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Subject:Re: Hot A/C Wire
From:Dennis Haynes
Date:Mon, 23 Aug 2010 23:26:12 -0400

How about the ignition system and fuel pump is not fused. Yep, no nuisance
blown fuses shutting us down. This goes all the way back to the early
Beetles. 

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Raimund Feussner
Sent: Monday, August 23, 2010 11:43 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Hot A/C Wire

  Roundabout 40A , that�s right.

What worries me most is how VW in the 80s/90s could afford to run the
alternator wire to the A/C, the alternator wire to the batt and the big
hot wire from batt to starter unfused!

Today, nothing�s unfused because of Americans claiming 47mio dollar for
a burnt toe...
;-)))

For the A/C I will put a waterproof inline 60A fuse in the wire from the
alternator.

Regards
Raimund

Am 22.08.2010 20:37, schrieb David Beierl:
> At 10:59 AM 8/22/2010, Michael Sullivan wrote:
>> on the C pillar of my 91?  When a/c is off, wire is cool.  When a/c
>> is on,
>> ire gets too hot to touch within 5 minutes.  Kinda concerned to cover
>> the
>> pillar until I feel better about this.  How hot is too hot? It is the
>> wire
>> on the right as it comes from the alt.
>
> You've got no local overheating at the terminals, so they're in good
> shape.  The insulation looks fine.  It's a 6 mm^2 wire, like a fat
> AWG 10, with PVC insulation.  Under German regs it's allowed to have
> a working temp of 70C which is 158F.  It's allowed to carry 39 amps
> at 50C/122F.
>
> Personally I think it would be better if it were a #8 wire, or had
> another #10 in parallel.  I have some concern that it might be
> exceeding maximum working temp down in the engine box.  At the least,
> make sure that the alternator end of the wire looks like the end you
> photographed.  Like car builders in general, VW tries to used the
> absolute least possible amount of copper...
>
> Yours,
> David