Starting my project

[Zechs36]

Hey guys, I started working on my Vista 3600 yesterday by replacing the fuses that you see in the picture. However, when I went to put one in the heater slot, it didn't click in, there was no resistance like with the others. Does anyone know if it's possible that I would need a thicker fuse?

[johnbloem1974]

Originally Posted by Zechs36

Hey guys, I started working on my Vista 3600 yesterday by replacing the spark plugs that you see in the picture. However, when I went to put one in the heater slot, it didn't click in, there was no resistance like with the others. Does anyone know if it's possible that I would need a thicker fuse?Attachment 54706

WUT?

No where in this picture do I see anything related to a spark plug. Perhaps an autocorrect?

John

[Zechs36]

Originally Posted by johnbloem1974

WUT?

No where in this picture do I see anything related to a spark plug. Perhaps an autocorrect?

John

WHOOPS! My bad, I meant fuses, don't know why I wrote spark plugs. Sorry!

[CHEESE_WAGON]

Need a more dead-on view of the fuse slot in question to really know what's going on here.

There should be some contact 'fingers' inside the fuse slot that the blades of the fuse slide in between, this is what holds the fuse in place. Pulling a fuse from another slot will allow you to see what I am talking about. If the heater slot is void of anything to hold the fuse in place, it likely is not required and has some other heating arrangement.

OR, instead of the kind of heater you might be thinking of, it might be for an intake heater grid (commonly referred to as EFE), some diesels use them to help warm intake air for cold starts, in lieu of glow plugs. They are essentially a heating element that sits in the intake and heats the air drawn in while cranking. Diesels that use glow plugs won't have this, and won't need a fused circuit for that, which would explain why there wouldn't be anything there for a fuse to plug into.

Just because a fuse slot is marked for something doesn't necessarily mean that THAT PARTICULAR vehicle requires it. A manufacturer might use the same fuse block on a hundred different models that might be wired differently. That fuse block may use that slot for a heater blower on a different model that isn't required on yours. But check to make sure the "fingers" I speak of are not there, or perhaps pushed out the back of the block, it does happen sometimes.

[Simplicity]

Originally Posted by johnbloem1974

WUT?

No where in this picture do I see anything related to a spark plug. Perhaps an autocorrect?

John

LOL, that's because he's talking about fuses. Where did you get "spark plug" from the original post?

To the OP:
I know nothing about this subject, so don't take my input as anything more than a thought.

Have you gotten a really good light source and inspected the fuse receptacle? Maybe a part of the metal connectors that the fuse blades fit into are bent or broken and so there's no resistance?

What is the amperage of the heater fuse? I would "assume" that if it's a 15a then it would be the same as a 15a for any other appliance.

What kind of heater do you have? If it's an electric element, then I can see it needing a heavier fuse, yet if it's a propane that simply is supporting a fan to blow hot air, then it seems the fuse would be the same size as a fuse for a regular cooling fan.

Make sure whatever you do you disconnect any electrical source before poking around. If you are not sure what you're doing, I suggest you find someone who does. It's much easier and cheaper to do electrical right the first time, versus repair/replace something that shorted out.

I hope you figure it out and all goes well.

[rossvtaylor]

Originally Posted by Simplicity

LOL, that's because he's talking about fuses. Where did you get "spark plug" from the original post?

Ahh...the edit feature claims another victim. I've had that happen to me...where I responded to a post, which then got edited after my response, so my response appeared to make no sense. As opposed to my regular replies, which usually make no sense. Haha! The original post did say "spark plug" but he fixed it.

Turning to the fuse block...Zechs, you said you were replacing fuses...which sounds like you pulled a fuse out, then put a new one in. If that's the case, then we'd be looking at broken prongs or prongs unseated and pushed through the back, as CW mentioned. But I'm guessing you didn't find a fuse in the heater slot to begin with, right? If this is the case, then (again, as CW said) this is an unused slot with no electrical connectors...which is what it looks like in the photo.

Knowing whether there was a fuse there, which you removed, or not will help answer that for sure. But I don't see prongs in your photo, so I think it's an unused slot.

[Mountain Gnome]

Originally Posted by CHEESE_WAGON

OR, instead of the kind of heater you might be thinking of, it might be for an intake heater grid (commonly referred to as EFE), some diesels use them to help warm intake air for cold starts, in lieu of glow plugs. They are essentially a heating element that sits in the intake and heats the air drawn in while cranking.

My intake grid heaters take 125-amp MEGA fuses. Not likely to be in this little fuse-box. I just replaced the fuse holders for them yesterday, ironically. They were on the side of the motor block in my Cummins.

[Zechs36]

Sorry for the confusion guys. Yeah, I went back and edited my post when it was pointed out to me, so my bad.

As for the heater, no there was never a fuse in there to begin with, so I'm suspecting you're correct. I was trying to replace it because after letting the bus warm up for over 10 minutes, it was still blowing out cold air.

[Simplicity]

My apologies JohnBloem.

[johnbloem1974]

Originally Posted by Simplicity

My apologies JohnBloem. [emoji144]

No worries!! All good. I was a bit confused until I realized what happened.

Thanks!

John

[Btimmer]

If air is blowing, there is likely a fuse in place. To increase the temperature, typically there is either a mechanical or an electrical valve to permit water circulation through the heater core.

[Zechs36]

Originally Posted by rossvtaylor

Ahh...the edit feature claims another victim. I've had that happen to me...where I responded to a post, which then got edited after my response, so my response appeared to make no sense. As opposed to my regular replies, which usually make no sense. Haha! The original post did say "spark plug" but he fixed it.

Turning to the fuse block...Zechs, you said you were replacing fuses...which sounds like you pulled a fuse out, then put a new one in. If that's the case, then we'd be looking at broken prongs or prongs unseated and pushed through the back, as CW mentioned. But I'm guessing you didn't find a fuse in the heater slot to begin with, right? If this is the case, then (again, as CW said) this is an unused slot with no electrical connectors...which is what it looks like in the photo.

Knowing whether there was a fuse there, which you removed, or not will help answer that for sure. But I don't see prongs in your photo, so I think it's an unused slot.

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. You're correct, there was nothing in the slot when I bought the bus and when I tried to insert a fuse in to it, it doesn't snap in like the others so I'm thinking it isn't used. I also know this bus has a glow plug as well.

[o1marc]

I love how everyone reads the OP, but none of the replies. The sparkplug/fuse issue was cleared up in the second post. Fortunately the 2nd poster quoted the post so it is forever. No one bothered to read any of that though.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Zechs36

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. You're correct, there was nothing in the slot when I bought the bus and when I tried to insert a fuse in to it, it doesn't snap in like the others so I'm thinking it isn't used. I also know this bus has a glow plug as well.

Being a heater fuse, it would not be unusual for the fuse block terminal to be burned out and melted.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

where at type of heater are we working on.
dash heat or an auxilliary heater.
either one if the fan is blowing then you either have coolant line valves closed somewhere or the coil is stopped up or maybe both is why they closed the valves and left them off or a solenoid valve that isnt functioning.
flow only has to be stopped in one line.
not both to kill flow.
assuming a motor mounted water (until i hear auxilary heater with pump) pump pushes in one and draws whatever the pipe size allows it to through the coil and the coil restrics that flow from say 12 gpm to 8 gpm and no easy way to drain or clean the coil it?
it got stopped.
happens all the time even with religious maintance on the motor side and no one ever wants to deal with the mess from the little one or the one behind the dash but they have to have defog on the windshield and that as far as they go

[Zechs36]

So quick question, my bus has an old strobe light on the back that would be the perfect position for a back up camera. I'm planning on removing it to install the camera, but I don't know what kind of wiring I'm dealing with or a decent camera. Anyone have a suggestion?