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I don't trust nothing I can't see...electricity

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I finally have my car back together and running, half-fast.
Anyway, drove to the gas station to fill up (the guy wanted to know where I have been) and checked out my newly rebuilt heater with a real 2-speed fan, my cool high-third-brakelite, and my new Spal cooling fan. All worked great till I burned a fuse in the fuse box (one of those hard to get Lucas 35 amp babies). No brake lights, no fan, no nothing that runs off my green wires out of the fuse block. Stuck another in, burned immediately. Now I am out here trying to trace where in the heck I surely have a short and nothing. Well, who would have guessed. I forgot to put the dash brace in that goes beneath the cubby box and had grounded the heater motor to the hole with the brace bolt finger loose. My ground was flopping around, and halfway grounding the new heater fan. Who would think that a bad ground could short out that whole circuit (green wire)? That is what happened, right? Could it have been the ground was causing a short and blowing the fuse? Secured the ground and put another fuse in. No problems. Like I said, I don't trust nothing that I can't see.

Bill
 
Hey Bill,

We have to applaud Lucas for being one of the few companies sensitive to this consumer issue. No one else ever put smoke in the wiring as consistently and thoroughly. Back in the day, many folks said, "Finally! Electricity we can see! Oh, thank you, Mr. Lucas!"

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Re: I don't trust nothing I can't see...electricit

TR6BILL....
Does your heater blower motor actualy work or is it blowing the fuse when you switch it on.
I spent the afternoon today getting my heater unit out (without removing the dash, (tricky) since I let all the smoke out of the heater motor wiring a couple weeks ago.
I kinda think I assembled the motor in the heater box in the wrong orientation 6 months ago and it's now decided to ground out internally creating a dead short.
Anyway I will find out more when I open the heater box up.
Just wondering if you had the same problem, come to think of it mine didn't blow a fuse, just melted the wiring. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Re: I don't trust nothing I can't see...electricit

Hi Bill,
Yes, it's very possible. The in rush of current could have been a bit too much for the fuse, especially if it happened several times over a short period of time. Current draw is at its highest when you first turn on a motor versus a steady operating state. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif
Dennis
 
But if there's enough of it you can feel the stuff... but you'd probably rather not do that.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonod.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif
 
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