[Roadsters] FW: Video of Burnt Eliza

[Paul Courson]

I second the burnt carpet syndrome.  Always wondered why I was
catching a whiff of hot plastic, worried there was some overheated
wiring (the insulation is vinyl, and smells the same as carpet, seats
and other plastics when it cooks).  It was the backing on the carpet.

As someone else noted, you would need lots of watts for audio power to
catch fire.  Not to say the radio itself wouldn't burn up if something
shorted inside, but yeah, I will be real curious to learn the cause
from you.

-pc-




On Sun, Apr 8, 2012 at 12:51 PM, Gary Boone <gboone70 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Here's another possible cause based on something I experienced with my
> roadster. B I found my new carpet's backing severely melted directly behind
the
> driver's seat. B The heat from the muffler directly below that area was
making
> the floor very hot and melting the carpet. B It might be worth a check
> underneath to see how close the exhaust system is routed to the body and
after
> the engine runs for a while, feel around inside for hot spots in the areas
> above the exhaust system. B I fixed my problem by wrapping the top of the
> muffler with high temp blanket insulation as opposed to revamping the
exhaust
> system.
> Gary
>
>
>
>
>>________________________________
>> From: Pete Peters
> <ppeters914 at comcast.net>
>>To: Datsun Roadster List
> <datsun-roadsters at autox.team.net>
>>Sent: Sunday, April 8, 2012 1:29 AM
>>Subject: [Roadsters] FW: B Video of Burnt Eliza
>>
>>Think this should have
> gone to Peter (the roadster owner) and/or the
>>list....
>>
>>-----Original
> Message-----
>>From: Andy Pastore [mailto:ajpastore at rcn.com]
>>Sent: Saturday,
> April 07, 2012 7:44 PM
>>To: Pete Peters
>>Subject: Re: [Roadsters] Video of
> Burnt Eliza
>>
>>I don't know if you found the exact source of the fire yet but
> I want to
>>mention something that has happened to me. B It's a bit wacky but
> true.
>>One summer I noticed what appeared to be melted spots on the vinyl seat
> back
>>of the drivers side. It upset me because they were relatively new and in
>>perfect shape. I thought maybe I got some cleaning solvent or brake fluid
or
>>something on my back while crawling around on the ground and transferred it
>>to the seat.
>>Then some time later that summer in the morning, I pulled the
> car out of the
>>garage and left it in the driveway, top down, while doing
> something in the
>>garage. After a while I looked out at the car and saw smoke
> wafting up from
>>the drivers seat back. It was the sun, reflecting off the
> steering wheel and
>>pinpointing a "laser" of heat onto the seat and burning a
> hole! Really? WTF
>>On my roadster I installed a steering wheel which I can't
> remember the name
>>of. B This wheel has a very shiny chrome horn button that
> acted like a
>>parabolic collector/reflector, pinpointing the suns power to my
> seat. If I
>>hadn't noticed it I'm sure it would have continued until the sun
> moved
>>enough to stop the "laser" or even started the seat afire when it made
>>through to the foam.
>>I can't tell from your video which steering wheel you
> have but is it
>>possible this may have happened to Eliza?
>>The different spots
> on the back of my seat prove that it happened more than
>>once and in slightly
> different positions so it wasn't a one in a million
>>type of thing. B In the
> morning during the summer, the sun shines perfectly
>>down my driveway, low in
> the sky and hotter than hell.
>>As far as the speaker wires...unless the amp
> malfunctioned, it's not very
>>likely you could get enough current to start a
> fire with out the fuse
>>blowing. It would require more power than the amp
> should put out before just
>>stopping working. A shorted speaker can get pretty
> hot but you need many
>>watts of continuous power to get it to glow and the
> voice coil would burn
>>out before that or the amp would crap out. Does the
> radio still work? All
>>the channels left and right? If so I really doubt the
> stereo was the
>>culprit.
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