave, it aint! If you're worried fit a line fuse -- easy to do and they are cheap.

Pavel