Re: [DML] Re: Fan Fail melting

["L. Sandel" <ls@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>I do not know of any specific heat problem with the Fanzilla. I had
>one fail but I was told it was uncommon. It's failure mode was to

 FWIW, last year I noted what I considered an unacceptable level of heat in 
the fuse area of my Fanzilla.  I use the word "unacceptable" because the 
fuseholder caps were too hot to comfortably touch.  The fundamental problem 
is that my R12 level is not correct, and the fans don't cycle when the AC is 
on, but I still don't think that amount of heat buildup should ever occur.

Once everything cooled down, I inspected the fuses & holders and found that 
everything was clean & shiny.  The caps have tabs that retain the upper half 
of the fuse.  I bent these inward slightly to increase holding pressure & 
decrease resistance under load.  The bottom half of the holder, IIRC, is a 
sort of multi-pronged affair that doesn't make full contact with the surface 
area of the fuse bottom.  I know this sounds awful, but I simply dropped a 
small ball of aluminum foil into the holder so that when a fuse was 
inserted, it would flatten out & increase overall tension & contact area 
against the fuse.

I also bypassed the cooling fan circuit breaker, as it seemed redundant to 
have 2 fast-acting fuses AND a (slow) circuit breaker in the cooling fan 
circuit - a simple repinning of one of the Fanzilla plugs accomplished that. 
I don't have the schematic infront of me, but if you look at it, it's pretty 
obvious what pin needs to go where.

Result: A subsequent long-running test showed a dramatic heat reduction. 
The added resistance of the extra wire & circuit breaker didn't help the 
heat situation, but I think the fuseholders should have had a bit more 
tension & surface contact on them.  A testament to the Fanzilla is that, 
even though it got righteously hot, the case did not distort or discolor at 
all.

-Luke / 10270 



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