Petty fan in minor heater what can i do

Post by **ssnjimb** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 8:44 am

Hello Folks.

When Trying to demist the car this morning i noticed how slow and how little air came out of the windscreen vents.

What can be done to get more air through those vents.

Could the fan side of the matrix be blocked.

When driving in the car the heater produces lots of warm air its just the fan lets it down.

Any tips welcome

Jamie

Post by **mike.perry** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 9:01 am

The demisting function on the Minor heater never was that brilliant, opening the quarterlight or telling the passengers to stop breathing is more effective! I assume that you have the lever in the demist position which helps a little.
First thing to check is that the hoses are still connected to the demister vents. If the motor is wearing out it is probably easier to change the heater assembly. Uprated heaters are available or I believe that you can fit a larger capacity Mini heater.
On the earlier fug stirrer heaters the rotory rheostat switch can be carefully taken apart and the contacts cleaned which usually improves the operation.

Post by **ssnjimb** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 9:17 am

Hello Mike

Its on the windscreen function. It just feels like there is hardly any air coming out.

Does anyone posses instructions on how to clean out the matrix of fluff flies etc.

There is plenty of heat coming out but not much air.

How fast is a mini fan (single speed) compared to the minor one

Jamie

Post by **mike.perry** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 9:49 am

The only way I know is to remove the heater unit and remove the casing then clean out whatever is in there. Careful you don't pour water from the hoses all over the parcel shelf.
Have you checked that the demister hoses are still connected?
Have you checked the large intake hose is in good condition and firmly attached?
No idea about the Mini heater except that they have a greater output.

Post by **ssnjimb** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 9:51 am

Everything is attached and connected.

The large heater hose is connected too.

Jamie

Post by **Pyoor_Kate** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 11:08 am

Yeah, if it's not been out before the matrix can be fairly well blocked with crud - both internally (making it less hot) and externally (many, many flies had found their death in mine).

Stripping the heater out is fairly simple, and stripping the heater down itself similarly easy. Once out I brushed all the crud out of the outside of the matrix and spent a very tedious few hours flushing the radiator through. When it was done the heater was *way* more effective and *much* hotter.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 12:11 pm

The 'Mini' heater is same size - matrix/body etc - but it has a much larger fan! You can easily fit the Minor frontplate on the Mini heater - then it looks all the same - just works much better.

Thu Oct 08, 2009 12:28 pm

Changing over to a mini heater certainly improves things i seem to recall that it has two fans as opposed to the one in the minor. I seem to recall i swaped the internals from the mini into the minor housing as the mini heater handle worked on the horizontal as opposed to the vertical so changing front plates was not possible...

But as mike said opening the quarter lights helps demisting things greatly as it gets a flow of air into the car.

or you could go for the heated front screen from birmingham moggy centre

Post by **bmcecosse** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 1:55 pm

The front plate with flap swops over easily!

Post by **Peetee** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 2:57 pm

The windscreen vents are easily dislodged and bent to an inefficient angle when glovebox liners are replaced for example. The component parts are not an exact fit anyway and air leaks out at the upper joints where they meet the dash.

Thu Oct 08, 2009 6:17 pm

bmcecosse wrote:The front plate with flap swops over easily!

any chance of a photo of the moggy heater you mean bmc? not doubting what you say I just i can not visualise what you mean.. as both my moggies had vertical controls and the minis heaters i found had horizontal controls (see link to pic below )

http://www.pistonenvy.com/westfieldpics ... eater1.jpg

Post by **ssnjimb** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 6:28 pm

Thankyou all for your replys

I think all the (Old) mini heaters fit with the exception of the last (spi/Mpi) heaters as they have plastic bodys am i correct in that assumption

Jamie

Post by **RogerRust** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 7:08 pm

I know the fan works either +ve or -ve earth but the heater works MUCH better one way round than the other in my MG so I guess the same applies to the Morris 1000.

Tape a piece of tissue paper so that it lies over the vent and see how much it lifts and then change round the connections - I think there are two black wires feeding the fan under the dash and see if its any better.

In fact I'd like someone to try this out and see if it makes a difference.

Post by **ssnjimb** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 7:12 pm

Now what i was thinking is that when the previous owner converted the car to negative earth would the wires on the heater moter need swopping round.

~Iam going to bid me one of those mini heaters

Jamie

Post by **jimbo1** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:17 pm

Ive just fitted an uprated heater into my van today.
You could dry your hair over the screen vents now - the difference is fantastic.
I bought a mk2 mini heater on ebay and had it shipped down to a morris centre in Birmingham where it was refurbished with i think a faster motor and more efficient matrix. It came back complete with hoses and slotted straight in. It looks good too, with the controls just below the dash.
Went for a spin this afternoon - with the fan on high speed and vent switched to car it was so warm my shoes almost melted! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Post by **ssnjimb** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:26 pm

that sounds good jimbo

I will see how i go with a standard mini item with single speed fan.

If all else fails i will get it upgraded to the one you have.

Jamie

Post by **bmcecosse** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:58 pm

The Mini horizontal operation lever is just that - a lever. The front plate if swapped for a Minor plate - works the flap just as normal. The Mini fan works well - do the conversion!

Post by **DAVIDMCCULLOUGH** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 11:27 pm

You know the demister pads you get with chamosis leather on them, they are the perfect size to fit in the minor heater!
Heres one from halfords, but tesco do them for about 99p
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165609
Set the vent to screen and push the chamosis pad in. There should be a big difference. The fan is qtite ineffective over 30ish mph anyway as the fresh air part takes over. Its also worth checking where the fresh air tube fits the front panel, this can also become lodged up with dead flies and things.

Post by **ssnjimb** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 9:24 am

David Iam confused

Why would i want to put a demister pad in the heater box.

I have not long got up so please excuse my ignorance.

Jamie

Post by **Pyoor_Kate** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 9:56 am

David - have the foam seals disintegrated on yours? Only on 'screen' most of the air goes to the screen on mine... I'm assuming you're wedging the demister pad in the 'car' vent?

Or am I reading that wrong?