Club 80-90 Forums

If you do get around to changing blower, do my PWM mod (WIKI) and get rid of those bloomin resistors

I'll have a look. Thanks for heads up!

Well done fellas - this is on my imminent fix list for early December when I visit my parents up north and utilise dad's nice driveway. Your battling the cold is encouraging enough, the last week of rain and Monday's flooding haven't made me look forward to a dash swap, never mind swapping the big coolant lines or tank. Good work chaps

On the plus side..... putting it all back together with self tappers and "sticks like SH*T" was a piece of pi$$ in comparison.
apart from the fact it's -3*C out there.
I was tempted to try a PWM speed controller but my resistors are healthy and don't look rusty or toasted so I left em be.
I've seen the switching transistor blow on a few modern cars (leaving you with full blast or nothing) so I'm not convinced it's any more reliable.
No doubt theres pros and cons of both.

The temperature outside isn't really a problem for me, I don't mind the cold so much. It's my old arthritic joints that cause me the most trouble. Jobs I could do in a day take 3 or 4 days now. Still get a buzz out of seeing a job through to the end though.

If you still have the dash out its worth greasing the wiper linkage, only a few min job but a pain in the axxx if you have to do it later.
Well done I did mine 2 years ago, it's a bit long winded.

I like the idea of bubble wrap to lie on!!! Did you get the full snap crackle pop sound effect all through the job? Sounds much more interesting than soggy cardboard!

Also while dash is out, insulate it with at least foil bubble wrap cut into all the shapes needed to cover it all. Its not often you get that much access and it makes a hell of a difference adding insulation both for Summer and Winter. VW didn't use any at all (too much faff I suppose).

Finally, and I did it i mine, fit some under-dash good quality speaker pods. I found they sounded way better than door card ones and not prone to damage. Surprisingly nothing is lost in quality as it seems to bounce back at you from windscreen and sounds more like the sound you get in a modern car. You don't need to connect them straight away, but if they're in, they're in and you might as well use the cavernous space under there.

The other advantage with going PWM, is you won't need to haul the dash out again just to replace a resistor which are power-hungry beasts to start with. The blower resistor is what caused so many Zaphiras to catch fire and its a cheapskate barbaric way to vary motor speed. PWM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GzJ8N1Rqp8&t=4s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If my PWM fails, I can just reach under and replace it for about a fiver, plus you can set it to any speed rather than just two or three. It doesn't overload your fusebox like resistors can either.

All these ideas are great but it's too late for me all done on mine now but I will bear them in mind for next time

CovKid - did you have the speaker firing upwards through the dash? drilling perforations in the dash?

No. No shortage of gaps and spaces for sound to emanate, but yes, pointing up at about a 45 degree angle. Small adjustment to equaliser nailed it although you could fit dash top tweeters I guess. I just never found a need to.

Gaps and spaces - true enough! Thanks for that.

I just don't like them in doors. Terrible place for them with damp an effective way to ruin them, plus the acoustics are dire. No way to control the air flow in a measured way whereas in an enclosure you can. I'm quite impressed by the speaker pods in my smart car. Good bass and the speaker is only 13mm across. Clearly the box/enclosure is well thought out. I recently removed some from a scrap smart to have a play with.....

Covkid,
I have read your PWM mod with interest as I plan to do this in the new year - blower motor seized - so will buy a new one too.
Do you have a link to the model that you bought? I have searched on Ebay and the control lead on most of them does not look long enough!
What wattage/amp did you go for? Also would like one with a cover as it does get dusty under the dash.

Thanks

Steve L

As its the Far East, availability seems to be down to whatever they're producing at any given time. Slowcoach recently found this one. Ideal and only £4.99 freepost although you'll probably need to change the potentiometer (control) for one of same value but with a longer shaft:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-12V-24V-2 ... 1859210753" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A couple of (stock) resistors will cost close to £17 plus postage. Just remember to wire the unit to an ignition-only circuit to ensure you don't leave it left on in slow mode without realising and flatten your battery - either that or add an LED. Its just simpler to power it from something that is only live with ignition on. And you'll need brown earth from blower to earth crown as that MUST go to unit output. As you're fitting a new blower unit you can disregard resistor circuit completely and just connect it directly to PWM output. Test before refitting dash, or at least test on motor as I did here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GzJ8N1Rqp8&t=6s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If I were fitting the one above, I'd just make a small plate with a hole in it (effectively a washer) so the control sits on the rear of the dash where original switch was rather than set into the facia as I did on mine. The unit doesn't actually need screwing down - just tuck it out the way if its easier. Mine sits behind the stereo.