I love your expression, “Robert is your dad’s brother.”. At work we had two cousins who hated each other. One of them always referred to his cousin as his father’s brother’s kid.
I drive a tow truck and ill tell you what. This channel has saved me a lot of money figuring a lot of problems out and even future problems cross my fingers they never happen. But thank you for all the great information for future reference ur an amazing technician.
Great video. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with a random problem. The use of a minimum of expensive tools shows that you don't have to have $100K invested in tools to determine if a motor is failing. Keep up the good work Eric.
I wish I had you as my physics electricity teacher. I learn so much more from you. Thanks for sharing. I love watching the scopes and how electricity 'works'.
Thanks, I have been using scopes for many years and I never realized that you could check a brushed motor in that manner. DUH!!! Makes perfect sense, rather than me troubleshooting every little connection for resistance/conductance and opens. Then after all that, still no solution until I tear down the motor and find the brush/commutator in shambles... Thanks again.
That was awesome. That could have been missed all day long. Great idea. I do like your detective work videos a lot. Problems don't often say here i am easy. You showed us that here. Great work.
When you switched the motor off and on quickly, the motor might still have been spinning from inertia. Meaning that it spun by the dead spot, and kept running. When you wait a couple of seconds in between turning it on and off, it of course has a high likelihood of landing on the dead spot. Just a theory, keep up the good work :)
Eric O , I wish this great video was around when I chased a caravan low to slow fan motor output ! I stared at the wrong end of the problem and replaced parts . Last was the fan motor( on caravans the last back screw is not so much fun) . This video would have saved me a few bucks. Thanks for teaching and sharing :)
Smashing , i would not have thought about using a scope to detect bad commutation. That mini scope is really good for basic tests :-D I would not like to carry my old tube based scope outside, ball busting weight and a 240 volt mains extention lol.
The power cord alone would be a lot of weight. Plus I really would not like to use 240 outside on an extension cord. zx8401ztv you must have a cart to carry all of that stuff around.
No i will buy a portable one if really needed, im not a car tech but frends have problems so i jump in to help, if i can. The old scope can stay in the house, too dam heavy ha ha :-D
I'm dreaming of a day when there's a U-Scope IV - it's exactly like this one here, only it's the size of the Autel scan tool, with 4 channels. MAN would that be sweet! PLEASE take my money! AES Wave listening out there?? 😉 I was blown away the first time I saw this done - saw a vid a couple years back with Paul D. doing this on a fuel pump. Love the 100% certainty of any failed motor using a scope. Great vid, Eric! Love that little U-Scope. 👍👍 We'll see how Christmas goes - might grab that one soon. I feel like I'm never going to recover from the shop addition! What a big hit that was ... 🤯 Well worth it ... but still a big hit!
Well Eric that's it...I'm ordering one today. PLUS you explained why I'm on AC motor #5 in my 2008 F250 after the "Fonzi Fix" stops working. Awesome video and while a "Shade tree" mechanic like myself can't justify a $2500 PICO to work on family and friends' rides, that U-scope CAN be an enormous time saver. THANKS for spreading your knowledge!
Check out my pinned comment. I linked a book in there that will help sort all of that out. A very good book to start with! A great addition to any scope!
I am 57 and a back yard mechanic and when I can I break out my big scope and it helps a lot I am saving to get a u scope as I am a disabled vet so money is tight
Great video as always. Glad to see continued use of the Uscope. The only time this test could get someone in trouble is if the motor is pulse width modulation controlled and someone mistook the PWM signal for a bad spot.
Great tip Eric! I never thought to actually watch the waveform on my handheld o-scope for this. I use that tool for all kinds of voltage checks and things but never thought of it that way. The only part that could cause an issue is some newer vehicles like my 14 Silverado have pulse width modulated blower motor resistors so it will give a reading that bounces up and down but yours is clearly erratic since the spacing is not even.
If the time and the date was stored along with the waveforms, then it would be easier to store data, but who has the time to go on the laptop and write in the info every time a test has to be done.
I have to admit the U scope is so much easier to use for us DIYERs. I still like when Eric O uses the homemade test lights since I it shows it in bright and low light. Knowing me, I'll misread the U scope and think a part is faulty when it's not. Hate replacing parts I don't need. Great tip!
Most blowers I know have 5 settings (0...4, off...max). The max speed (4) is directly connected to power and the other speeds (1...3) go through a resistor pack. Often blower that have failed have broken resistor packs. A test is to see if the blower is still working in the highest setting (4), because there the motor does not use the resistor packs. With new(er) cars (tesla) you sometimes don't have a knob with speedsetting, but a menu. Here you can set every speed you want and the motor is controlled by PWM. You see something like Eric showed on the scoop, but the signal should look 'nicer' and change with different speed settings. So check before ordering a new blower motor. 👍😃
@@justinballard7242 Blower motor control module is pretentious talk for a power MOSFET (transistor) and a thermal fuse on a heat sink. PWM from the control module in the dash drives the gate of the MOSFET which switches to create PWM on the motor windings.
in the days of actual blower motor resistors, they metal would rust and connector corrode burning the plug and harness, sometimes at the high relay. however, when they were burnt it was also often a bad blower motor with partial shorted windings drawing too high of current and not always enough to blow the fuse..
Your thumb nail is healing nicely👍 In all seriousness I want to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas. I have enjoyed watching you and everyone that are in the videos. You're all good people.
Hard to beat that price, especially when one considers how fast it boots up. Viewers should know that necessary accessories like the current probe, capacitive pickup and 10X probe are extra. I love the much more expensive pico, and it is certainly more versatile and accurate, with greater ability to save and analyze waveforms. But this one would quickly answer many questions that a mechanic would be asking.
I love both of them but 67.3% (rough guess) of the time in the shop I just need a quick answer. This saves me all kinds of time. Unfortunately it is not helping me build my known bad and known good data base because even though I can store data on it I tend not to.
Should show what a good motor looks like. Rookies like my brother really struggle with wave forms and how to read and interpret them. Thanks for the great content eric. Ps jeep update lol
That is a handy dandy lil tool! I might just have to get one of those for xmas, I wonder if Santa will bring one. Happy holidays to you and your family. Stay safe, no more fires!
Thank you so much for making these videos Eric ..... they're so helpful and you are a Prince for taking the time, effort and expense to make them. I hope they're paying off for you in some way! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family! Cheers from SW Oklahoma.
Thank you so much. The blower on my 99 Ford Ranger works well for two or three days and then nothing. I tried it the other morning and nothing. Later in the day, I ran over a pothole and it started up strong. The next day nothing.
Eric, Great video and awesome demo of the uScope! I learn so much from you! If you get the motor replacement job Id love the see the scope pattern of the new motor. SMA#1 God bless Paul
I'm curious - which amp clamp is that? It doesn't look like others I've been looking at. Fantastic video. I've been using old-school (antique) scopes to diagnose alternators for my restoration business for years - last one bit the dust. Looking for a modern scope - this looks like the ticket. Gives me ideas for other diagnosing as well. I get wiper motors and blower motors sent to me for restoration. These methods would be helpful. Looking to go buy this week.
It's guys like you that make fixin' my stuff so easy. I just google my issue and get a gazillion yotube vids. Keep up the good work. BTW I put vasilene on my Liberty gas cap O ring and my 456 code went away also my 300 but I didn't fix that ? And I got my sticker ! LOLOL
I know this video is old but have a question. If you remember when using the current clamp with the uscope did you have it set for volts to see that waveform or volts. I have another brand pocket scope not the uscope and my only option is volts. I plan on buying a pico soon.
I’ve got a car blower that is intermittently failing. From watching you vid, I’m guessing that there isn’t really a downside to buying a new blower ($65) and just putting it in to see if that fixes the issue. Correct?
Have an 03 Envoy XL with rear AC. The rear blower will not come on when I want it to. Sometimes it will just come on out of the blue if I leave the switch on (at full blast). after driving around for a few minutes Never works anymore at any of the slower speeds (except for a quick burp of air through the vents then stops immediately).
Just make sure your fan motor is not controlled by PWM. I work on heavy trucks that have fan motors controlled by PWM. But if you set them to the highest setting, you should have a 100 percent duty cycle.
Nissan Frontier=Scottzuki Equator An unrelated issue but I replaced my blower motor. It wasn’t blowing worth a 💩 with the new one. Stupid factory reversed the polarity so it was sucking air instead of blowing it. I’m not a mechanical person but i cut the wires and switched them around. Hey Bobs my Uncle too.
When you get another problem that requires a scope could you explain a little more about the waveform? What should a proper line look like and stuff like that. I get a little lost when you break out your scope. I didn't even know what a automotive scope was until I subbed to your channel.
You first have to understand how certain components work to understand how to read the data that is in fort of you, experience is one of them, but such at electrical motors such as a blower motor has a optimal opteron and only works in one of 2 ways, once you educate yourself on these things you can interrupt the data, hope that helps
I have a 2016 Jeep Cherokee and sometimes the fan will go from blowing full to barely any air through the vents and it's not in auto mode. This seems to be a common problem in the Cherokee from owners forums, would an open spot in the motor be my issue too?
I’ve already got an oscilloscope, a USB cheapy but gets the job done, and I’ll soon get a scope like that uscope that’s a lot cheaper, but what is that current clamp you use?
**Automotive Oscilloscopes: Waveform Analysis** - Great book to start w/ IMO : amzn.to/2Cb6Xsg
**uScope Basic Kit**
www.aeswave.com/cart.php?m=affiliate_go&affiliateID=2525b91fc8e906e8215984074c9d9e8f&go=www.aeswave.com/uscope-basic-kit-p9621.html
**uScope Master Kit**
www.aeswave.com/cart.php?m=affiliate_go&affiliateID=2525b91fc8e906e8215984074c9d9e8f&go=www.aeswave.com/uScope-Master-Kit-1-channel-automotive-scope-p9273.html
AWESOME! THANKS AGAIN!
How about the links for cooling fan and fuel pump vid? Pretty sure I've seen them but I'll rewatch, gotta stay "current". Pun intended.
Dang, I gotta get me one of them there UScopes...nifty
Can I come apprentice at your shop eric!? I’ll work for free just to gain half your diagnosis skills
Love that uscope!
My method is to watch every SMA video at least once. Hasn't failed me yet! Thank you, Eric!
Chris, it would be cool to see a teardown of the failed motor commutator. Again, great troubleshooting skills and approach to a problem.
I love your expression, “Robert is your dad’s brother.”. At work we had two cousins who hated each other. One of them always referred to his cousin as his father’s brother’s kid.
5:27 -- Finally, an endorsement of the "if it don't work, bash it" school of repair.
Its great to see someone of your "automotive stature" embracing the uScope and giving honest opinions about a great product.
Good diagnosis. Nice to see a mechanic using a scope.
I drive a tow truck and ill tell you what. This channel has saved me a lot of money figuring a lot of problems out and even future problems cross my fingers they never happen. But thank you for all the great information for future reference ur an amazing technician.
Really good video. Quick and informative. Finally a channel that doesn't waist time. Great demonstration. Should've shown the fuse technique too
Great video. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with a random problem. The use of a minimum of expensive tools shows that you don't have to have $100K invested in tools to determine if a motor is failing. Keep up the good work Eric.
Thanks for listening to us. Keep uscope training coming!
I wish I had you as my physics electricity teacher. I learn so much more from you. Thanks for sharing. I love watching the scopes and how electricity 'works'.
U scope, Me scope, We scope. Handy little dude. 😉😉
Thanks, I have been using scopes for many years and I never realized that you could check a brushed motor in that manner. DUH!!! Makes perfect sense, rather than me troubleshooting every little connection for resistance/conductance and opens. Then after all that, still no solution until I tear down the motor and find the brush/commutator in shambles...
Thanks again.
Like that quick tip.Like that mini scope.
I was never strong in electronics so it is nice to see what can be done when you know what you're doing. Thanks for the informative videos.
Very cool diagnosis and nice liitle scanner or whatever it is.
Can you scope a good working motor? Just to see the differencev
Yes indeed sir, you've given us many great examples of this method of diagnosis. Thanks Dr. O!
Thought we were looking at a PWM signal LOL. Nice job thanks for sharing!
That was awesome. That could have been missed all day long. Great idea. I do like your detective work videos a lot. Problems don't often say here i am easy. You showed us that here. Great work.
I think of you every time I do the classic reach around.
That statement makes me feel uncomfortable.
Nice quick and to the point using the little oscilloscope, thanks
I got my uScope last week. Thanks for the tutorial and book recommendation!
When you switched the motor off and on quickly, the motor might still have been spinning from inertia. Meaning that it spun by the dead spot, and kept running. When you wait a couple of seconds in between turning it on and off, it of course has a high likelihood of landing on the dead spot. Just a theory, keep up the good work :)
I need one of these fancy little tools! Sometimes the VerusPro is just a pain to deal with. Thanks for the show and tell!!
Like the scope. As always great diagnosis and fix. Thanks for taking the time.
Eric O , I wish this great video was around when I chased a caravan low to slow fan motor output ! I stared at the wrong end of the problem and replaced parts . Last was the fan motor( on caravans the last back screw is not so much fun) . This video would have saved me a few bucks. Thanks for teaching and sharing :)
Another good day, a video uploaded by Mr O.
Smashing , i would not have thought about using a scope to detect bad commutation.
That mini scope is really good for basic tests :-D
I would not like to carry my old tube based scope outside, ball busting weight and a 240 volt mains extention lol.
The power cord alone would be a lot of weight. Plus I really would not like to use 240 outside on an extension cord. zx8401ztv you must have a cart to carry all of that stuff around.
No i will buy a portable one if really needed, im not a car tech but frends have problems so i jump in to help, if i can.
The old scope can stay in the house, too dam heavy ha ha :-D
I think the knobs on the front of my old 555 scope would weigh more then the uScope lol
Thank you Eric. Good job.
i love my u scope i use it every day . another shop came in last week with the same problem and less than two minutes i had a diag for them .love it
I'm dreaming of a day when there's a U-Scope IV - it's exactly like this one here, only it's the size of the Autel scan tool, with 4 channels. MAN would that be sweet! PLEASE take my money! AES Wave listening out there?? 😉
I was blown away the first time I saw this done - saw a vid a couple years back with Paul D. doing this on a fuel pump. Love the 100% certainty of any failed motor using a scope.
Great vid, Eric! Love that little U-Scope. 👍👍 We'll see how Christmas goes - might grab that one soon. I feel like I'm never going to recover from the shop addition! What a big hit that was ... 🤯 Well worth it ... but still a big hit!
Awesome use of an o'scope.
Well Eric that's it...I'm ordering one today. PLUS you explained why I'm on AC motor #5 in my 2008 F250 after the "Fonzi Fix" stops working. Awesome video and while a "Shade tree" mechanic like myself can't justify a $2500 PICO to work on family and friends' rides, that U-scope CAN be an enormous time saver. THANKS for spreading your knowledge!
Check out my pinned comment. I linked a book in there that will help sort all of that out. A very good book to start with! A great addition to any scope!
That cool. Thanks for showing me / us this motor diagnosis method.
also there is an adapter for uScope that allows you to view just the AC portion of the wave so you can really zoom in when necessary.
Very nice tip Eric. Thanks for sharing
gutted it wasn't a fuse
great vid
great tip
My wife's stopped blowing all together. Fuse was fine so I replaced the blower motor and it fixed it.
I read this comment way to quickly XD
@@Ballzakastaka I did too. I thought he divorced her and remarried
nice video never thought of using amp clamp with a scope
I am 57 and a back yard mechanic and when I can I break out my big scope and it helps a lot I am saving to get a u scope as I am a disabled vet so money is tight
Awesome tool. Its on my tool wish list! Thanks for sharing.
Great lesson, thanks!!
Another quick video 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻. A great test to demonstrate.
A quickie check and your done!
Nice!
Great video as always. Glad to see continued use of the Uscope. The only time this test could get someone in trouble is if the motor is pulse width modulation controlled and someone mistook the PWM signal for a bad spot.
The freq is way higher
@@38911bytefree Agreed but a less skilled tech probably wouldn't notice the frequency nor the cleaner shape of the PWM control square wave.
To get the pwm signal, you’d have to probe the connector, not use an amp clamp.
Great tip Eric! I never thought to actually watch the waveform on my handheld o-scope for this. I use that tool for all kinds of voltage checks and things but never thought of it that way. The only part that could cause an issue is some newer vehicles like my 14 Silverado have pulse width modulated blower motor resistors so it will give a reading that bounces up and down but yours is clearly erratic since the spacing is not even.
If the time and the date was stored along with the waveforms, then it would be easier to store data, but who has the time to go on the laptop and write in the info every time a test has to be done.
The U-Scope is so dope!
I have to admit the U scope is so much easier to use for us DIYERs. I still like when Eric O uses the homemade test lights since I it shows it in bright and low light. Knowing me, I'll misread the U scope and think a part is faulty when it's not. Hate replacing parts I don't need. Great tip!
Check out my pinned comment. I linked a book in there that will help sort all of that out. A very good book to start with!
@@SouthMainAuto I didn't see any pinned comments on this video? Did I miss something?
@@klwthe3rd Ooops, sorry, I just fixed it!
Eric O Thanks so much for using the U scope. How are Mrs O's reindeer coming along? Have a good weekend. ❤️
Thats a wicked tool
Most blowers I know have 5 settings (0...4, off...max). The max speed (4) is directly connected to power and the other speeds (1...3) go through a resistor pack. Often blower that have failed have broken resistor packs. A test is to see if the blower is still working in the highest setting (4), because there the motor does not use the resistor packs.
With new(er) cars (tesla) you sometimes don't have a knob with speedsetting, but a menu. Here you can set every speed you want and the motor is controlled by PWM. You see something like Eric showed on the scoop, but the signal should look 'nicer' and change with different speed settings. So check before ordering a new blower motor. 👍😃
Most modern cars use pulse width modulation. They usually don't have resistors any more but instead have blower motor control modules.
ruclips.net/video/9t8BkpavIoE/видео.html
check this out..
I agree, first time i check a PWM fuel pump i was like, wait what the heck is this I’m looking at! Haha.
@@justinballard7242 Blower motor control module is pretentious talk for a power MOSFET (transistor) and a thermal fuse on a heat sink. PWM from the control module in the dash drives the gate of the MOSFET which switches to create PWM on the motor windings.
in the days of actual blower motor resistors, they metal would rust and connector corrode burning the plug and harness, sometimes at the high relay. however, when they were burnt it was also often a bad blower motor with partial shorted windings drawing too high of current and not always enough to blow the fuse..
Great video Eric O
Your thumb nail is healing nicely👍 In all seriousness I want to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas. I have enjoyed watching you and everyone that are in the videos. You're all good people.
Great video Eric!
Hard to beat that price, especially when one considers how fast it boots up. Viewers should know that necessary accessories like the current probe, capacitive pickup and 10X probe are extra. I love the much more expensive pico, and it is certainly more versatile and accurate, with greater ability to save and analyze waveforms. But this one would quickly answer many questions that a mechanic would be asking.
I love both of them but 67.3% (rough guess) of the time in the shop I just need a quick answer. This saves me all kinds of time. Unfortunately it is not helping me build my known bad and known good data base because even though I can store data on it I tend not to.
nice of them to get you access to the wiring. they didnt overkill it like in kieths video!!!!
Should show what a good motor looks like. Rookies like my brother really struggle with wave forms and how to read and interpret them. Thanks for the great content eric. Ps jeep update lol
Man, You are like that cool kid on the block who always got all the latest toys at Christmas! LOL! Merry Christmas to you and your family SMA.
That is a handy dandy lil tool! I might just have to get one of those for xmas, I wonder if Santa will bring one. Happy holidays to you and your family. Stay safe, no more fires!
Nice tip, thanks.
That is a really cool tool , you got the best toys lol
Great vid 👌 very useful.
Thank you so much for making these videos Eric ..... they're so helpful and you are a Prince for taking the time, effort and expense to make them. I hope they're paying off for you in some way! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family! Cheers from SW Oklahoma.
Thank you so much. The blower on my 99 Ford Ranger works well for two or three days and then nothing. I tried it the other morning and nothing. Later in the day, I ran over a pothole and it started up strong. The next day nothing.
Hi The best sales pitch is an unintended sales pitch ha!
That does it! I'm getting a uScope.
Uscoope for the win
Eric,
Great video and awesome demo of the uScope! I learn so much from you! If you get the motor replacement job Id love the see the scope pattern of the new motor.
SMA#1
God bless
Paul
Thanks for the videos.
Good use of that neat 'scope.
Awesome, thank you
Thanks
I'm curious - which amp clamp is that? It doesn't look like others I've been looking at.
Fantastic video. I've been using old-school (antique) scopes to diagnose alternators for my restoration business for years - last one bit the dust. Looking for a modern scope - this looks like the ticket. Gives me ideas for other diagnosing as well. I get wiper motors and blower motors sent to me for restoration. These methods would be helpful. Looking to go buy this week.
400 smakaroo's for that AES pocket picture!!!! Holy Smolly!!
$154 for the basic kit though
good job
It's guys like you that make fixin' my stuff so easy. I just google my issue and get a gazillion yotube vids. Keep up the good work. BTW I put vasilene on my Liberty gas cap O ring and my 456 code went away also my 300 but I didn't fix that ? And I got my sticker ! LOLOL
I know this video is old but have a question. If you remember when using the current clamp with the uscope did you have it set for volts to see that waveform or volts. I have another brand pocket scope not the uscope and my only option is volts. I plan on buying a pico soon.
Thanks !
Nice tip Mr O
Merry Christmas to all the “Os”
I’ve got a car blower that is intermittently failing. From watching you vid, I’m guessing that there isn’t really a downside to buying a new blower ($65) and just putting it in to see if that fixes the issue. Correct?
Great job like always A+
Great video like always.
Have an 03 Envoy XL with rear AC. The rear blower will not come on when I want it to. Sometimes it will just come on out of the blue if I leave the switch on (at full blast). after driving around for a few minutes Never works anymore at any of the slower speeds (except for a quick burp of air through the vents then stops immediately).
Will I need an adapter for the amp clamp used with a Pico scope, a BNC? It looks like I need a BNC to 1/8 inch?
*_🚘🚘Very beautiful and very beautiful and waiting for more🚘🚘_*
Mr. O is in desperate need of a manicure in my opinion but I'm no beauty expert.
Just make sure your fan motor is not controlled by PWM. I work on heavy trucks that have fan motors controlled by PWM. But if you set them to the highest setting, you should have a 100 percent duty cycle.
Nice I like that tool
That's cool , gotta get one .
you make it sound so easy lol
AWESOME! THANKS AGAIN!
Great video mr. O. Will this work on a starter?
Nissan Frontier=Scottzuki Equator
An unrelated issue but I replaced my blower motor. It wasn’t blowing worth a 💩 with the new one. Stupid factory reversed the polarity so it was sucking air instead of blowing it. I’m not a mechanical person but i cut the wires and switched them around. Hey Bobs my Uncle too.
Thanks good info 😁
very interesting
When you get another problem that requires a scope could you explain a little more about the waveform? What should a proper line look like and stuff like that. I get a little lost when you break out your scope. I didn't even know what a automotive scope was until I subbed to your channel.
You first have to understand how certain components work to understand how to read the data that is in fort of you, experience is one of them, but such at electrical motors such as a blower motor has a optimal opteron and only works in one of 2 ways, once you educate yourself on these things you can interrupt the data, hope that helps
I have a 2016 Jeep Cherokee and sometimes the fan will go from blowing full to barely any air through the vents and it's not in auto mode. This seems to be a common problem in the Cherokee from owners forums, would an open spot in the motor be my issue too?
I’ve already got an oscilloscope, a USB cheapy but gets the job done, and I’ll soon get a scope like that uscope that’s a lot cheaper, but what is that current clamp you use?