fuse box help melting fuse

[the baron]

i have a t26 westy joker 1.6 td. the problem i am have is when i turn the lights on the fuse gets hot, it doesn't pop it just gets very hot and if left on longer enough it will melt. ok the same goes when i turn the heater blower on it does the same any help would be cool

[California Dreamin]

Heat is caused by resistance so look at connections for tighness and tarnishing etc and the quality of the fuses.
I'm guessing you are talking about blade fuses and not early ceramic type? you could re-tension old ceramic type fuse terminals but if you have this type make sure the fuses are ceramic and not plastic.
The lights and blower are both fairly high consumers but you are correct, the fuses shouldn't be getting that hot.
Blower motors can partially seize creating greater load, are your blowers squeeking?
Old wiring to the lights may also be adding load (resistance)
All you can do is make good connections and check earth crowns above the fuse box.
Some owners add relays to reduce voltage drop to the headlamps which improves light intensity.

Martin

[the baron]

Heat is caused by resistance so look at connections for tighness and tarnishing etc and the quality of the fuses.
I'm guessing you are talking about blade fuses and not early ceramic type? you could re-tension old ceramic type fuse terminals but if you have this type make sure the fuses are ceramic and not plastic.
The lights and blower are both fairly high consumers but you are correct, the fuses shouldn't be getting that hot.
Blower motors can partially seize creating greater load, are your blowers squeeking?
Old wiring to the lights may also be adding load (resistance)
All you can do is make good connections and check earth crowns above the fuse box.
Some owners add relays to reduce voltage drop to the headlamps which improves light intensity.

Martin

cool got no squeaking noises coming from blower, i think i may loosen up the fuse box and check connections. the fuses are bullets ones. thanks for your help

[California Dreamin]

Ahh!...so early......like I say, the spring tension holding each fuse can be adjusted (bend the terminals) But it is very important that you replace any cheap plastic bullit fuses with good quality ceramic ones (or bakelite) the plastic ones melt.

Martin

[the baron]

ok so i think i may have sorted the lights out, will need to test it at some point. my heater blower is still getting hot is there a earth connection on the blower ? cheers

[California Dreamin]

Most earths around the dash area are accomodated but two 'earth spiders' mounted behind the dash, above the fuse box..LOOK UPWARDS! they do corrod but be careful that it doesn't just fall apart when you try to clean all the individual terminals.

Martin

[the baron]

ok so i have cleaned the earth connections and the terminals on the fuse box/ light clusters, the lights seem to be staying cool, but still have problems with the heater, i did notice the ignition light does not go out straight away, you have to accelerate a bit for the light to go out, if you dont accelerate it does not go out.

[CovKid]

To be honest, chances are you won't cure hot fuse on blower unless you replace motor. I freed mine off ok when it locked solid but it'll still pop the fuse now and then. I just keep a pile of fuses in the meantime. For those with T25s that are 1985 and older, you'll need to make the mod I suggested in WIKI to get the blower off the same circuit as the wipers cos if blower fuse goes when its raining, you lose the wipers too. Dangerous as hell on a motorway - got the T-shirt.

[California Dreamin]

I suppose a simple solution would be to bi-pass the fuse box's own fuse and fit a seperate 'quality' fuse holder inline instead,....but my comments about partially seized blower motor still stands and remains the most likely cause of this hot fuse.

Martin

[the baron]

I suppose a simple solution would be to bi-pass the fuse box's own fuse and fit a seperate 'quality' fuse holder inline instead,....but my comments about partially seized blower motor still stands and remains the most likely cause of this hot fuse.

Martin

hi ok think you may be right about blower, i can turn it on to 1/2 setting and the fuse seems fine but asoon as i turn it on to 3 the fuse gets almost straight away. another problem i have the oil light does not come on, i have changed both oil switches in the engine bay and have also changed the led bulb, occasionally the led flickers very dimly. anyhow i take the led out and reverse the connections put it all back together everything looks fine, start her up the oil light comes on and stays on. so i turn led around again and it just does not come on. the engine has only done 50k cheers in advance

[CovKid]

LEDs are polarity sensitive so will only work one way round.

[the baron]

LEDs are polarity sensitive so will only work one way round.

thought so, still no joy though

[Miffanwee]

I suppose a simple solution would be to bi-pass the fuse box's own fuse and fit a seperate 'quality' fuse holder inline instead,....but my comments about partially seized blower motor still stands and remains the most likely cause of this hot fuse.

Martin

Gord bless yer guvna!
That will be my problem solved then!

Right so, any chance of giving me a clue as to where the blower motor is, apparently I could start by tapping it with a hammer and see if it moves????
just dont know where to tap!

thanks

[CovKid]

Quite a bit on blower motors and you can ease them off with WD40 but from experience you're better off replacing it with a new one. I freed mine off ok but it'll still blow fuses when it feels like it. For £35 and taking the dash out, better by far to fit a brand new one. Check its not the switch first but nine times out of ten its an old blower motor drawing too much current on startup and they never get better.