Any Advice, Part 2!

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Chris152

Quite embarrassed, if I'm honest! I didn't have another fuse, so recovered the rather old-looking one I'd taken out yesterday, cleaned the contacts on the fuse with 180 grade abrasive and used a drill bit as you suggested on the connectors in the box. Fitted as you said, turned it over and it started up fine. Tried it 3 times, opened and closed the window, all fine. No smells detected by my over-sensitive nose.

So, the old one (which I just refitted) could have jiggled out of position or just got corroded? And the new fuse I fitted wasn't blown because the wire was still fine, and the melted body means it wasn't fitted correctly.

Embarrassed for all the effort you fellas have put in to help us, and it was all about a fuse. [Hopefully!]

Bob - we'll definitely look at a new set of ceramic body fuses - when I find some, I'll post here to check we're getting the right thing, if that's ok.

Thank you all!
[as I type, I can hear the lad starting and stopping the engine outside :-) ]

All down to a corroded fuse! The drill-bit trick was taught to me ~30 years ago by a guy who would be ~90 now (assuming he's still with us) who used it when he first started out as an autoelectrician 30 years before that!

It's not at the forefront of most peoples minds these days because of the advent of the (much more reliable with a greater contact area) blade fuses which have been around ~40 years now.

Don't let your lad start and switch off repeatedly for too long though Chris, you'll end up with a flat battery! Rough rule of thumb is it takes 20 minutes of normal driving to recharge what a 5 second start takes from the battery.

When you get a spare hour and are feeling bored, a bit of attention to all the fuses with a drill bit and some emery paper (NOT sandpaper! ) on the fuses and contacts should help prevent future breakdowns. :thumbs-up:

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Chris152

Should the fuses be copper? Just reading other threads, not sure what's best.

Won't make a lot of difference either way to be honest Chris, best would be gold or gold-plated but that would be wasteful............

[Chris152]

I'm tempted to take it for a longer run but a bit concerned there may be some deeper issue that caused the initial failure (time will tell), and we don't now have a backup 16a fuse. Amazed how hard it is to find them - they're called ceramic, but they all seem to be 'heat resitant' plastic.

[Bob Meadows]

Chris I found ebay had the fuses- straight forward purchase for the various sizes.
You could always substitute a fuse from another area of the car not that important for the test run or just use some household fuse wire (rated as original etc)
Enjoy a run out!
Regards Bob

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Chris152

I'm tempted to take it for a longer run but a bit concerned there may be some deeper issue that caused the initial failure (time will tell), and we don't now have a backup 16a fuse. Amazed how hard it is to find them - they're called ceramic, but they all seem to be 'heat resitant' plastic.

https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co....9/category/244

There you go Chris, their P&P can be a bit £OUCH at times, especially on smaller things but good quality stuff.

If you really did get stuck miles from civilisation, an emergency get you home repair only is to find a piece of foil and wrap it tightly (to replicate the shape) shiny side out round the plastic former.

I'm sure fleabay have many Continental fuses too :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_f...fuses&_sacat=0

Can't remember the last car i had with those fuses in but i do remember periodically opening the fusebox and giving each a couple of turns to clean the end contacts to prevent bad connections which is what causes the heat.

[Chris152]

Thanks both.

I'm sure I'm being dim here, but the only site I've managed to find selling ceramic fuses that are clearly identified as actually ceramic, not heat resitant plastic, is this one:
https://www.asap-supplies.com/electr.../ceramic-fuses
and they're much more expensive.
Most don't specify, and on Amazon, where I guess they're forced to name the materials, they're all plastic. Maybe that's not such an issue if you insert them properly in the fuse box?! (Unlike my effort yesterday.)

ETA - Gawd, even those aren't:
Main page: 'These continental fuses are made from ceramic materials and are suitable for marine and automotive use.'
Click on the link for one: 'These continental ceramic style fuses are made from thermoplastic polymer (TPP) and zinc materials and are suitable for marine and automotive use.'

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Chris152

Thanks both.

I'm sure I'm being dim here, but the only site I've managed to find selling ceramic fuses that are clearly identified as actually ceramic, not heat resitant plastic, is this one:
https://www.asap-supplies.com/electr.../ceramic-fuses
and they're much more expensive.
Most don't specify, and on Amazon, where I guess they're forced to name the materials, they're all plastic. Maybe that's not such an issue if you insert them properly in the fuse box?! (Unlike my effort yesterday.)

ETA - Gawd, even those aren't:
Main page: 'These continental fuses are made from ceramic materials and are suitable for marine and automotive use.'
Click on the link for one: 'These continental ceramic style fuses are made from thermoplastic polymer (TPP) and zinc materials and are suitable for marine and automotive use.'

On the 25A fuse i clicked on Chris, it said £0.54 for a pack of 5 so ~11p each which is quite cheap but they are on a clearance section or WIGIG as some call it, When It's Gone, It's Gone.

Most plastics will cope with the normal running temepratures of the fuses, if they do get hot the link is inclined to crumble in any case so keep the good plastic formers from blown fuses for use with the emergency foil trick. If you do manage to find genuine ceramic Continental fuses, they can be very fragile and if you drop them, the ceramic breaks so the plastic formers would also come in handy for that as well.

[Chris152]

Thanks Dave - I tried to buy from that site but it got hung up twice on payment, so I've just ordered a pack of assorted on Amazon for £9, 200 pieces. They had good reviews, fingers crossed!
I bumped into a neighbour just now, he's into his cars and is going to try to find a 16a fuse for me, it'd mean we can try a drive tomorrow.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Chris152

Thanks Dave - I tried to buy from that site but it got hung up twice on payment, so I've just ordered a pack of assorted on Amazon for £9, 200 pieces. They had good reviews, fingers crossed!
I bumped into a neighbour just now, he's into his cars and is going to try to find a 16a fuse for me, it'd mean we can try a drive tomorrow.

... or you could go via your local Halfords and pick up a pack of these Chris:

https://www.halfords.com/tools/fuses...04-209023.html

... less than 2 quid and worth keeping in the glove box.

Alan

[Bugjam1999]

Ah the fuse box, the cause of many a hard to find electrical fault.

There’s nothing wrong with the design per se, but 30 years later good quality fuses are harder to find (by that I mean ones with a ceramic core, not a plastic one) and the fusebox will need a bit of cyclical maintenance to stop issues arising (as others have said above, rotating fuses, cleaning the contacts etc.)

For not much money and not much time it would be worth replacing the fuel pump fuses with blade fuses, this will involve buying two separate blade fuse holders and wiring them in. There have been a few forum posts on this.

Alternatively at long last a blade fuse fusebox became available last year. It’s a bit more money but has the advantage of being a direct replacement.

https://www.classicswede.co.uk/New_2..._20633527.aspx

Cheers