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vacuum heater control buttons
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imopar380
Posted 2018-11-19 4:42 PM (#573794)
Subject: vacuum heater control buttons



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Does anyone know why the vacuum actuated heater control buttons would be hard to push in when changing from off to low fan, high fan , defrost and AIR?
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christine-lover
Posted 2018-11-19 5:47 PM (#573796 - in reply to #573794)
Subject: Re: vacuum heater control buttons



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As far as I know, the plates inside get sticky. I took mine out and sprayed WD40 in there in the openings and it made it easier to push in the buttons. There’s a YouTube video showing these switches, his name on there is Bob.
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1960fury
Posted 2018-11-19 6:32 PM (#573798 - in reply to #573794)
Subject: RE: vacuum heater control buttons



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imopar380 - 2018-11-19 4:42 PM

Does anyone know why the vacuum actuated heater control buttons would be hard to push in when changing from off to low fan, high fan , defrost and AIR?


They need some lubrication. As these are plastic parts, I always use plastic-friendly lubricants, like silikone. Problem is, if they have been operated without lubricant for some time and someone tried to force the buttons in, the platic sliders inside can be damaged and need to be replaced.
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imopar380
Posted 2018-11-19 9:12 PM (#573806 - in reply to #573794)
Subject: Re: vacuum heater control buttons



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thanks for the advice, I'll pull the control out and give it some lube.
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wizard
Posted 2018-11-20 12:44 AM (#573825 - in reply to #573794)
Subject: Re: vacuum heater control buttons



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No lube will fix the problem Ian, 2 of the cams inside is made out of Textolite, a plastic/fabric material with low surface friction - 1 cam inbetween is made out of fiber board.


After all those years of service, the Textolite will give up and start to disintegrate in the cam triangle shape, hence, it will be harder and harder to push in the buttons and finally, the slide will not move anymore.


I have reparied several, but I could not find any Textolite (without bying 100 kg of it), so up to now, I worked with spare parts from broken switches.


The main reason that the Textolite will give up, is the fact that the fan switches inside will get bad contact, which will create heat that starts to warp and crack the housing.


This is the reason that I installled hidden relays for the heater fan, so now the fan contacts inside my switch one works as signals to the relay and all the load goes over the relay.


It would be possible to make two new cams out of thin fiber board, but then a very good and unagressive grease must be used inbetween the cams. I presume that they may stick in various type of weathers, especially cold....


Below I have attached a schematic for the heater fan relays in '60 Chrysler


2,5mm² is approximately AWG 14

There's no need for more wire area since the wires will be very short (relay mounted with strips on one of the reinforcement rods close to the radio).

With this improvement, the fan will get a new boost!








(IMG_0967-rez.jpg)



(IMG_2381.jpg)



(Heater Fan Relays-rez.png)



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Attachments IMG_0967-rez.jpg (143KB - 156 downloads)
Attachments IMG_2381.jpg (107KB - 161 downloads)
Attachments Heater Fan Relays-rez.png (43KB - 175 downloads)
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1960fury
Posted 2018-11-20 8:42 AM (#573837 - in reply to #573825)
Subject: Re: vacuum heater control buttons



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wizard - 2018-11-20 12:44 AM

No lube will fix the problem Ian,




As I said, if the slider are worn, yes, but I "fixed" countless stuck units just with lubrications. Just one recently.

Edited by 1960fury 2018-11-20 5:42 PM
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1960fury
Posted 2018-11-20 5:41 PM (#573874 - in reply to #573796)
Subject: Re: vacuum heater control buttons



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christine-lover - 2018-11-19 5:47 PM

As far as I know, the plates inside get sticky. I took mine out and sprayed WD40 in there in the openings and it made it easier to push in the buttons. There’s a YouTube video showing these switches, his name on there is Bob.


Just happen to see a video about WD40 and its ingredients. According to that, WD40 dissolves/damages the softeners of plastic parts.....
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imopar380
Posted 2018-11-20 8:56 PM (#573881 - in reply to #573874)
Subject: Re: vacuum heater control buttons



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This is the video by Bob about the heater switch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lpl2pV5Eam8
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imopar380
Posted 2018-11-20 10:17 PM (#573884 - in reply to #573794)
Subject: Re: vacuum heater control buttons



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Well I pulled the bezel out tonight and sprayed some Tri-Flow in around each of the shafts and it made quite a difference. They're now easy to push in and pull out, but slightly rough. I may pull the switch apart at some point and check out the cams/sliders but for now they work easy.



(superior-lubricant-aerosol.jpg)



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Attachments superior-lubricant-aerosol.jpg (77KB - 178 downloads)
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1960fury
Posted 2018-11-21 8:49 AM (#573898 - in reply to #573794)
Subject: Re: vacuum heater control buttons



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Great! These things are quite expensive and hard to find!
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imopar380
Posted 2018-11-21 11:08 AM (#573906 - in reply to #573898)
Subject: Re: vacuum heater control buttons



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I also have a spare used unit that I'm going to pull apart first and see what it looks like inside but the buttons are not working well on it either. It was pulled out of a car I parted out in 1989, sitting in my basement since then!
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normsclassicradio
Posted 2018-11-21 11:54 AM (#573909 - in reply to #573794)
Subject: RE: vacuum heater control buttons



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I fixed one with broken vacuum fittings. I have not hooked it back up, but bench tests look promising...



(20180302_200508.jpg)



(20180302_200733.jpg)



(20180302_200446.jpg)



(20180302_201448.jpg)



(20180303_193051.jpg)



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Attachments 20180302_200446.jpg (148KB - 165 downloads)
Attachments 20180302_201448.jpg (127KB - 178 downloads)
Attachments 20180303_193051.jpg (117KB - 165 downloads)
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udoittwo
Posted 2018-11-22 8:22 AM (#573966 - in reply to #573794)
Subject: RE: vacuum heater control buttons


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Yeah, WD-40 is not to plastic friendly. The repair job looks good. Hope it works. What do you have to loose?

Non AC switches are expensive but you can still get AC switches fairly inexpensively. Years ago I asked if an AC switch could be used for a non and was told here that it could.
I still have an NOS AC switch but my car is non. Does anyone know how to make an AC work in a non? Is it just a matter of rearranging the hoses, closing one off or something?
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imopar380
Posted 2018-11-22 10:36 PM (#574003 - in reply to #573966)
Subject: RE: vacuum heater control buttons



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I found another heater control in my parts box in the basement. Since the one in the car is currently working better since I lubricated it, I have left it there for the time being.
However, tonight I pulled the other one apart to see what kind of condition it is in as the buttons were also very stiff on it. As you can see, only one of the cam sliders is in bad shape.
The top slider and the middle one are in good condition, but the lower one is worn in 2 areas and is also cracked where I drew the straight black line.
I should be able to make a new one out of some thin plastic that isn't too soft.

Edited by imopar380 2018-11-22 10:37 PM




(Heater Control.JPG)



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Attachments Heater Control.JPG (194KB - 163 downloads)
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Space Trukin Wagon
Posted 2018-11-24 6:30 PM (#574079 - in reply to #574003)
Subject: RE: vacuum heater control buttons



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Some good tips / tricks on how to repair the heater pushbutton unit

What about the plastic slider actuators that the pushbuttons connect to ?
That area where the shaft of the pushbutton attaches is always brittle & cracks easily.
Besides finding used ones in good condition are there any tips on how to repair / fix ??
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imopar380
Posted 2018-11-24 10:53 PM (#574085 - in reply to #574079)
Subject: RE: vacuum heater control buttons



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Space Trukin Wagon - 2018-11-24 3:30 PM

Some good tips / tricks on how to repair the heater pushbutton unit

What about the plastic slider actuators that the pushbuttons connect to ?
That area where the shaft of the pushbutton attaches is always brittle & cracks easily.
Besides finding used ones in good condition are there any tips on how to repair / fix ??


I have already cut out one new plastic slider to replace the damaged one in my spare unit, although it still needs some trimming with an exacto knife and a fine file. Other than that, the plastic case/housing in my spare is in very good shape. I had the car out today and the original one that is still in the car is working great since I lubricated it. Being late November, the heater was a mandatory item to use today. Roads were clear and dry. When I get the spare fully repaired I'll switch it with the original one that's still in the car and pull that one apart and see what it needs.
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1960fury
Posted 2018-11-25 9:19 AM (#574092 - in reply to #573794)
Subject: Re: vacuum heater control buttons



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These things would last forever and wouldn't need any repairs with a simple 5 minutes lube job. Just needs some silicone spray, or other plastic friendly lubricant spray, with a long nozzle. When I bought my car over 30 years ago, the buttons were almost stuck. Lubricated them and it works flawless ever since.
All the cars I imported needed that and I find it baffling that noone wants to invest a few bucks and a few minutes to keep these things (cars) alive. Not just the heater units, all moving parts, like window mechanisms, wipers system, push button unit, speedo cable, hinges, etc, etc.... Not to mention rust prevention. Just aggravating.
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Stroller
Posted 2018-11-25 12:59 PM (#574100 - in reply to #573794)
Subject: Re: vacuum heater control buttons


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Hm maybe someone with a 3D printer? At any rate about the lube stuff, I use 3M Silicone grease. This stuff is safe for human consumption but is made for electrical. Buthcer shops use it on their meat saw blades. I use when rebuilding automatics, power antenna, enclosed swithes them kind of things and have never has a problem with grease caking up or gunk build up. As to that switch I used my dremel and a piece of old circut like board stuff and made new sliders, mine were garbage.
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60 dart
Posted 2018-11-26 12:01 AM (#574121 - in reply to #573794)
Subject: Re: vacuum heater control buttons



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my switch repair from 7 yrs ago ---------------------------------------------------later

http://forwardlook.net/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=39275&post...
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imopar380
Posted 2018-11-26 9:14 PM (#574180 - in reply to #574121)
Subject: Re: vacuum heater control buttons



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Location: Victoria, BC, on Vancouver Island, Canada
OK, here's my new slider cam made to replace the one that is worn and cracked. Next is cleaning up the switch, then install all three cams and test the buttons.
It may need a bit of trimming / fine tuning / smoothing on the edges. I cut it out with scissors, an exacto knife and some very fine files.

update - I just put it together for a test fit and it works great !!

Edited by imopar380 2018-11-26 10:14 PM




(Slider_Cam.JPG)



(broken_cam.jpg)



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Attachments Slider_Cam.JPG (81KB - 157 downloads)
Attachments broken_cam.jpg (14KB - 155 downloads)
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wizard
Posted 2018-11-27 3:16 AM (#574193 - in reply to #573794)
Subject: Re: vacuum heater control buttons



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Great Ian, that will work for many years!
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Stroller
Posted 2018-12-02 11:24 AM (#574512 - in reply to #573794)
Subject: Re: vacuum heater control buttons


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Looks great. Just because it was factory does not mean some injunity can't replaced.
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imopar380
Posted 2018-12-02 5:05 PM (#574533 - in reply to #574512)
Subject: Re: vacuum heater control buttons



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back together now.



(finished repair.JPG)



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Attachments finished repair.JPG (67KB - 163 downloads)
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