49dream,
Think of that little coil as a toaster and your fingers as the toast.
The coil is a resistance in the line which "holds back" the electricity so the heater motor speed can be varied.
More voltage..fan runs fast. Less voltage..fan runs slower.
The pregnant question (actually two questions) is did you change the heater motor to 12 volts when you did the swap. Are you sure the switch was on the HIGH setting when you cooked your pinky's. The little rheostat should
not have been red hot on HIGH, but might have been on LOW.
The heater switch wouldn't be voltage sensitive, but would be rated for current. I actually don't know if a 6 volt motor that is run on 12 volts draws less amperage than a 6 volt motor on 6 volts..I think it would draw less, so that's why I wonder about the heater switch being hot when the fan was on high.
Maybe Mr.Ohm and his pie chart will be along soon.
Stuart
