Yes, I did not mention the whole story just to see what responses I got. I
have had the problem with these two fuses melting solder before. One of the
fuse holders shows melt damage and the tension on that terminal is not as
great as the others. I had coated both ends of the fuses with a conductive
copper grease to help with the conductivity. This seemed to do the trick
until today. I will check the wiring for signs of heat damage but I haven't
seen any in the past. If the problem is just contact resistance I'm thinking
of putting in jumper wires on the fuse block and add inline fuses else where
in the harness.
Ralph Jannelli
Matthews, NC
'65 Spitfire MKII
'72 Spitfire MKIV
'80 TR8 DHC
----- Original Message -----
From: Mostrom, Paul <Mostrom.Paul@principal.com>
To: 'ralph.jannelli' <ralph.jannelli@cwix.com>; Spitfires
<spitfires@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 1999 3:54 PM
Subject: RE: Spit Fuses
> I have seen this occur when corrosion causes an increase in resistance
between
> the fuse block and the fuse. The metal ends of the fuse heat up and the
> solder melts, without melting the fuse material.
>
> Thanks,
> Paul Mostrom
> '77 Spitfire 1500
> > '80 Ford F-100 (Triumph Support Vehicle)
> >
> >
> 'Black holes, where God divided by zero......'
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ralph.jannelli [mailto:ralph.jannelli@cwix.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 1999 1:15 PM
> To: Spitfires
> Subject: Re:Spit Fuses
>
>
>
> I had something interesting happen today, although not to my Spit but to
my
> TR8 The TR8 has two electric fans. They are set up to run in series off a
> thermal switch in the top of the radiator and switch to parallel through
> some relays when a higher temperature switch near the thermostat kicks in.
> There is a fuse that protects both fans when in series and one fan when in
> parallel. There is a second fuse that protects the other fan only when in
> parallel. While riding today I smelled something like paper burning and
the
> temp gauge was higher than normal. I pulled over and found the fans not
> running. To make a long story short the paper I smelled was from one of
the
> original Lucas type fuses that use to come with a paper insert stating the
> rating of the fuse. When I got home I pulled both fuses. The one with the
> burn paper inside had the solder total melted away so you could easily
> remove both end caps with your fingers. The wire fuse element was NOT
> melted. The fuse overheated without blowing. The second fuse looked good
but
> showed not continuity. Close inspection shows melted solder that oozed out
> from one of the end caps. This one is a newer type without the internal
> paper.
>
> What could cause the fuses to do this without blowing. Both are the
correct
> 35/17 amp Lucas fuses?
>
> Ralph Jannelli
> Matthews, NC
> '65 Spitfire MKII
> '72 Spitfire MKIV
> '80 TR8 DHC
>
>
|