Help! Fire! Fire!

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sirwingalot

sirwingalot

Active Member
Posts
496
Location
East Sussex
Just set light to my landy, and its not even a freelander! Finished doing the oil change, just running the engine to make sure its happy, glanced at the cab to plumes of thick smoke billowing out of it! :eek::eek::eek: Quickly realised it must be an electrical fault as the smoke was coming out of the air vents on the dash, disconnected the battery, and emptied the Co2 extinguisher into the dash.
After some swearing and moaning, I found the culprit to be......nothing more than a cheap fuse! I'd put a cheap blade fuse in for the cig lighter, and it had melted instead of popping. So lesson learnt, don't use cheap blade fuses from pound shops and alike. Right now i'm off to find what damage i've done to my wiring loom. :mad:
 
sirwingalot said:
Just set light to my landy, and its not even a freelander! Finished doing the oil change, just running the engine to make sure its happy, glanced at the cab to plumes of thick smoke billowing out of it! :eek::eek::eek: Quickly realised it must be an electrical fault as the smoke was coming out of the air vents on the dash, disconnected the battery, and emptied the Co2 extinguisher into the dash.
After some swearing and moaning, I found the culprit to be......nothing more than a cheap fuse! I'd put a cheap blade fuse in for the cig lighter, and it had melted instead of popping. So lesson learnt, don't use cheap blade fuses from pound shops and alike. Right now i'm off to find what damage i've done to my wiring loom. :mad:
Click to expand...

I wouldn't have thought that the fuse caused the problem :(

It not popping isn't good and may not have helped admittedly, but somethin has gotta be shorting out somewhere first to have started it :(
 
Bromsgrove Defender said:
I wouldn't have thought that the fuse caused the problem :(

It not popping isn't good and may not have helped admittedly, but somethin has gotta be shorting out somewhere first to have started it :(
Click to expand...

Oh yeah i realise that and I'm going to look for the issue, but if the fuse had popped, I wouldn't have had the fire, just some minor short. So far checked all the other electrical systems, and can't find any other issues, so hopefully its just damaged the cig wiring.
 
sirwingalot said:
Oh yeah i realise that and I'm going to look for the issue, but if the fuse had popped, I wouldn't have had the fire, just some minor short. So far checked all the other electrical systems, and can't find any other issues, so hopefully its just damaged the cig wiring.
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Yeah sorry it's state the bleedin obvious day :eek:

Where the damage is, is gonna be where the problem was ;)
 
Got the receipt? Take pictures and approach the store manager.

Show damage and estimate cost of repair, replacement of extinguisher. Just because the part is cheap is no excuse for the part being substandard or not fit for purpose.
Point out that it is faulty and they ought to remove from sale seeing as it is a safety device.
Ask for a contribution towards the repairs as you would "hate to take it further". Be reasonable about it. Polite and friendly.

Most stores will give you a small payment by way of sorry and just to get rid of you. After they wouldn't it getting out they were selling substandard safety devices.
 
chunkymunky said:
Got the receipt? Take pictures and approach the store manager.

Show damage and estimate cost of repair, replacement of extinguisher. Just because the part is cheap is no excuse for the part being substandard or not fit for purpose.
Point out that it is faulty and they ought to remove from sale seeing as it is a safety device.
Ask for a contribution towards the repairs as you would "hate to take it further". Be reasonable about it. Polite and friendly.

Most stores will give you a small payment by way of sorry and just to get rid of you. After they wouldn't it getting out they were selling substandard safety devices.
Click to expand...

Nothing would give me greater pleasure than destroying some little s.o.b who sold me the part, but unfortunately, I think it is one of the fuses from a pack i found at work, so i have no idea where they came from or who sold them. They are cheap fuses though, as they are made from luminous bright plastic and feel cheap and nasty. Should have known better perhaps, but I always though a fuse will pop if cheap or not. I was wrong.
 
Ok so i've found the wire from the cig lighter burned all the way back to the fuse board, so i'm assuming i had it overloaded with the cb and rechargable torch. can anyone confirm that the sockwet i've just removed from the bottom of the fuse box back is the only wire to the cig lighter and that it is just sent to earth as normal? its not a complicated circet or anything is it? just want to be sure before i rewire.
 
sirwingalot said:
Ok so i've found the wire from the cig lighter burned all the way back to the fuse board, so i'm assuming i had it overloaded with the cb and rechargable torch. can anyone confirm that the sockwet i've just removed from the bottom of the fuse box back is the only wire to the cig lighter and that it is just sent to earth as normal? its not a complicated circet or anything is it? just want to be sure before i rewire.
Click to expand...

That'll be it!

Drawing too much amp.

You could run an additional cable from the battery to an alternative fuse box and run the individual items from that. The fuse boxes cost less than a tenner online.
 
chunkymunky said:
That'll be it!

Drawing too much amp.

You could run an additional cable from the battery to an alternative fuse box and run the individual items from that. The fuse boxes cost less than a tenner online.
Click to expand...

ok wicked! might have this fixed soon thank god! Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!
 
sirwingalot said:
Nothing would give me greater pleasure than destroying some little s.o.b who sold me the part, but unfortunately, I think it is one of the fuses from a pack i found at work, so i have no idea where they came from or who sold them. They are cheap fuses though, as they are made from luminous bright plastic and feel cheap and nasty. Should have known better perhaps, but I always though a fuse will pop if cheap or not. I was wrong.
Click to expand...

I had some cheap fuses I used in a car amp and one melted.
 
id run it back to the battery with an inline fuse holder at battery end. then the cig lighter is live all the time.... you can then leave a solar charger plugged in to tickle the battery if its ever stood for a while.
 
well the way it now stands is this: the wire for the cig lighter is there and in but the cig lighter also caught fire, so i'm now trawling fleabay for one. The cb and torch will not be refitted to that circuit i'm going to install a separate fuse box for everything i now add. However another little prob has come to light. the hand brake light is now on permanently. before the fire it was flickering on and off as i drove, and just assumed the switch had had it. but i've now tested the switch and its fine. is it possible i've burned that wire as well?
 
you guys are just the muts nuts aint ya! spot on low fluid level. Thank god for the fire, i might not have filled my brake fluid until too late!
 
sirwingalot said:
Just set light to my landy, and its not even a freelander!
Click to expand...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA atleast you didnt burn your sence of humor


on another note i went to veiw a few landys from a fella called YANTHELANDYMAN on ebay and when he started one to show me it it started smoking from the fuse box tried to call him over but he was to busy on the phone so i just let it burn away *ignorant TW@T* anyway melted most of his fuse box and i still didnt buy it.
 
Last edited:
RobertOHare said:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA atleast you didnt burn your sence of humor


on another note i went to veiw a few landys from a fella called YANTHELANDYMAN on ebay and when he started one to show me it it started smoking from the fuse box tried to call him over but he was to busy on the phone so i just let it burn away *ignorant TW@T* anyway melted most of his fuse box and i still didnt buy it.
Click to expand...

ahhh,the bolton landy seller hey.he seems to have some right sheds on ebay to flog.
 
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