Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 11:42:49 -0700
Reply-To: Neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Melted ground wire
In-Reply-To: <CAFdLW6mmMh561QJsMY5+pOXYsppkjuV6bt0ZXAdr5thS6PSpuw@mail.gmail.com>
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Wires are labelled with different temp ratings. I'm not certain if
those ratings apply *only* to ambient temps around the wire and how
they might affect the wire casing but i do know that the real issue
with a dead short on an UN-fused wire isn't about wire gauge, per se,
it's about the temp, and rate, at which the casing melts off. e.g. in
a situation where that UN-fused wire suffers a dead short, if the
casing melts off quickly, the exposed wire strands can get red hot an
it can take some time before they actually melt and break the circuit.
I'm not overly familiar with the later (1988 ?) Vanagon fuse/relay arrangement.
Did a wire come loose from a relay unrelated to the headlight circuits
and upgrade parts? Was this the cause of the short or a result of
another short? i.e. did something else go haywire and cause the 53
relay ground to heat up then short out to a neighbouring relay pin?
I assume you meant "1988 Carat". Bentley 88/89 Vanagon wiring diagrams
show the stock headlight fuses at 10 Amp each. There were 20 Amp fuses
in those positions now replaced with 15 Amp fuses?
I'd be curious if the relay ground wire touched the 87/30 wires or
positive wire to relay coil (likely 86). But, that type of relay is
cheap and depending on its' purpose, it could be replaced with a
generic FLAPS sourced 4 or even 5 pin "bosch" type relay.
Neil.
On 9/30/20, Dan N <dn92610@gmail.com> wrote:
> My daughter drove her 1998 Carat (stock) with high beams ON and suddenly
> smoke came out under the dash, engine died, she pulled over, shut the
> engine, waited a bit and restarted the van and the same thing happened
> again, got it towed to me.
> The van has Jay Brown's headlight relay kit but uses 55/80W bulbs 6 years
> ago and working fine till now. The fuses 20,21(low beam) are OK, the casing
> of the fuses 9,10(high beam) were melted but the fuses are not blown. In
> the back of the fuses panel there is a gray #53 relay and the ground (-)
> wire that goes to the ground tree was melted and touched the positive (+)
> wire on the same relay.
> I replaced the 4 fuses (20,21,9,10) with 15A fuses instead of 20A, repaired
> the positive (+) wire, replaced the ground (-) wire with 14 gauge instead
> of 16 gauge and installed an inline 10A fuse on it. I ordered a new #53
> relay (not here yet) just in case. All working well now.
>
> Sorry for the long description but I try to find out why this could
> happen... quite scary and I wonder how to prevent this.
>
> Thank you for any ideas.
>
> dan
>
--
Neil n
VE7TBN
1988 Westy 50º ABA swap: https://tinyurl.com/yap5hpwt
1981 Westy 15º ABA swap: https://tinyurl.com/y9n4xob8
VAG Gas Engine Swap Group <http://tinyurl.com/khalbay>
