mason alarm

[nigelgibson]

fitted mason alarm today. e mailed dave to ask how to set and he said 'about 4 is usual but check with forum '. checked on here and there is loads but yet to find specific instruction. is it really that heath robinson ? do i drive around putting it under big loads like stuck in traffic and then look for big hills , wait for it to go off and then set it a bit higher?

not knocking dave or alarm as they seem really popular - i just want to be sure i'm getting best out of it.

[Northern Bongolow]

4.5 is about the norm for a healthy bongo.
thats set to alarm just before the rad fans come on.

[mister munkey]

No two Bongos will be set up the same. All run within different paramaters depending on the state of the cooling system, how much crud is in the radiator, which type of stat fitted . . . The list goes on.

Mine used to be happy at 5 until a new radiator was fitted. 4 seems about right now but start yours off somewhere round there & adjust up or down accordingly 'till you find the level that suits.

Not Heath Robinson, just adaptable.

[missfixit70]

I have mine set to go on just before fans kick in, can't remember exact temp, somewhere around 92- 94 degrees which is @ 3/4 0f the way on the temp gauge scale(fans on @96, which on mine is almost to the end of the scale), depending on different bongos, the mason value is slightly different, usually somewhere between 4 & 4.5. Once the engine is warmed up, it shouldn't take long to get the engine up to fan temp on the driveway, easier & safer than trying to do it on the road. depends at what point you want the alarm to sound, for me it tells me to keep an eye to make sure the fans bring temp down on the rare occasions it gets that warm.
If you do it this way you can play with engine speeds as the fans kick in, interesting to see how much quicker it brings the temp down once the fans kick in if you increase the revs, you can then use this thinking when driving, sometimes increasing revs is the best way to bring the temp down if all's working as it should

[nigelgibson]

So are we saying when fans kick in it's already too hot? i cant say i've ever heard the fan on the bongo but on the jag it seems to come on regularly on small journeys. is the bongo fan designed only to come on when its near overheating? i've had it running on drive and temp gauge went to 1 oclock but no fan or alarm [ about 20 mins ].
if fan brings temp down does alarm switch off then ?

[missfixit70]

So are we saying when fans kick in it's already too hot? i cant say i've ever heard the fan on the bongo but on the jag it seems to come on regularly on small journeys. is the bongo fan designed only to come on when its near overheating? i've had it running on drive and temp gauge went to 1 oclock but no fan or alarm [ about 20 mins ].

Nope, as I said, it depends what you want the alarm to tell you. If the fans don't kick in, or if they do, but don't drag the temperature down, then you've got the high speed fans that then kick in at 104 degrees, if they don't bring it down, you'll very shortly be looking at trouble. If you're regularly getting up to fan switching temp with normal running conditions, then you've got issues, that should only really be happening when there's no/low airflow over the rad (stuck in traffic for 20 minutes) or when under heavy loads, eg steep hills. As the stat is fully open by the time the fan switches on, if you are tooling down the motorway with full airflow anyway, fans won't make much difference.
To get fans to switch on on the driveway, you'll need to get the bottom hose HOT (too hot to hold onto for more than a few seconds) & then keep going, with Mason fitted that'll be nearly to the end of the temp gauge scale (as I already said ) at least half an hour usually. Best bet is to take it for a 20 minute drive if it doesn't need bleeding, then leave engine runnning when you get back.

if fan brings temp down does alarm switch off then ?

Yes

[nigelgibson]

its on the jag [ my other car] where the fan seems to come on regularly - i wondered if all vehicles operated a similar system. As i said the bongo fan i have never heard. Steve [ widdowson ] said last week he could check fans were ok very easily so think i might beg a favour then run it and set up alarm as you've suggested. i know he doesn't have the mason but maybe can help with checking fans. 'Fraid the cooling system malarkey is like a foreign language to me !

thanks for help.

[missfixit70]

No worries, I wasn't saying your bongo's fans were coming on regularly, just trying to explain relatively simply what's going on & what you should expect Steve'll see you right

[nigelgibson]

sorry i misunderstood ... but like i said it's foreign language time to me and bless you for trying but i doubt you could ever put it simply enough for this simpleton to get it !!!!!!

[nigelgibson]

Mason alarm now fitted but wow , this is wierd watching the needle constantly moving instead of sitting there at 11 oclock like a waxwork dummy !

i need [ for peace of mind ] to check a few things.

the needle at normal running temp seems to be at about 1oclock which i gather is normal with mason fitted.

in city centre today with mason left at factory set 4, after traffic and hills the needle rose to around 2 oclock [ assuming dead centre 12 oclock and 3 oclock up to h as maximum ]. At this point alarm started chirruping away but stopped after maybe 30 to 40 secs or when i stopped or driving returned to normal, ie no hill or traffic. i reset alarm to 4.5 and needle continued as before but alarm only went off quickly on one occasion and then stopped pretty quicly. It has been a red hot day so assume this will influence. Never heard a fan kick in but never have and main rad fan wasn't running when i got home. i intend to let Steve [ widdowson ] check fans are working ok , but does what i described sound normal? it scares the s*** out of me !

Dont think it's related as i think AC needs regassing as it's been like this for a long while but it was blowing luke warm on 18 all afternoon. Good news today - flew through mot and front seats back from reupholstery, pics soon just got door cards to be done next week.

[missfixit70]

If you haven't heard the rad fans kick in, then your ac ain't working (I assume you have the ac switch pressed, or on auto?) Rad fans should kick in with ac.
Mason sounds about right, fans should kick in before the needle reaches the end of the scale with a Mason modified temp gauge, this is not affected by the point at which the alarm starts sounding. As I said before, it depends what you want the alarm to tell you, mine is set to remind me to keep an eye on temps before it's getting too hot.
Temps usually rise if in stationary traffic or steep hills etc.

[teenmal]

Mason alarm now fitted but wow , this is wierd watching the needle constantly moving instead of sitting there at 11 oclock like a waxwork dummy !

i need [ for peace of mind ] to check a few things.

the needle at normal running temp seems to be at about 1oclock which i gather is normal with mason fitted.

in city centre today with mason left at factory set 4, after traffic and hills the needle rose to around 2 oclock [ assuming dead centre 12 oclock and 3 oclock up to h as maximum ]. At this point alarm started chirruping away but stopped after maybe 30 to 40 secs or when i stopped or driving returned to normal, ie no hill or traffic. i reset alarm to 4.5 and needle continued as before but alarm only went off quickly on one occasion and then stopped pretty quicly. It has been a red hot day so assume this will influence. Never heard a fan kick in but never have and main rad fan wasn't running when i got home. i intend to let Steve [ widdowson ] check fans are working ok , but does what i described sound normal? it scares the s*** out of me !Dont think it's related as i think AC needs regassing as it's been like this for a long while but it was blowing luke warm on 18 all afternoon. Good news today - flew through mot and front seats back from reupholstery, pics soon just got door cards to be done next week.

Thats the very reason that Mazda Doctored the temperature gauges.

[nigelgibson]

thanks , AC was on , do you mean then that fans won't kick in without AC on ? i thought they would be linked to engine temp as part of cooling system?

[missfixit70]

No, I mean the fans should kick in with the ac (to cool the ac condenser rad in front of the engine rad0) on ASWELL as kicking in if required by the engine temp switch mounted in the block above the starter
If the fans are not kicking in with the ac (& it's not blowing cold) then it needs regassing at the very least, very good guy not too far from you that'll sort your ac out properly http://www.derbyshireairconservices.co.uk/ he came down to the bash & had a 100% success rate in sorting everyones aircon that wanted it doing.

[nigelgibson]

Thanks ever so... rung Nigel at Derbyshire air con from your link , and he's booked in for sunday .
You're spot on i reckon , he says fans won't kick in if gas is less than 45% the switch sensor deactivates.
Will then let Steve check over fans are working ok on engine temp. Whilst the mason is a tad scary i'm starting to feel as though i'm a little more aware of what's going on and hopefully more in control once i get used to it. thanks again.