Page 1 of 1
New Fuse Box
Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 7:19 pm
by tetlow
I fitted a few of these fuse boxes about 12 months ago.
The car has been through various weathers and over 1 month on a ship but should I be getting problems already!!
The fuse units seem to have been corroding and I am having bad connections regularly now. I have coated the fuses with Vaseline but still have to waggle them occasionally.
I bought them on Flea Bay!!!
Can anyone recommend a good replacement / fix?
Cheers
Dave
Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 4:33 pm
by mrcheese
Google Vehicle Wiring Products for all sorts of electrical bits.
Some cheap fuses have very thin blades that work loose and corrode much more quickly.
Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 4:55 pm
by CastleMGBV8
Hi Dave,
Problem with e-bay for this sort of item is you have no idea where they came from.
For the sake of the cost of a new fuse box and set of fuses it would save a lot of aggro.
You could try Car Builder solutions/ NF Developments don't think they sell cr?p products.
http://www.carbuildersolutions.co.uk/index.html
See your coming to the Forum drag day, I'll look forward to meeting you and your well travelled car.
Kevin.
Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 5:11 pm
by Ian Anderson
Could also try SVC
Tend to be cheaper than Car Builder and quality has been good on the stuff I got from them
http://www.s-v-c.co.uk/
IAn
Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 7:31 pm
by kiwicar
I've used both suppliers, Ive found SVC best value for electrical stuff and carbuilder best for mechanical bits.
Mike
Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:53 pm
by tetlow
Thanks Guys.
We are both looking forward to putting some faces to names at the POD and can't wait to see Perry go for it
Believe it or not the B has done about 1000 miles in England, 1000 miles in France, 4000 miles in the USA/Canada and 8000miles on board ship.
Dave
Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:17 am
by kiwicar
Just looking at your wiring (very neat may I add) you wern't tempted to solder the crimped on connectors were you? I can't really see under the clear plastic shrouds, just with the modern lead free solders onto lead tinned brass spade terminals you can get a right mixture of metals all in contact, this can be a bad thing, electrolesis central. Also some of the modern tin/zync solders can go cristaline very quickly in the wrong envionments.
Mike
Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 12:44 pm
by mrcheese
Most lead free solders are tin copper. Widely accepted in the automotive industry. Problems are not generally being reported.
It is acceptable to solder the connections, but only after crimping. If you tin the leads first and then crimp, the connection can fail over time. The pressure of the crimp causes a process called cold flow in the solder which means it bcomes loose over time.
Paul.
Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 3:01 pm
by kiwicar
Hi
The lead free solders I came across (admittedly a few years ago when the started comming in) were Tin/zinc based (with a load of other metels in aswell). Tin/ copper is bronze isnt it? that has a pretty high melting point, must have somthing in with a lower melting point than both or you are looking at 700C+. I know they used to flux tin lead with Arsnic 'cause they kicked up a stink at the Arsnic levels in the workers at the factory I worked in (including me
).
The military people I did contracts for used to get picky about "crimp and only crimp". Unless you had the right plastic insulation on the wire it burnt, if you soldered after crimping then various nasties out the plastic insulation got included in the solder joint (also the flux can attack the plastic).
I was always told to never crimp and solder in any order, for all the reasons given so far, if I am out of date then so be it, I'll still avoid soldering and crimping on the same joint.
Best regards
Mike
Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:19 pm
by tetlow
I have been told many stories about soldering crimped connections too, one being the solder migrates back up the wire making it solid and liable to break rather than flex!! I still solder all my connection though.
Years ago I worked as a service Engineer for a CNC company and decided it was a great idea to fill USAF bayonett connectors on the Reader Heads with silicon to keep moisure out. The silicon disolved the copper in about 3 weeks.
My problem seems to be the contact between the fuses and their holders. It may be partly down to me as I have commoned quite a few af the fuses and might have done some damage.
I have contacted SVC and am checking their fuse boxes are not the same as the ones I already have.
Dave
Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:55 pm
by dnb
Lanolin works well as an anti-corrosion coating. It should be thinned with white spirit if it's too thick to do the job.
I never solder connectors on my cars (but I do solder and heatshrink splices) since a good crimp tool does a perfectly good job and you don't get strain relief problems or dissimilar metal problems.
Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 9:47 am
by mrcheese
SnAgCu solders are used by two thirds of Japanese manufacturers for reflow and wave soldering, and by about ¾ companies for hand soldering.
SnAg3.0Cu0.5, tin with 3% silver and 0.5% copper, has a melting point of 217 to 220 °C and is predominantly used in Japan. It is the JEITA recommended alloy for wave and reflow soldering, with alternatives SnCu for wave and SnAg and SnZnBi for reflow soldering.
SnAg3.5Cu0.7 is another commonly used alloy, with melting point of 217-218 °C.
SnAg3.5Cu0.9, with melting point of 217 °C, is determined by NIST to be truly eutectic.
SnAg3.8Cu0.7, with melting point 217-218 °C, is preferred by the European IDEALS consortium for reflow soldering.
SnAg3.8Cu0.7Sb0.25 is preferred by the European IDEALS consortium for wave soldering.
SnAg3.9Cu0.6, with melting point 217-223 °C, is recommended by the US NEMI consortium for reflow soldering.
SnCu0.7, with melting point of 227 °C, is a cheap alternative for wave soldering, recommended by the US NEMI consortium.
SnZn9, with melting point of 199 °C, is a cheaper alloy but is prone to corrosion and oxidation.
SnZn8Bi3, with melting point of 191-198 °C, is also prone to corrosion and oxidation due to its zinc content.
SnSb5, tin with 5% of antimony, is the US plumbing industry standard. Its melting point is 232-240 °C. It displays good resistance to thermal fatigue and good shear strength.
SnAg2.5Cu0.8Sb0.5 melts at 217-225 °C and is patented by AIM alliance.
SnIn8.0Ag3.5Bi0.5 melts at 197 to 208 °C and is patented by Matsushita/Panasonic.
SnBi57Ag1 melts at 137-139 °C and is patented by Motorola.
SnBi58 melts at 138 °C.
SnIn52 melts at 118 °C and is suitable for the cases where low-temperature soldering is needed.
Different elements serve different roles in the solder alloy:
Silver provides mechanical strength, but has worse ductility than lead. In absence of lead, it improves resistance to fatigue from thermal cycles.
Copper lowers the melting point, improves resistance to thermal cycle fatigue, and improves wetting properties of the molten solder. It also slows down the rate of dissolution of copper from the board and part leads in the liquid solder.
Bismuth significantly lowers the melting point and improves wettability. In presence of sufficient lead and tin, bismuth forms crystals of Sn16Pb32Bi52 with melting point of only 95 °C, which diffuses along the grain boundaries and may cause a joint failure at relatively low temperatures. A high-power part pre-tinned with an alloy of lead can therefore desolder under load when soldered with a bismuth-containing solder.
Indium lowers the melting point and improves ductility. In presence of lead it forms a ternary compound that undergoes phase change at 114 °C.
Zinc lowers the melting point and is low-cost. However it is highly susceptible to corrosion and oxidation in air, therefore zinc-containing alloys are unsuitable for some purposes, e.g. wave soldering, and zinc-containing solder pastes have shorter shelf life than zinc-free.
Antimony is added to increase strength without affecting wettability.
Copied from Wikipeadia.
Paul.