Heater problems

[Reculver Vicar]

Hi All,
Maurice has been serviced and runs smoothly
I have fitted an alternator - and it works - so can now drive at night
even managed to replace a clutch adjust rod....so can change gear
BUT
now the heater is ge-buggered
My son managed to find the right connections
so it did go
briefly
terrible screaming noise
as well as air being blown through
now all is silent
Has a bearing gone?
or the fan burnt our
can this be repaired?
or has anyone got a heater they no longer need
warm air comes through when I'm driving
so that bit all works

[mike.perry]

Drive faster and you will not need the fan. If you strip the heater down you may find that the blades are scraping the casing or the bearing is xxxxxx

[bmcecosse]

It is an easy enough strip down - probably something very simple.

[linearaudio]

Not sure about it being a simple strip-down! The heater itself comes apart easily, but anything to do with lying on my back under the dashboard removing large lumps of watery metal is something I try to avoid! Doubt it is anything more than a bearing seized due to lack of use over a long time. They are not clever ball type bearings, but bronze bushes, which will go on indefinitely if they have a smidge of grease, which they never get! If the bearings were worn, which they can ultimately do, then the noise is likely to be more clattery metal and vibratey, than screaming, and would probably continue so until you got fed up with it! Unfortunately the only answer is removal and dissection.

Well done for jumping into the 21st century with an alternator, and the addition of a working clutch must have its benefits!
Sorry you are having all these "teething troubles", but once sorted you will have a great reliable car. When is your birthday? I would recommend an electronic distributor at around £50 as a broad hint at the appropriate time, then (as you want to use the car as a serious daily driver) you will have almost guaranteed reliable starting and running

[robedney]

If the heater fan is truly deceased, you can make a very tidy job of fitting a bilge blower instead. Sounds odd I know, but a bilge blower is 12 volts, designed to move air efficiently, very durable and readily available. I've done that very thing and it works very well. I also wired in a ballast resistor and three position switch so I've got two speeds. This is an Atwood 4 inch blower -- cost about $40.00 US. Google marine supplies.

[Reculver Vicar]

Drive faster he says!
Ha not on the winding country lanes round here thanks very much.
55tops and often 25....there are too many watery ditches.
But thanks for helpful advice.
I shall have a strip on Wednesday....as it were.

[bmcecosse]

That bilge blower looks like a good solution - is it quiet when running? Is there a Manufacturer label on it?

[robedney]

Here's an EBay listing for the blower I used. I had to trim the ends to fit it inside the heater box, but that was easy. It's actually fairly quiet, particularly on the low speed (which is plenty once the car is warmed up and the windows clear). Note that it's a one speed fan - I wired it up with a resistor to get two speeds). Nice efficient fan.

http://compare.ebay.com/like/1207582610 ... si=y&cbt=y

[bmcecosse]

If the resistor is inline - it must get bluddy hot......

[mike.perry]

Fit a rheostat switch from the circlar fug stirrer heater. I have a spare switch which I am going to try on my Traveller heater

[robedney]

If the resistor is inline - it must get bluddy hot......

Ballast resistor -- and the draw isn't all that much. Hit upon this idea when I took apart the factory 2 speed heater switch from my 1967 Dodge pickup. It has a wire wound resistor in a ceramic mount (which is all a ballast resistor is) inside the switch -- survived for 45 years before the contacts failed. If the fug stirrer used a typical old rheostat, it's nothing more than a wire wound resistor with a sliding contact. As any heat is produced by the level of resistance and amperage draw, the heat by-product ought to be the same (at the same speed). Either way, it's simple and it works. Just make sure to allow some space around the resistor.

[bmcecosse]

That was my point - it's inline with the motor (not the best way to regulate the speed of a DC motor.......) and so it carries the motor current. The heat produced is I sq x R... so if the current is say 5 amps and the resistor 5 ohms = 125 watts...... Hopefully - it's a lot less! More like 2 amps and 2 ohms = 8 watts which is probably acceptable. Even so -the resistor must be capable of handling that heat.

[Neil MG]

Combined heater and blower then! Perfect!

[bmcecosse]

Indeed...

[robedney]

I thought about hunting around on EBay for a cheap, small solid state DC motor speed controller, but despite it's drawbacks the resistor works quite well and should last pretty much forever. It does get warm, but not so hot that you can't keep your finger on it. Here's a pic (before putting the covering bit back on either side of the heater box):

[Declan_Burns]

I have a solid state speed controller on my heater and it works well-not cheap though.
Regards
Declan[frame][/frame]

[Reculver Vicar]

where did you all learn to speak Hungarian?

[bmcecosse]

[robedney]

where did you all learn to speak Hungarian?

Sajnálom, nem volna olyan műszaki. - Hogyan melegítőkráter ön dolgozik?