Slippery

Slippery

New Member
Just a quick one guys.
Does anyone know if the terminals to the ammeter on the dashboard clocks should get so hot it smokes if you put oil on it?

Mine is all rusty and it get F**king hot with all the lights on and i' worried that it will set fire to something.

PS
Its a early 2a converted to Neg earth.
 
No just no!!


1.no meter should get hot it must have a resistance in it somewhere

2.why did you put oil on it do you have a death wish? this is hot what shall i put on it oh i know a flamable liquid DOH!
 
You bet that was good advice!

There is a real possibility that the SHUNT across the ammeter is made of steel alloy, sometimes known as a NiChrome alloy. This passes 99.9% of the current from one heavy wire to the other. One in, one out. Only a teeny weeny bit of current goes into the meter itself.

I suggest the contacts between the cables and the meter shunt wire are corroded - rusty in other words.

They will get hot - and the more leccy you use, the hotter they will get, till you have a nice in-dash fire.

Takes off both main cables, file all contact areas shining clean, apply a little Vaseline to keep out the damp, and screw the cables back on.

Your leccy supply will now be better, especially when it's all turned on.

CharlesY
 
G-man said:
2.why did you put oil on it do you have a death wish? this is hot what shall i put on it oh i know a flamable liquid DOH!
Click to expand...

You try working on a 2a and not get oil on your finger.

Ouch burnt finger:eek:

Thanks CharlesY
I did think that might be the case but i just wanted to know what was normal.
 
Slippery said:
You try working on a 2a and not get oil on your finger.

Ouch burnt finger:eek:

Thanks CharlesY
I did think that might be the case but i just wanted to know what was normal.
Click to expand...

If you have a look at the back of your ammeter I think (I hope!) you will see that the two cables appear to be connected to opposite ends of a flat metal bar.

That is the SHUNT resistor, with an extremely low resistance - hardly any resistance at all, but just enough to divert a tiny current into the meter to swing the needle in proportion to the main current passing through the shunt.

The meter is a high resistance connected in parallel with a very VERY low resistance, the shunt.

You might just begin to feel it warm on full load, but hot enough to sizzle your fingers? No way! Clean those terminals!

CharlesY
 
All clean now.
And it hardly gets warm with everything on (20amp issh).
I think this bit of servicing should be included in the yearly servicing.
It was quick and easy.

Thanks
All
 
Slippery said:
All clean now.
And it hardly gets warm with everything on (20amp issh).
I think this bit of servicing should be included in the yearly servicing.
It was quick and easy.

Thanks
All
Click to expand...

20 amps at 12 volts is 240 watts of power, or for starting a fire in the dash about the same as a quarter of a house electric radiator bar tucked away nicely on the back of the ammeter! Clean and a dab of Vaseline is the answer.

Good fix!

CharlesY
 
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