Magnetostrictive sensors, whether SSI, Start/Stop, or PWM, are rugged sensors, but like everything else, can fail. Troubleshooting can be difficult, and the symptoms can vary widely. At Delta, we say that the normal symptoms of a failed magnetostrictive sensor is “weird behavior”.
Here is a list of behaviors and causes we have encountered:
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Intermittent signal.
- Internal wear due to vibration.
- Bad cable.
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No signal.
- Bad magnet
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Regular noise
- Noisy power supply.
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Good signal, but doesn’t follow cylinder always.
- Magnet fell off piston.
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Signal follows, but has lots of jumps of and down.
- SSI Gray/Binary code setting is wrong in RMC.
Key Words: MDT, transducer, linear sensors, issues