Bad electrical = histarical!

[Normspeed]

PS, I got my heavy battery cables and a strong 6 volt battery from a shop near my old Glendora place. Battery Sales Unlimited, 651 E Route 66 ( or, the street formerly known as Alosta Avenue). The three cables they made up from scratch using 2/0 cable. Total cost was about $30. Just give them the lengths of the three off your car and they will make them up while you wait. They sell Interstate batteries but I chose their in-house brand because it had a higher amperage rating. it was $65 with tax and is a real strong 6 volt. The car starts great even in cold weather with that setup.

Good luck!

[Robert Smith]

Thanks guys, you have all been very helpful… And Don, I’m in a bad mood (sorry) I do appreciate your contribution.

Norm, you have always been so happy and ready to help! Most of you guys have been very helpful… I haven’t seen David Maxwell post to this yet but, I know he’s a busy fella… I talk to him via Myspace ever so oft.

Well, a little more history to piece together the puzzle.

Generator was rebuilt a number of years ago… I’d say 2006. Starter was rebuilt early ’08 working good. Light switch was replaced with a 6v aftermarket dinky boxy little thing from Ernie’s Auto Parts in Monrovia. The first day I put it in, that night I turned on the lights and after having it on for 5 minutes, it burned out the fuse. The fuse it came with originally was about 20 amperage. I put in a 25 amperage fuse from then on to date. It would burn out around the 6th or 7th of each month. So, I put in a 35 amperage fuse… didn’t burn out till last Saturday the 24th when the switch got smoky and hot.

There we go I think that should do it.

Thanks guys for the help and kind words… I haven’t been on for some time since I’ve been just super buys. I’d be happy to come around more often so long you guys will have me.

[Jim Saraceno]

Robert, from what you just said, it sounds like you have a bad switch. Even though it is brand new, it's possible that it's bad. OR you mad a bad connection when you installed it.

I know NAPA sells generic headlight switches. You may want to get one, replace the one you replace and see if that doesn't hold you until you make you other fixes.

Go to NAPAONLINE.com, go to their ProSE cataloge and serch part #ECH HL6123. It's rated for 6volts and has a 30 amp circuit breaker in it....

ECH HL6049, ECH HL6050 are others. And there are more, I was just looking for one the other day and I can't find the ones I saw then.

[Robert Smith]

Thanks for the advice! I think I'll take a day or two off of work... I may just have it hauled down to a buddy's shop and see if he can wrench it. I mean, I could probably fix the Electrical my self or with a little help from a friend but, fact of the matter is, I'm still needing that damn motor fixed... just runnin' on 4 1/2 isn't good.

I'll look up those parts later tonight and I'll check'em out. I may even look up an original light switch which would be perfect! Hope I can find one for under $50 bucks!

-=R

[greg g]

Switch getting hot means there is to much resistance some where. If you smelled the acrid smoke of hot wires and insulation cooking, i would look under the dash and assure that the wires coming from the switch aren't suffering from frayed insulation and trying to power other circuits where they might be corssing other wires. You said you chased grounds and cleaned connections but did you check for corrosion in the lamp sockets themselves or on the basses of the lamps. The other thing is that the headlamp ground leads go to a nut and bolt that goes through the fender right where the tries splach up road goo and moisturure against them. they might bear a look at. I repalced the nuts and bolts and star washers to get a good bite into the metal. The headlights got noticeable brighter.

Also I am going to direct wire and seperatly fuse the power to my brake light switch so that circuit will be out of the lights. That way when my headlamp fuse blows, I will have my fog lamps (also seperate fused circuit)and at least tail and stop lights if I get caught in the dark so to speak.

[Norm's Coupe]

fact of the matter is, I'm still needing that damn motor fixed... just runnin' on 4 1/2 isn't good.

-=R

I think you may have just mentioned why the engine doesn't start very well. While you do have an electrical problem that needs attention, the above statement says a lot. If the engine is just running on 4 1/2 cylinders, that alone will make it a little harder to start. So........it may not be all electrical when it comes to starting the car. You are going to use more electrical power from the battery to start if the engine isn't running on all six.

[BobT-47P15]

Hi Rob. One time, a while back, I had unhooked the wires from the headlight switch

for some reason I don't now recall. Anyway, my car did the same sort of thing---

smelled hot, light switch too hot to touch, blew the fuse, out went the lights.

New fuse worked for a short while.....etc.

So in reviewing the wiring with a diagram, I finally discovered I had switched two

wires when re-connecting the switch. Once I got them back to the correct

connections, no more problems there.

Do you have a wiring diagram? Click on this link to one in my photobucket,

if you need one.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/BobT3/Parts%20Book%20-%20Other%20Literature/100_2970.jpg?t=1256888782

One thing I do on occasion, I get out the paper, pencil and wiring

diagram. I draw my own version of the portion of the system I'm dealing

with......horn wiring, light wiring, etc....gets it out of the overall diagram

and makes it less confusing.

Often need the magnifying glass to make sure where the wires go.

I also can't recall if you have a Parts Manual or Repair Manual.

If so, take them along when you have the shop fellow check the

wiring.....he might not know everything about these cars.

As a service to everyone, Chet B placed a parts manual on his

site at: http://chetscoins.com/1948p15/DocumentWeb/

The password is "password".

As said earlier, try and check connections of various things.

They can work loose and create problems.

I put 00 gauage battery cables on which helps let the current thru

better, also got a new battery. Still using 6V. You can use 0 gauge

if it costs less than 00. Either should be an improvement over old

cables. Good luck!

[Normspeed]

Bob makes a good point. It got me to remembering, my 2 speed heater fan in the P24 was doing the same thing. Switch was getting very hot, only had one speed, and fan motor was not really spinning as fast as it should. I found two wires were switched around at the switch connections. Corrected that and no problems since then.

[Robert Smith]

I would suspect the motor not starting easily due to low compression in a few cylinders thus playing with the proper timing of the motor. But, when I did have that 8v battery in there, that thing did fire right up most of the time… that was nice… but not going to be the way I do things no more, see!

UPDATE:

Last night after work I stopped by the auto parts shop on the corner down from my house… I had only used that 8v battery for a few months… so, it was covered! I swapped it out for a 6v battery and got 40 bucks back since it’s a lower price than the 8v.

I put it in and the car cranked over it’s ol’ style… ru… ru, ru ru….. ru… ru ru ru… ya know the drill. I had the choke all the way out, and gave it some gas… it cranked over and started…. But, I didn’t run it for very long due to the regulator not being adjusted back to regulate 7 volts to the battery and not 8.3 or so... The ams gauge was all the way over to the right when it was running… too much! So, before I drive it, I’ll see about having the poor darling adjusted to regulate the correct amount for the 6v.

Also, I looked at a few of the contacts like the generator, starter and so forth… DIRTY! I gotta take that stuff apart and clean it. And get under that dash and figure out some of the wiring.

I’ll keep you all posted,

-=R

[Niel Hoback]

I've had 60 years to think of names to call a voltage regulator. "Poor Darling" was never even considered!

[Don Coatney]

I've had 60 years to think of names to call a voltage regulator. "Poor Darling" was never even considered!

So Niel;

What names did you come up with?

[Niel Hoback]

Sorry, Can't post them on this forum.

[Don Coatney]

I did not think they could be posted. So we will settle for "Poor Darling":cool:

[Powerhouse]

Good to hear Ol' Pal....it's scary at first workin on the old car electrical stuff...but it's not as challenging as it seams. Just make sure to make a diagram of colors and sizes and where they go to and come from...take photos too...It has saved me plenty of times.

HAVE FUN! I wish I was there to help you out. Maybe a bee can sting me in the nipple again...that was great. Gee...can I say nipple on this forum? It's a male nipple. HAHAHA...I better get back to work.

[Robert Smith]

Yeah, I use the term "poor darling" very loosly when it comes to regulators! I have other choice names that aren't proper for public mention. I'm sure you guys already know the standard top chocies!

[Robert Smith]

HAVE FUN! I wish I was there to help you out. Maybe a bee can sting me in the nipple again...that was great. Gee...can I say nipple on this forum? It's a male nipple. HAHAHA...I better get back to work.

Oh man, that's right... hahahahaha... that bee had it out for ya man!

That was wile working on the trunk lid... man, what was that, '07?

-=R

[Powerhouse]

way back when I was still a poo yorker...hahaha...OK back to the topic at hand...sorry guys...

[Robert Smith]

Ok, what's the proper charge that needs to keep a 6v battery fully charged? If the battery was to receive 8.2 or so volts would that be too much and would cause an over charge or damage to occur to the battery? Or would that be ok? If I remember correctly I believe it was around 7. something... but, you guys tell me what would be the proper voltage to keep the battery full and charged during the day and at night when the lamps are on.

-=R

[Merle Coggins]

Yes, 8.2V would be a little high for a 6V battery. Set it around 7 - 7.2 volts and you should be fine.

I was just thinking...

A 6 volt system charges around 7 volts

A 12 volt system charges around 14 volts

A 24 volt system charges around 28 volts.

I guess that would make sense, but I never noticed that trend before.

Merle

[Niel Hoback]

6 volt alternator charges at 7.4 volts. It works very well.

[Robert Smith]

Great, I'll have it dropped a volt! That'll do the trick... I'll have to take it to the guy I had adjust it the first time... he'll be glad to see me! lol

-=R

[Jim Saraceno]

Robert, you mentioned that you had cleaned some terminals and then later they were dirty again.

That doesn't seem right, I'm can't imagine why they would do that. If terminals are dirty or loose, then there would be resistance there and THAT would make the terminals heat up and get dirty quickly. If they are exposed to the elements, that might make the connections get dirty quickly.

Car parts store sell a spray that coats electrical connections to keep them from corroding. You may want to get some of that and spray your connections after you clean them.

Just a though here... you didn't replace the standard bulbs with halogens that would take more current did you. If you did, that opens up another avenue for problems.

[Robert Smith]

Robert, you mentioned that you had cleaned some terminals and then later they were dirty again.

That doesn't seem right, I'm can't imagine why they would do that. If terminals are dirty or loose, then there would be resistance there and THAT would make the terminals heat up and get dirty quickly. If they are exposed to the elements, that might make the connections get dirty quickly.

Car parts store sell a spray that coats electrical connections to keep them from corroding. You may want to get some of that and spray your connections after you clean them.

Just a though here... you didn't replace the standard bulbs with halogens that would take more current did you. If you did, that opens up another avenue for problems.

Well, it takes a month or so for those contacts to get dirty... there's this film of oil residue over the distributor cap and such... nasty! And dirt seems to always settle on top of the generator and so on. The motor compartment is a dirty place!

No, no halogens in my '46! Don't care for them on old cars or the new ones... they're always behind me blinding me and reflecting off of my chrome dash trim and mirror!

Thanks for the tip on the spray, I'll check it out!

-=R

[Robert Smith]

UPDATE:

Well, spent last Saturday afternoon working on the Plymouth. I picked up a new light switch and got the 6v battery.

I popped the hood and cleaned under there some. Cleaned the cable to the starter, the contacts on the generator and so on… I do need to take the generator out soon so I can clean the negative battery cable that connects to the block... that gets very dirty! The last time I cleaned it was oh, something like 4 years ago or more.

I hooked up the new light switch; these generic switches don't fit into the round sided square hole on the dash for the light switch. So, I just put back the original light switch I held onto and then put the knob back on it so it looks all together... I just hid the new switch under the dash for now till I find an original on ebay or if anyone here has a good working used original they can sell/donate I'd take that.

Tomorrow I'll take the car up to the shop to have the points adjusted in the regulator (poor little darling ) and have it adjusted to 7.5 volts or so. I have driven it some, it doesn't seem to be over charging... especially at night with the lights on at an idol. But, going to have it dropped some just to make sure it won’t ruin my battery.

Edited November 2, 2009 by Robert Smith

[Captain Neon]

Robert, now that you are making a little more money, it may be wise to consider the purchase of a 1940s Dodge truck. You can use it to haul stuff that will not fit in your P15, and you have a second vehicle ready and able to use every day while your P15 is receiving proper repair rather than a quicky-gotta-get-to-work repair. I always recommend having at least one vehicle in spare to use while one's daily driver is getting fixed. You will be amased at how much lower your stress level is, and also how much less expensive this can be in the long run.

I have an '89 Jeep Wagoneer that I rarely use, but it sure comes in handy for all of the above reasons mentioned, plus where I live we see a lot of ice and 4x4 is the only way I know of to climb some of these hills safely.