Hi, Dean.
I'm confused -- are you thinking of an electrical fire near the lamp
or near the position of the short. I'm guessing the latter from your
comment about "location of the fire to spot the short", but the only
thing at all hot in the test rig I proposed is the lamp. The purpose
of the lamp (in place of the fuse) is to limit the short-circuit
current to a safe value while still providing a visible indication of
the condition of the circuit under test (shorted to ground or not).
Either way will work, both safely, but I find the lamp more visible
from the awkward positions I find myself in while operating inside
LBCs.
Donald.
> From: Dean.Dashwood@enron.com
> Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 10:51:23 +0100
>
> Sorry Donald, but I don't like the lamp idea - sounds like a recipe for an
> electrical fire to me (although you could use the location of the fire to
> spot the short!)
>
> Why not try this: get yourself a multi-meter (if you don't have one
> already). Remove the culprit fuse. Put the meter onto a setting that will
> register 12V, and then measure the voltage between each side of the fuse
> connection, and the -ve side of the battery (or the car body, or anything
> else). One side should read 12V, and the other 0V. (Someone might be able
> to tell you which side is which, but I can't remember.)
>
> Now, switch the meter to the highest resistance setting it has, and measure
> the resistance between the 0V side of the fuse connection and the -ve side
> of the battery. You should see a fairly low number. Now start wiggling
> wires around until that low number changes to an overload, and you've found
> your culprit without any risk of fire. Good luck!
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