New 'How Cold Is Air Con' Thread

[mikeonb4c]

I think there may already be a factsheet on aircon in the members area but the info on here is superb and I'll bet the factsheet would benefit greatly from being revised to incorporate it (hint hint)

Well done guys - must check mine out as advised

[trevd01]

Guys and Galls

The truth is if your Bongo Aircon is not cold enough - something is wrong.

Our dear departed Bongo had Aircon that is just as cold as:

A Volvo v90
A Mercedes C Class
An Audi A4
An Audi A2
A Renault Megane
An Mercedes A Class
A Toyota Prius

(all vehicles I or my immediate family own or have owned recently)

and our current big campervan - a Fiat Ducato X250.

Oh yes and the (ABS) brakes were scarily good too.

So if your aircon is not cold enough or you brakes are not giving you total confidence - get them looked at, because there is something that is not as it should be

I have no axe to grind - we owned and loved a Bongo but have now moved on.

Just saying that you need not be disappointed in any aspect of a Bongo - if it is properly maintained ( except maybe ground clearance, fuel consumption and width )

[Jon 41]

As promised a very detailed description of problem and cure in either a word document or adobe pdf document. Hope this helps other members

http://www.webtech1.co.uk/strip.doc
http://www.webtech1.co.uk/strip.pdf

[BongoMTBer]

Excellent!

Good news.

[mikeonb4c]

As promised a very detailed description of problem and cure in either a word document or adobe pdf document. Hope this helps other members

http://www.webtech1.co.uk/strip.doc
http://www.webtech1.co.uk/strip.pdf

Ooooooh Yessss


thanks+++ Jon 41 and others. I'm awa tae me hutt ta download it

[francophile1947]

That's brilliant - thanks

[missfixit70]

Brilliant thread guys - I'm sure this info WILL be added to the factsheets, the link has been passed on to the boss

[widdowson2008]

Excellent - Set a bench mark
Do you work for Haynes by any chance?

[Grahamwy]

Can I just expand on this a little. The problem is not so much that motors are blocked up with dirt, more that the carbon brushes can't make a good electrical contact with commutator.

That might be because they are dirty, but its more likely that the brushes are worn out. Cleaning them up and re-assembling may get them going, but if the brushes are worn they are not going to last long.

Its possible to get a little more life out of the brushes by bending the piece of brass that restrains the braided wire forward a little (when you get it apart you will probably see what I mean), but brush replacement is the only long term cure.

These motors are scarily expensive, so I think we need to find a source of replacement brushes urgently. I found a company on the IOW http://www.carbonbrush.co.uk/ that might be able to help. They told me that if I sent them a old brush they will be able to manufacture a replacement for me.

The problem is I have put mine back in the Bongo now. Does anybody have a spare one that they could send them so they could make a pattern part for all of us?

Thanks

Graham

[mikeonb4c]

Can I just expand on this a little. The problem is not so much that motors are blocked up with dirt, more that the carbon brushes can't make a good electrical contact with commutator.

That might be because they are dirty, but its more likely that the brushes are worn out. Cleaning them up and re-assembling may get them going, but if the brushes are worn they are not going to last long.

Its possible to get a little more life out of the brushes by bending the piece of brass that restrains the braided wire forward a little (when you get it apart you will probably see what I mean), but brush replacement is the only long term cure.

These motors are scarily expensive, so I think we need to find a source of replacement brushes urgently. I found a company on the IOW http://www.carbonbrush.co.uk/ that might be able to help. They told me that if I sent them a old brush they will be able to manufacture a replacement for me.

The problem is I have put mine back in the Bongo now. Does anybody have a spare one that they could send them so they could make a pattern part for all of us?

Thanks

Graham

What an excellent idea

I presume this is the heater fan motor we are talking about?

[Alison01326]

Wow!!!

Going right back to my original post at the beginning of the original thread, I didn't have time to get anything done to the aircon before we went to France back in July when this thread got interesting or rather I couldn't find a "window" to be parted with the Bongo to have anything done, but it kept the inside of the Bongo cooler than the outside, although sitting in a traffic jam in Bordeaux with the sun pouring in through the windscreen would be a match for any air con system.

I'll probably get it looked at sometime, as a little treat for the Bongo, but suspect, going right back to my original, simple post, that it probably is as cold as it's ever going to be.

[Grahamwy]

What an excellent idea

I presume this is the heater fan motor we are talking about?

I was talking about the radiator fan motor, but I assume you could do a similar repair on the heater fan motor. Mine is still going strong so I have not had a reason to take it of and have a look yet.

[missfixit70]

What an excellent idea

I presume this is the heater fan motor we are talking about?

I was talking about the radiator fan motor, but I assume you could do a similar repair on the heater fan motor. Mine is still going strong so I have not had a reason to take it of and have a look yet.

Indeed you can, I've just done my 3rd heater fan motor stripdown (not on the same one) this last one was the worst I've done, the brushes were completely siezed in their housing & the motor siezed on the bearing, but a bit of a clean & a firkle it was working again

Before dismantling


Brushes



Reassembling after cleaning



The brushes were worn, but from the maximum travel in the holders, I reckon a maximum of 4.5 mm wear over the 14 year lifespan of the bongo, but I don't know how long it'd been siezed.
If anyone's interested in getting some brushes made up for the heater fan motor, they are a square cross section, measured at 6.96mm on each side after cleaning, so probably 7mm from new. the braided wire was drilled & fixed with it's centre at 2mm from the end in the middle of one side & the wire tails are 30mm. At a guess I'd say the brushes would have been about 13mm long from new, going from the length left & available travel.