Heater Switch Refurbish |
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ndnchf
Member Sponsor Member x 2 Joined: 22 Sep. 2017 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 2177 |
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Posted: 09 Sep. 2018 at 5:08pm |
I just finished refurbishing my heater switch and took photos along the way. Maybe this will help someone else.
The heater blower hasn't worked since I got my jeep last year. So I finally decided to investigate. The lighted switch seemed to work and lights up, but it felt very gritty to rotate. I found one of the switch wires broken - Ahh Haa, that's it. Pulled the switch from the dash and bypassed it to test the blower motor - it worked! So I needed to fix the broken wire and deal with the switch. A check of Walck's site shows a new switch for about $10, that's good. Then I started looking at the old switch and it looked like it could be taken apart. Knowing I could get a new one, I decided to tear into this one and see if it could be repaired. First off was to remove the rusty wire bale. Then the guts pulled out. To my surprise there was a large pile of metal grindings inside. Some brass, some ferrous. After removing in inner brass sleeve, I could see why it felt so gritty. The grit had got into the sleeve chewing it up a bit. I cleaned everything with electrical contact cleaner. I smoothed up the brass sleeve with 400 sandpaper and oil. All the corroded electrical contacts were cleaned until bright. The variable resister coils had pieces of metal grit embedded between some of the coils. I was able to remove them with a sharp needle. I checked the coil resistance at various places around the coil. It varied from 0 to 2 ohms. I cleaned the rust off the switch cases and painted it. The wire bale was almost rusted through, so I made a new one from music wire. Using just the lightest smidgen of dialectric grease on the contacts, it was reassembled. I put it back in the dash and tried it out. It works great and the light works. |
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1948 CJ2A - It goes nowhere fast, but anywhere slow.
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DonH
Member Joined: 13 Feb. 2006 Location: Central Massachusetts USA Status: Offline Points: 132 |
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Excellent work! DonH
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1946CJ2A
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timcj2a
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 19 July 2005 Location: Chula Vista, CA. Status: Offline Points: 801 |
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Nice job Steve and thanks for passing this along.
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EMyers
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 08 Sep. 2017 Location: Buffalo NY Status: Offline Points: 184 |
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That must have been very satisfying! Nicely done
Little (and big) successes like this are why restoring an old jeep is so appealing. I just have to finish 972 of them yet...
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CJ2A 18450
https://www.thecj2apage.com/forums/46-cj2a-18450_topic41246_page1.html |
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ndnchf
Member Sponsor Member x 2 Joined: 22 Sep. 2017 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 2177 |
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Thanks guys, hopefully this will help someone else down the road. But its good to know an inexpensive replacement is available. It is satisfying to be able to refresh the original switch. The only problem I have is the fan blade sounds like its hitting something in the heater. I get an occasional "tink" "tink" sound from it. It may be the motor bearings are worn allowing the blade to get off axis, or something is loose. I don't feel like pulling the heater right now, so I'll live with it. I'll only have a bikini top on it in the winter, so the heater won't be much help except to help keep my feet warm!
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1948 CJ2A - It goes nowhere fast, but anywhere slow.
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ndnchf
Member Sponsor Member x 2 Joined: 22 Sep. 2017 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 2177 |
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I'm dredging up my old heater switch discussion to make an update for future reference. I just refurbed the heater itself and had an issue with the switch after reinstalling it.
Heater refurb discussion: It turns out it was me, not the switch. But here's an explanation.One note about the original heater control switch. I refurbed this switch a couple years ago and it worked fine. But when I reinstalled the heater last night, the light bulb would not go out in the off position. I took the switch out and apart a few times trying to figure out why. Then testing it just hanging below the dash, the light would not come on. I was l like WTH? Grrrrr. After a good hour of fussing with it, I finally figured out what was going on. The switch is more complicated than it seems. First off the input power has to go to right side terminal when looking at it from the rear. This allows the bulb to turn off in the off position. Connecting it to the left terminal, applies power to the bulb constantly, no matter the knob position. 2nd - the heater motor has a ground wire that needs to be connected to the body somewhere. I had done this and assumed that was all that was needed. Nope - the bulb in the switch uses input power, but to complete its circuit, the switch body must be grounded to the body also. In this case, it needs clean contact at the hole in the dash. That's why the bulb wouldn't come on when hanging below the dash. After cleaning the surface around the hole and reinstalling the switch, it worked just fine. Sheesh, I spent a good hour chasing my tail last night! But I learned and lot and its all good now. |
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1948 CJ2A - It goes nowhere fast, but anywhere slow.
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jeeper50
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 01 Mar. 2008 Location: Spanish Fort AL Status: Offline Points: 2579 |
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My harrison was making that same noise and I removed it and found lots of sticks and leaves from getting sucked up into the heater from the front side (no inlet screen) from having parked the jeep outside for a while. Even though I would seldom use the heater in GA, except on snow or icy road conditions when it was fun to be out in the cold with only a summertop on it
Edited by jeeper50 - 21 May 2020 at 2:51pm |
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Belleview ol skool winch soon. '48 CJ2A 283 V8 sm 420 granny low, tera low D18, overdrive,lockers Texan at heart,Alabama by retirement |
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otto
Member Joined: 26 Feb. 2012 Location: Orygun Status: Offline Points: 2264 |
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Ndnchf, thanks for posting this tutorial. My jeep seems to have the same switch and I’ve been scared of removing the knob for fear of breaking it. How did you remove the knob?
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47 CJ2A w/fuel injected boat engine
48 CJ2A 64 Ford Econoline Travelwagon If you can't get there in a Jeep, get a motorcycle! |
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ndnchf
Member Sponsor Member x 2 Joined: 22 Sep. 2017 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 2177 |
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The white plastic knob just pulls straight off. Its only a friction fit. The bulb is a bayonet mount. Push in and turn CCW to remove.
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1948 CJ2A - It goes nowhere fast, but anywhere slow.
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ndnchf
Member Sponsor Member x 2 Joined: 22 Sep. 2017 Location: Virginia Status: Offline Points: 2177 |
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Mine doesn't have that problem, it just draws air up from the bottom through the core. There is no outside air intake.
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1948 CJ2A - It goes nowhere fast, but anywhere slow.
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jeeper50
Member Sponsor Member Joined: 01 Mar. 2008 Location: Spanish Fort AL Status: Offline Points: 2579 |
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It does not have outside air intake, It's just all the friggen leaves that fall on everything in the fall and the wind does the rest when you park your jeep outside.
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Belleview ol skool winch soon. '48 CJ2A 283 V8 sm 420 granny low, tera low D18, overdrive,lockers Texan at heart,Alabama by retirement |
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3-48s
Member Joined: 18 Sep. 2008 Location: Upstate, NY Status: Offline Points: 2783 |
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Nice job there! Here is a new one w/ dash clamp, in the original box from ARK-LES. |
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1945 CJ2A #10536
1948 CJ2A #176528 "Elmer" 1948 CJ2A #155970 "Gray Mule" 1948 CJ2A #155365 "Old Yeller" (GONE) BANTAM T3C # 6147 (GONE) BANTAM T3C # 30856 |
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