Heater feed trouble

[Vitesse Owner]

Vitesse 2L Mk 2- With test bulb in place of heater motor, bulb flashes as if influenced by flashers,

no sound from flasher unit. Flashers work but are sluggish at times.

Has anyone had this trouble or know what the cause may be ?

 

Jeff.

[Pete Lewis]

has some bright spark connected the heater feed into the gauge voltage stabiliser somehow ??

as that gives an average pulsed output of 10.5volts   and the feed to both are green and piggyback from the stabiliser feed 

its probably been connected back to front , shouldnt happen as the terminals are male female to avoid this mix up

 

just a thought Pete

[Vitesse Owner]

Pete

Thanks for reply. I don't know, however looking at the manual (Haynes) the feed to heater

switch (38) is from voltage stabiliser (40). I haven't dealt with one these before, can you

tell me what it looks like and whereabouts it would be located, please.

 

Jeff.

[dougbgt6]

That surprised me so looked out my Haynes. There is a feed from the fuse (21) to the heater switch (38) from there, there is a branch off to the voltage stabiliser (40) so the stabiliser is not feeding the heater motor, the heater switch is used as a feed to the input of the stabiliser. Could be that the green wire from the top of the switch has been connected to the wrong side of the stabiliser which is what Pete suggested, I think. As to where it is, not sure on a Vitesse! 

[Pete Lewis]

http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item--i-128484

 

its a small metal cased unit on the back of the speedo

 

has two double lucar connectors one is marked B for battery and the other I for instruments

 

so it has 12-14.5 volts input but a fixed and stable 10.5volts output so changes innvehicle battery voltage does not affect the thermo bimetal gauges reading

if its connected incorrectly or even removed you will get high readings on fuel and temperature gauges

 

pete

[Casper]

 

 

so it has 12-14.5 volts input but a fixed and stable 10.5volts output 

 

Not fixed and stable (unless a replacement solid state on has been fitted) but pusled   +v / 0v output which averages 10.5v and, if used to provide supply to heater motor would give the symptoms described.

 

C.

[Vitesse Owner]

Pete and Others

 

You're on the right track, connections to voltage stabiliser as you say should not get wrongly connected as they are

male and female. However they appeared to have been re-made at some time so I have now re-made and swopped

over. The heater motor runs but only for about 10 seconds then stops and the fuel gauge also falls back.

(This is with ignition on but engine not running by the way)

       Seems to suggest that the stabilizer is the trouble, but I know nothing about them - any ideas please.

 

Jeff

[dougbgt6]

Do you have a multi-meter? Disconnect the stabiliser, earth it's body to the battery and apply +12v to it's input. There should then be +10.5v on it's output. Most multi-meters won't see any fluctuations on the 10.5v. The original stabilisers aren't realistically repairable but a new one, traditional or electronic, is around £10.  I went electronic, got it on Ebay.

[Pete Lewis]

with ign on you should get a pulsed output on a meter ( or even a small bulb ) as said it pulses 10-0-10-0 every few seconds to keep the average constant, if the blower has been run through it i would guess the stabiliser has now been seriously overloaded and a replacement is needed

there are the original style and also electronic units if you search most suppliers or e bay 

why not run a new lead from the ign white switched wires to the motor , it should then fire up and remove the previuos Oops! to history

not all,  but many  a triumph with its limited spec fuse boxes use the cap of the fuse to feed  a new circuit , if the contacts are corroded the cap wont pass enough current to power secondary  line  un fused circuit  .have a look 

ie  thats the spring clip thats the fuse  connector /retainer 

 

Pete

[dougbgt6]

My meter would never show the fluctuation due to the protective circuitry on it's inputs which had a damping, sustain,  effect but, it is cheap and cheerful, made in China! I suppose you could work out the frequency of the switching by the ratio of 10.5 to 12..........somehow. Where's my slide rule.....

[dougbgt6]

No, I'm wrong again, that's not right, you can switch very fast or very slow but as long as the ration of "on and off" is correct the voltage will be correct. So how fast it's designed to switch depends on the damping properties of the gauge. The better the damping, the slower you can switch, so as long as the stabiliser is switching faster than the minimum, in the correct ratio, it works.  Which means the stabiliser can be manufactured to switch at any speed as long as faster than the minimum. So some will be faster than others. I think?