The motor in my '49 fresh-air heater has been wired up and working for several months. Yesterday, I connected the hoses to the radiator and decided to go for a test drive. Some warm air in the cab would feel nice this time of year.
I had been driving for about 10 minutes, with the heater on, when all of a sudden - BANG! I heard a loud firecracker-type explosion and saw a puff of smoke from the heater. My life flashed before my eyes because I was not only driving, but afraid my 3-year project was about to burn to the ground.
I turned the heater off and managed to pull over and stop. Fortunately, no fire. After my heart rate dropped below 100, and I looked more closely, I noticed that the voltage reducer on the heater had essentially exploded. It was in several small pieces inside the cab.
The truck is 12-volt, and the voltage reducer was supposed to drop the voltage from 12-volts to 6-volts for the old motor. The voltage reducer was brand new from a favorite vendor.
What caused this?? Anybody else have this problem? Did the voltage reducer overheat? I had assumed the old motor was 6-volt, but there are no markings on it anywhere. How do I confirm that it's a 6-volt motor? All is good, now, but that was definitely a scary moment.
