Plus 2 Heater Overhaul

PostPost by: gwiz22 » Sun Jun 12, 2011 8:07 am

I'm about to embark on a heater overhaul from my Plus 2. I've read all the pages that come up after searching on the words "heater overhaul". I was just hoping for a few tips from someone who has already done it, and maybe could highlight any problems that cropped up.

I've got the unit out of the car and a few questions come to mind just looking at it:

- Do you have to drill out the rivets to get it apart?
- Can you replace the sealing strip, etc. without removing the flap levers?
- I have gaps around the side tubes to which eyeball trunking fits. Would silicon sealer be a suitable method to seal up these gaps?
- The resistor which makes the unit two speed has burnt out. Has anyone replaced this with a general purpose resistor. If so, how many ohms and what wattage is required?

Thanks in advance.
Graham
gwiz22
Second Gear
Second Gear
 
Posts: 98
Joined: 29 Oct 2005

PostPost by: bob_rich » Sun Jun 12, 2011 8:39 am

Hi Graham

I will follow your post with interest because I have 2 do the heater up sometime in the near future.

regarding the resistor I just tested mine with a bench DC supply and with 5.5V it passed 3.7A so as near as makes little difference it looks like 1.5 ohms and, as a guess, a 25W rating should be OK. Mine has a part number 47222E 14 98 suspect last 4 digits R a date code.

If U cant get an original then one of the Welwyn metal clad resistors WH25 should be OK. U can get them from Farnell or RS, but they would have 2 B soldered on

best of luck

Bob
bob_rich
Fourth Gear
Fourth Gear
 
Posts: 564
Joined: 06 Aug 2009

PostPost by: graham » Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:12 am

Hi Graham
When I did mine I drilled out the rivets and left the flap levers attached. Easy enough to replace the flap seals. I cant help with the other questions. With my resistor I checked it out and got good volt readings but seem to get constant speed on both switch settings but havnt tried it out properly.

Graham
User avatar
graham
Second Gear
Second Gear
 
Posts: 125
Joined: 18 Jul 2009

PostPost by: Robbie693 » Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:07 am

Hmm seems to be a lot of heater questions just now..

Hi Graham,

When I did mine I removed the levers as I wanted to strip and paint the flaps so I got a good adhesion with the new seal pads. it was also much easier to get at the rivets which attach the edge seals. To be honest I don't think I could have done it without dismantling. Mine was held together with screws on one end and rivets on the other, maybe indicating someone else had been in there before.

For the side tubes, I had the same problem. This is what I came up with:

http://www.lotuselan.net/forums/elan-plus-f13/heater-rebuild-t16068-30.html

Photos at the top of the page, description on previous page.

Hope this helps

Robbie
User avatar
Robbie693
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1637
Joined: 08 Oct 2003

PostPost by: stugilmour » Sun Jun 12, 2011 2:06 pm

Graham, mine was like Robbie's with small screws on the side without levers. Saw no evidence it had been apart before. I don't recall having to remove the levers or the left side of the box, but could be mistaken. Perhaps take apart the side without levers first and check it out first? I do recall having the core out of the box for cleaning.

For sealing I used silver duct sealing tape, although caulking would be fine.
Stu
1969 Plus 2 Federal LHD
User avatar
stugilmour
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 2060
Joined: 03 Sep 2007

PostPost by: JJDraper » Sun Jun 12, 2011 3:23 pm

Robbie693 wrote:Hmm seems to be a lot of heater questions just now..


English Summer..

Jeremy
User avatar
JJDraper
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1031
Joined: 17 Oct 2004

PostPost by: mikealdren » Sun Jun 12, 2011 5:03 pm

I haven't sealed mine yet but I probably will, the original wasn't sealed very well but I'm looking for all the airflow I can get out of it. I tried to get the levers off without success (I didn't want to resort to heat) but I was able to get at almost all the rusty surfaces without. I think Gerry took his levers off (earlier thread).

Mike
mikealdren
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1224
Joined: 26 Aug 2006

PostPost by: jeff jackson » Sun Jun 12, 2011 5:11 pm

Hi Graham,
Once you get the heater matrix out, the best method I found for flushing it out was to use my wallpaper steamer, I attached the tube from the steamer to the matrix tube, then steamed it for (if memeory serves about 1/2 an hour) until the water ran out in the steamer. Flushed it through with a hose, and steamed it again. on every flush, I wanted to make sure all the crud was flushed out, so eventally after steaming if the water ran clear straight away, it was done. Putting the heater back together again, meant that I had a working heater for the first time in about 16 years of ownership.
All other advice about flaps and flap material etc, I found here on the forum, so pretty much what every one else has done in the past.

Good luck - it's worth it in the end.

Jeff 72 +2
User avatar
jeff jackson
Fourth Gear
Fourth Gear
 
Posts: 578
Joined: 31 May 2004

PostPost by: gerrym » Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:04 pm

As Mike, says, I took mione apart because especially the lower part was showing some rust. I sand blasted all the pieces then sprayed with Bilt Hamber etc prime then automotive (rattle can) satin black). I used mostly self tapers on the sides of the casings to hold et all together again. I originally used stainless steel self tapers then changed these to galvanised tapers (hopefully sacrificial to the casing). By the way, A Ford Fiesta heater matrix fits quite nicely in there.

Regards

Gerry
gerrym
Fourth Gear
Fourth Gear
 
Posts: 894
Joined: 25 Jun 2006

PostPost by: gwiz22 » Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:29 am

Thanks to everyone for the helpful tips and comments. On closer inspection, mine too has only screws on the non-flap arm side. So from your experiences, it looks like I should be able to recondition the heater without drilling out the pop rivets and removing the levers.

Jeff, thanks for the idea of a wallpaper steamer. I was planning on leaving some redflush in there for a couple of days, but this sounds as if it should get it uber clean.

Not wishing to be a nuisance but is there anybody out there who can get easy access to the LHS of their heater. If so, and you have a voltmeter, I would appreciate if you could maeasure the voltage between earth and both contact on the resistor. There's a picture of the resistor below in case there is any confusion. One contact should read 12Volts and The other I am guessing arouns 6-8volts. Once I know what this is I can determine the exact value resistor as a replacement.

Many thanks
Graham
Attachments
P1010668.JPG and
gwiz22
Second Gear
Second Gear
 
Posts: 98
Joined: 29 Oct 2005

PostPost by: mikealdren » Mon Jun 13, 2011 10:04 am

Graham,
I didn't take off the levers but I did drill out the rivets and largely dismantle the box. Everything inside was quite rusty and the foam seals on the flaps had totally disintegrated (see earlier threads).

Drilling out and replacing the pop rivets is very easy after all.

Mike
mikealdren
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 1224
Joined: 26 Aug 2006

PostPost by: jono » Mon Jun 13, 2011 10:18 am

No big deal removing the flap levers - I simply tapped the inner rod with a drift while holding the lever in a mole grip and they came out no probs, they are a spline fitting.

I've got loads of pics of my htr rebuild and will post them up when I get a chance.

Jon
jono
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 2022
Joined: 17 May 2007

PostPost by: bob_rich » Mon Jun 13, 2011 7:28 pm

Hi Graham

As I have my heater out and stashed in an easy to get slot in the shed I thought I could I quickly run up the motor and check the current and volts 4U. With a 13V supply direct on the motor the current was 3.8A. With the resistor in circuit the current was now 2.5A and the voltage drop across the resistor was 3.4V so motor voltage would be down to 9.6V and the resistance is around 1.36ohms. My resistor loks different 2 yours and was mounted on the top of the unit and it could be seen through the radio cutout when heater was in the car. In my earlier post I had reckoned about 1.5 ohms should be OK -- still do. Gave me a chance to check the heater out and while it is a bit tat it all seems to work OK. It is mainly held 2 gether by self tappers so I guess its been repaired B4 still 40 odd years old not surprising!

hope this helps

best of luck

Bob
bob_rich
Fourth Gear
Fourth Gear
 
Posts: 564
Joined: 06 Aug 2009

PostPost by: john.p.clegg » Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:30 pm

Just had a look in the shed....Motor resistance 3.0 Ohms,Resistor 2.5 Ohms..

John :wink:
User avatar
john.p.clegg
Coveted Fifth Gear
Coveted Fifth Gear
 
Posts: 5744
Joined: 21 Sep 2003

PostPost by: gwiz22 » Tue Jun 14, 2011 7:25 am

Thanks to Bob and John for taking the time to make these measurents for me.
Using the rheostat, I've tried both resistances, 1.5ohm and 2.5ohm. At 1.5ohm, the fan seems to run quite fast. 2.5ohm seems to be about right fan speed wise. As general purpose resistors come in odd values; 1, 2.2, 3.3, 3.9, 4.7ohms, etc. I think I'll buy a few different values and try them when the heater is back in the car when I can get a feel for the airflow. I've even thought of having a few different resistances and a rotary switch to select a variety of different speeds. But maybe that's an enhancement too far.

I shall be taking the heater apart over the next few days to do the refurb, so wish me luck.

Regards
Graham
gwiz22
Second Gear
Second Gear
 
Posts: 98
Joined: 29 Oct 2005
Next

Total Online:

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 27 guests