Another thing I learned this spring was the two different control valve settings AgLeader uses to control oil flow / rate.  During spring testing and repairing a bad shaft speed sensor I was in this screen on the Integra.  I didn't realize that you only used one of these settings (PWM or Servo) and was double checking the numbers entered from my old monitor.  Well when I exited the screen I wasn't making sure that PWM was selected which was causing erratic meter / plate behavior on that drive.  White planters use PWM and once I realized this everything worked great.  Hope this can save someone some headaches in the future as the drop down menu doesn't really make it appear that you are actually selecting the mode and not verifying settings.  After reading about what each does this makes sense but to someone who is just trying to get the planter going in the spring this might help.  

Quick Note...disable logging during your spring planter testing.  I was testing drive chains and shaft alignments and experienced some frustration because I had logging enabled on the Integra.  I entered a manual rate of 5 mph to simulate.  Well after hooking up the implement switch I couldn't figure out why some of the clutches wouldn't turn on.  The problem was random and the issue changed rows which made it more confusing.  I finally realized logging was enabled making auto swath kick them off since I wasn't moving.  Only took me 15-20 minutes to figure this out.  Once logging was disabled I was able to see every row operate.  Should have known better to disable it from the beginning!

After browsing newagtalk one night I found a post about a system called EZ-Air by Deitering Brothers here in Iowa.  It allows one to change the singluation blower pressure on our White Planter from inside the cab.  Before this product, we had to get out of the cab and adjust the knob on the planter toolbar to do this.  The big reason we are excited about this is now we can see how the air pressure affects seed spacing realtime on the Integra monitor.   Info on this product can be found here: EZ-AIR White Planters

One of our White 8824 hydraulic drives was not showing up on the Integra monitor this spring as we removed it from storage.  After a couple hours of troubleshooting we found out that it was the shaft speed sensor on the White planter.  The agleader cable plugs into it for its shaft data.  It was kind of hard to troubleshoot.  We tested by putting a manual 5.0 mph simulation on the display to get the shaft to turn.  When we stood behind the planter the hydraulic drive, which was not being identified, was turning much faster.  Also noticed that we lost singluation blower air pressure once the clutches were turned on.  When the clutches were disabled, air pressure returned.  Note our planter does not have a PTO pump so both the hydraulic drive and blowers are ran by a single valve.  Once we identified the shaft sensor this made sense as the display was directing all available oil pressure to the shaft to get it to turn which robbed the air oil.  Another step we took in troubleshooting was swapping the seed command cables from channels 1 and 2 to see what effect it had.  

Just a quick note regarding moving a display from one tractor to another.  If for some reason you have to do so, the geosteer calibration information is stored locally in the geosteer hardware.  This info is not saved on the integra displays and you should be able to move them from tractor to tractor if necessary.

As we move farther into the world of precision ag technology here at Lewis Farms, I felt it would be a good idea to start blogging about the different things learned along the way.  Not only to help ourselves remember different tips and tricks but so others could read about it also.  Just a brief summary of what AgLeader technology we have added to our equipment lineup in the past couple years.

1. Integra Displays
2. Auto Swath
3. Planter Clutches
4. Yield & Variety Mapping
5. Auto Steer & GPS
6. Variable Rate Prescriptions (SMS Software)