Electrical gremloins??

[patrickt]

I would. I think the four wires that will require two hi-amp connections are the BROWN, WHITE, BLUE, and WHITE wires (yes, two different white wires). And that connector fitting for the brown wire looks pretty bad. Or maybe just use hi-amp connectors on all of the fatter wires and regular connectors on the rest.

[66AC]

Originally Posted by Moriarty

Nice. Yeah, here's what my connector looks like currently.



Should I ping Bob to see if he has any instructions for making this upgrade?

No harm in doing that. I would like to know what he suggests.
The plugs are in such an awkward location which presents a challenge all unto itself.

[Gaz64]

Those connector terminals are not up to task, as seen in the discoloration of the connector plastic and the start of plastic melting.
So some redesign with some relays in the high current paths may help.
The signal paths to activate relays can remain as desired.

Examples would be a headlight relay is never fitted at the back of car.

Fuel pump relay would be between battery positive and the pumps, keeping the high current paths as short as possible.

Gary

[strictlypersonl]

Someone has screwed with the original connectors. The white and brown 10g wires never passed through the 12-gang block. They were in a separate high-amp connector. I'll send him the correct connectors.

[patrickt]

Moriarty -- if you're wondering how you can avoid nuisance electrical gremlins like this, it's pretty easy to do on an ERA (even one that apparently had a missing hi-amp connector). The wiring configuration of the fuse blocks makes running a voltage drop test really easy on most of the intermediate connections. Just turn your headlights on, put one lead of your VOM on the left screw of Fuse #1 and the other lead on Fuse #7 (High Beams) or Fuse #8 (Low Beams) and measure the voltage drop. Parking Lights are on Fuse #6 and Brake Lights are on Fuse #5. Before that brown wire finally gave up, Fuses 6, 7, and 8 would all have likely shown a hefty voltage drop of probably a volt or two. Gaz will tell you that a half volt or less is probably acceptable, I'd give it a little more. Just remember, you always perform a voltage drop test with the circuit loaded. The reason we didn't run a voltage drop test on your problem is that the circuit died when you hit the light switch. If turning the light switch on had just created "dim lights," then we would have performed the voltage drop test along the circuit to find the weak connection and it would have pointed right to that faulty connector.

[patrickt]

This thread motivated me to upgrade my own wiring. That thread is here:
Headlight Wiring Upgrade
You might consider doing the same, it's about as easy as it gets.

[DanEC]

That is an amazing transformation. Congrats on a job well done. I've become a big fan of No Ox in the last year or two - an electrical conductive grease. I have a Wi-Fi security camera system with 12V power to the cameras and some of them I couldn't keep on line for more than a few hours at a time after awhile. Unplugging and plugging the 12V power back to them would restore their service but they would shut down after a few hours. I applied No Ox to all the antenna connections and the 12 V power plugs and even the 115V transformer plug ins in the attic and suddenly almost no problems any longer. Now I lose a camera every 3 or 4 weeks if that. I've been applying it to all my auto electrical connections.

https://www.amazon.com/NO-OX-ID-Spec...85242409&psc=1

[cycleguy55]

You have executed a magic transformation on those fuse blocks - great work.


Merry Christmas!

[EM-0785]

Originally Posted by cycleguy55

You have executed a magic transformation on those fuse blocks - great work.


Merry Christmas!

Well Brian you’ve got that right, ‘Blue Magic’ metal polish as a matter of fact! I set out to buy new fuse blocks, had some in my Summit cart, give or take $10 each. Yet, while they looked the same, they said ‘20 amp’ fuse blocks, and the metal tabs between screws on the power side block didn’t have a break like mine (whether that matters or not).

Mine had no markings on them. Yet had one 30 amp fuse installed, as I’d also seen spec’d in that same position for example on the ERA 427 manual (don't know their block spec).

I assume most are the 20 amp style blocks, even though a 30 amp can be used just fine on one. Yet wasn’t sure and wasn’t evident via quick research.

To be safe, just restored mine, also wanted to get moving on it, to test my electrical. Bought my car intent to have some updating and projects to keep me physically and mentally active. This little project really delivered. My arms and hands got quite the workout!

Thanks and Merry Christmas!

(Note: Our own Alfa02 (Tom) recommended Blue Magic metal polish. I’d used it in the past, and forgotten all about it. Wonderful stuff!)

[strictlypersonl]

Interesting... I don't think those are original fuse blocks. The early ones didn't have one piece fuse clamp mounts. Around 10 years ago I changed to something similar, but I've never seen such overall corrosion on them. The way they're attached to the firewall is odd too. That's what sometimes happens after 20 years.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by strictlypersonl

Interesting... I don't think those are original fuse blocks. The early ones didn't have one piece fuse clamp mounts. Around 10 years ago I changed to something similar, but I've never seen such overall corrosion on them. The way they're attached to the firewall is odd too. That's what sometimes happens after 20 years.

… and the ERA mantra is that any changes you make along the way must improve on Bob's original designs.