Rewiring Cavalier 72 Problems

[Tom]

Looking for some advise.  I ordered a new wiring harness for a Cavalier 72, as the existing one was dry rotted and shot.  First thing I tried was to get the evaporator fan wired.  I uninstalled it, removed the fan and bracket with the slide through bolts, figuring the fan would just pull apart to replace the wires, but it doesn't come apart.  I hit the seem a couple of times with a screwdriver, hoping to free it....but its not giving right now.

Before I destroy the fan, is this the right tactic?  I am sure I will have other wiring problems as this goes along, any help will be appreciated!

[johnieG]

These cooling fan motors are called "unit-bearing" types & are sealed & they are also not rebuildable, the back cap can be pried off which will expose the rear-bearing/bushing & a large felt oiling pad, but you'll discover there is no room for any rewiring of the motor, for a $23.00 part, it's not worth the time or trouble ( although I do understand your curiosity)

[Tom]

Thanks, I kind of figured that out, but was hoping it wasn't true.  OK, so the funtronics wiring harness has some leads that go to the motor...I am figuring I will just buy the corresponding female leads and put them on the good part of the wires that are left coming off the motor. 

[johnieG]

That should work in the short run, ( I assume that you've tested the motor already before you go through all this trouble at this point), but sooner or later the motors lead wires insulation may succumb to the brittleness/dry rot &  since you have it apart now anyway why not replace it with a new one?

[loman4ec]

Johnny is right you should buy new motors. While you are doing this work it is so much easier to do now. You will thank yourself in the long run

[MoonDawg]

         If you don't replace it right away, you might want to at least oil it now while you have access to it.

[Tom]

What would be a good replacement motor, I know that some have said Grainger has some, but honestly finding the right one was a bit cumbersome.  I know funtronics and SJW's have them, but they end up a bit pricey with shipping.

Right now all the refrigeration works great, they had spliced in a new power cord at some point and it really wasn't up to par.  When I went to replace it, I noticed that a lot of the cables...primarily around the round junction area's.  3/4 of the motor cable really seems to be in pretty good shape, I figured I would buy the male leads that will work with the ones on the Funtronics harness and just put those in...if the motor needs replaced, it will be an easy disconnect later. 

The cooling system as a whole worked very well, in disassembly I found it was quite dirty and built had a decent amount of grime build up.  The person I purchased the machine from has had it since the 70's and did not run except a couple times a year for parties, etc.  Very little surface rust and really the roll on paint on the outside was the biggest issue. 

[SIGNGUY]

What would be a good replacement motor, I know that some have said Grainger has some, but honestly finding the right one was a bit cumbersome.  I know funtronics and SJW's have them, but they end up a bit pricey with shipping.

I'm sure their pricing is right where it should be considering the actual price of the motor they pay from their supplier, plus a modest fee for Research and Development that Rod had to put into finding the right motor to fit for this machine... I find their prices very competitive and you have the peice of mind, knowing it's the Correct motor..
2 cents!

[Tom]

I was just speaking of the $23 quote from above.  The motors from Funtronics and SJW's are 40 plus shipping (which is definitely high, don't have a problem with their prices, but shipping is crazy).  So that would be double of what was posted above and it would be worth 50 bucks to keep the existing one going.

[Tom]

While on this thread, I am sure someone can answer without me starting a new topic.  The heater wire inside the main door...is there a reason to reinstall this for home use?  I wasn't sure if it helped with anything indoors or if it was just designed for outside use (freezing, preventing frost etc).

[90grad]

While on this thread, I am sure someone can answer without me starting a new topic.  The heater wire inside the main door...is there a reason to reinstall this for home use?  I wasn't sure if it helped with anything indoors or if it was just designed for outside use (freezing, preventing frost etc).

Nope, no reason to install this for home use.  The wire was used to keep the slug rejector from freezing up outside.

[johnieG]

While on this thread, I am sure someone can answer without me starting a new topic.  The heater wire inside the main door...is there a reason to reinstall this for home use?  I wasn't sure if it helped with anything indoors or if it was just designed for outside use (freezing, preventing frost etc).

The old heater resistor & it's wiring have no function on a hobby machine, you can leave it on the machine for the sake of originality, but I'd cut the wires off down were they joint the main harness & insulate them

[Tom]

OK, I had removed the heater from the slug rejector by collecture's recommendation...so that is done.  The main door heater wire doesn't need to be cut because it just plugged into the electrical box, so that I was just planning on not putting back in (unless someone had a good reason to!  )