Smoked a DC FK35 Control

[cad]

Just wondering if anyone had ever accidentally ruined a DC Control like we have.
A couple weeks ago we were going to change the jumpers from the 173 setting (6,8 and 7,9) to the 166 setting (8,10).
As my dad was removing the 7,9 jumper he touched the 5 & 11 with the needle nose pliers.
Whollllllly $$$$hiiiittt! A big plume of smoke started to bellow out of the controller. We had to inhale the smoke while unhooking the negative battery cable to kill the self contained fire.
The instructions state that jumping 11,12 will ruin the controller, but I can tell from experience that the 5,11 will, too.



We talked to Brian at DC.....no avail, but, being in a pickle requires one to get a replacement, so I unhappily ponied up for another.

1st moral of the story is to avoid inhaling those fumes.....nasty and I could smell it in my nose for a week.
2nd moral of the story is to avoid changing the jumpers with the battery connected....and dont cross the 5 and 11 pins, either.

[Madspeed]

Sorry to hear that =)
You should ALLWAYS remove the neg batt terminal before doing anny elctrical, welding, or anything near any pos batt connections
For safety sake you should just remeve the neg batt terminal when ever you do any work on a vehical
Sounds really stupid doesnt it? but you will fel even more Gimp when you have to admit burning somthing up when it would have taken 2 min to remove the batt terminals =)

[cad]

Yup.....wouldnt have mentioned it if I felt gimp.
Removing 2 plastic jumpers wouldn't have seemed that relevant...hence the experience I am sharing.

[gmachinz]

Cad, I understand your smelly experience, but how the heck did you jump 11 and 5 together? They are up/down from each other with two pins in-between...? -Jabin

[cad]

The 5 and the 11 straddle the 7,9. Since you cant use your fingers to get the jumpers off, easily, my dad was carefully using needle nose pliers to avoid the 11,12, and wham....I watched him and he did not touch the 11,12.

[gmachinz]

Yeah but the jumpers go in a horizontal direction-not vertical, I guess I don't understand. But in any event yes, please dis-connect the battery whenever you are working on electrical components. -Jabin

[cad]

Right....1 3 5 7 9 11 13 on the outside and the evens on the inside.
I had a jumper on 7,9, and that is what we were trying to remove....we touched the 5 and 11.