Date: Thu, 7 Sep 2000 19:21:49 -0700
Reply-To: Bill Davidson <wdavidson@THEGRID.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Bill Davidson <wdavidson@THEGRID.NET>
Subject: Re: A/C 50 amp fuse?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
here's a write up I did a while back:
> What should an 88 Westy owner do to make sure that his A/C system is in
the
> best shape it can be?
Barry,
Run the A/C for a while on a hot day and check the wires and relays in the
area of the 50 am fuse.... these have been reported to get hot enough to
melt a relay or even start a fire...
Some of my wires were so hot I could not hold them without burning my
fingers!!! For the wires/areas that had excess heat, I cleaned all the wire
connectors and the relay contacts (male and female parts) with contact
cleaner, wire brush, etc. Then let it dry good. Before putting it all back
together I gooped all these same contacts with an anti oxidant I found in
the electrical department (household wiring department of hardware store....
careful not to get too sloppy where the contacts are close together since
this stuff may conduct electricity).
Started it up, let it run for a while... now I can hold all the wires and
contacts in my fingers as long as I want... only warm now.
Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: <TSmith5041@aol.com>
To: <wdavidson@thegrid.net>; <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2000 6:38 PM
Subject: Re: A/C 50 amp fuse?
>
> In a message dated 9/6/00 10:50:59 PM, wdavidson@THEGRID.NET writes:
>
> <<Is it common to blow that 50 amp A/C fuse?
>
>
> What does it cost?
>
>
> Where?
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
> Bill
>
> 90 Westy Syncro
>
> >>
>
> Bill-I've been wrestling with a similar problem for a while. The wiring to
> the evaporator fans on mine are getting hot. They look scorched and have
> blown said fuse once. There are three wires fed from the fuse you mention.
> Two go to the evap fan relay (center one above fuse) and the other to the
a/c
> relay. One of the fan wires is high speed and the other feeds two
resistors
> that steps down the speed(current). So far I have tried moving the three
> wires to their own separate fuses by installing another fuse block. The
high
> speed wire still goes thru the 50 amp fuse and the others go thru two 20
amp
> buss fuses. I'm not blowing the fuse anymore but the wires are still
getting
> too hot. I've tried to improve the ground connection by cleaning the metal
> and screwing it down tighter. Didn't seem to help. I'm concerned about it
> because of the FIRE!!! hazard. I saw a posting from a guy recently whose
fuse
> block and relay got so hot they melted, so apparently this problem is not
> unique to a few vans but fairly common? The additional fuse fix I used I
got
> from the list last year from a guy with the same problem. The fuse itself
is
> about $4.00 at the dealer and they probably have it in stock. When you get
it
> going again, check the wires with the fan on different speeds to see if
> they're getting hot. I haven't found the solution yet but if we get it
going
> around, maybe someone can determine the cause.
>
> Tom Smith
> 83.5 Westie
>
