Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

I have one something like that in Howard's photos but it has three doors as I recall. I also have, or had (it may have been sold with my last 1940 110), one like that in Howard's original reply. I'm not sure of the years anymore as too many of them have gone by.

The "cathedral" heater in post two is typical of 35-39, the motor is in the housing behind the heating fins. If it also has a motor on the top then it is equipped with a defroster also. There is a switch for each motor

As an update on my heater project, I did find a cloth-covered 3-wire bundle coming from the back of the unit. The bundle is routed through a rat's nest of wires under the dash and comes out to the right of the steering column, where all 3 wires are attached to a 2 position pull switch marked with a 'W' which I thought was the wiper switch. (they don't work either) The switch does not effect any activation of the fan motor (ignition on, of course) I could not find any 6-V feed TO the heater motor. I pulled back the carpet and checked on the engine-compartment side of the fire wall, but could not see any electrical line-in to the heater. Does anyone know where this feed would come from?? And where it would attach to the heater?? I have not, as yet taken the heater out and hope not to have to, but the unit obviously needs a power source and I can't see where it would come from or where it would connect. Thanks for any info or advice.

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Your heater appears to be a 41 and later deluxe unit and the switch is an indash that was used on Clippers with a convenient knob attached. Not too familiar with 39s but believe the wiper knob is on top of the dash. Typically conventional bodies would have had their heater or other accessory switches in a plastic housing with the name and function etched into the face and mounted under the dash edge or as the 37 illustration showed, vertically in the dash edge.

It is interesting they chose to mount the heater the way they did. Maybe it was necessary on the earlier body but normally the small flat door is at the bottom so you can open it and have air directed to the feet and floor rather than going up under the dash. The vertical side doors open to direct and circulate air thru the car.

Your switch should have 4 positions. Off and then 3 for motor direction and speed. Someone else will have to verify the arrangement since I don't have that particular unit to play with but I believe the defroster is one speed and the heater portion has two. I don't know if the defroster or the heater comes on first but at some point the motor will be reversed to fulfill both functions. Once you get yours going I would be interested to know which position does what.

The power should come from the ignition switch thru an inline fuse holder. I can't see the bottom of your switch very well to see if a wire is present but power should be coming into the end terminal on the switch. There are 4 wires from the motor. Ground can be handled in any number of ways. On some it may be a separate wire fastened directly to the body somewhere close to the heater. On other heaters it is part of the loom and comes up to be attached to ground near the switch.

Here is a photo of the rear of the heater I borrowed from a current ebay listing. Note the typical rotary switch and plastic housing that would be used on your type body. Ground wire looks separate but can't tell if the ground is fastened with a sheetmetal screw to the back or continues on as part of a longer wire to attach somewhere else.

Also including a schematic of the hookup and a photo of a Clipper switch. I believe I can see red and yellow designating the wire colors stamped in the metal case on your switch just above the ceramic and terminals. If I am seeing things then the colors are on the schematic.

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Thank you Howard, (again) you obviously know these cars inside out! I guess the heater IS in upside down with the emblem reversed, as I have had a couple of other folks comment on that as well. I had no idea! You are also right that there are 4 wires, with 3 in the cloth loom and a short ground wire sticking out the back of the unit, not connected to anything. I did check and the only wires connected to the 'W' switch are the 3 from the heater, so there is no power to the fan as it stands now. I can bring a fused hot line from the ignition easily enough, but the switch feels like it is a 2 position 'pull' unit, and I wonder if it can work in this application. Or is there a source from whence I can procure the 'proper' switch that would have the 'off' and 3 speed positions? Also, I don't see how the current setup can allow switching between defrost and cabin heat. I would rather have the original factory switch(es) appropriate to that heater, even though it is not original to the car. Also, do you think I can turn the heater around without having to reconfigure the whole ducting routing? Appreciate your input and advice.

If the defroster outlets are coming out of the top, it might be only the front half of the housing that is upside down.91.205.173.48

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Thanks, but I really don't know that much detail about prewar cars other than what information Packard published. My interest in the down and dirty has mostly been with postwar models. One nice thing about Packard is once they found something that worked it usually lasted for years and remained relatively unchanged. What is on a 47 or 52 may well have been on a 39 or 42 except the later one might have a different cover or trim hiding its age.

Don brings up an excellent point about the outer housing being reversed. On this earlier deluxe unit I have the cover is symmetrical, held on by 4 screws, and can be reversed without disturbing anything inside. The only thing I can see that might give some aggravation in doing that is Packard used some kind of rubber based cushioning material. It is almost like a sponge rubber and in many cases it has not held up well. The heater I have has some of it on the front of the core between the core and cover. That stuff had turned to a tar like material in a couple of spots which made for an excellent strength glue. Another poster found the same issue with a radio that was stuck to his dash.

From everything I can see in your photo that does appear to be a Clipper switch and later heater. I doubt a Packard dealer would have done that install -- particularly with bare wiring and terminals exposed -- so perhaps a previous owner recycled the heater system out of a Clipper. I suspect there is either corrosion or something out of place inside the switch that is preventing it from moving to all positions. At any rate, it is not the correct switch or mounting for your car.

I have no idea how hard it will be to find the correct 4 wire rotary switch for a deluxe heater. I know there was at least one and I think two other posters looking for one in the last year or so and don't know if any were found.

For the look and true function it will have to be a Packard switch.. Universal aftermarket switches can be found, and if LaVine has started reproducing the knobs again after buying the Yesterdays Radio business, one of those could be used for an appropriate look. Downside is the universals won't handle the reversing part. Having said that, I believe a universal switch could be made to function by adding a relay in the circuit to handle the reversing but I would have to work on the logic a bit more to be sure.

Okay Howard (and Don), I will begin the search for a Packard '4-wire rotary switch' for a 41 Deluxe Heater. If any Packard-Info members reading this know where I can buy one, would truly appreciate a PM. I will also try and remove and reverse the outer housing on my heater; hopefully I can bend the tabs on the emblem casting one more time to turn it around as well.
Howard, I have played with the existing switch quite a bit and can only get two positions out of it (why I thought is WAS the wiper switch! LOL) I may try and run a hot wire to it and see what happens - 1 position may be defrost, the other heat, but I somehow doubt it. If there's one thing I've learned with my relatively short time playing with old cars, is that it NEVER seems to be straight forward!!! Thanks.

I recall seeing some Packard heater switches in my Oregon shop but don't know exactly which year or optional heater they are from. I will be heading up there a week from Friday (5/5/2017) and will see if I can find them again.

For those looking for real Packard deluxe heater switches -- which may or may not be easy to find -- here is a method of using a modern AC switch to do an automatic reversal of the motor using relays. It will permit operation of a heater until a real switch can be found. It provides one fast defrost speed and two heater speeds. Using the square switch shown it will fit inside the Packard decorative plastic housing which was used under the dash in some years.

Briefly, operation is when switch is turned to first position, two relays energize. First relay provides full voltage to motor and second causes the motor to turn in the defrost direction. When the second switch position is made relays drop out. First relay selects a different voltage path for the motor and second changes direction for heater function. Motor voltage goes thru the resistor for low speed. The final position just bypasses the resistor to provide full voltage to motor again. Motor reversal is done by changing the relationship between the armature and field. If after building the circuit, motor direction is not proper for the heat or defrost function it can be fixed by swapping the green and red wires fed from the second relay.

A less automatic basic manual method but with infinitely variable speed is shown on the second schematic. That uses a universal 6v heater switch for the speed and a manually operated toggle switch to reverse the motor. Same wire swap would be needed to change direction. 6v switches seem to be somewhat limited in style but a 12v will have too much resistance so will not work well.

If anyone tries to build the circuit one thing to be aware of is what appears to be a difference in how the motors may be wired between deluxe heaters. I have a 40 model and mine, Joe Santana's and one other posters all seem to work the same way. When I tried hooking up my 40 heater to the 41 Clipper switch it did not function with the colors wired per Packard. Examining the switch to find how it did the reversing would lead me to believe the wiring is different on that later heater motor. I have indicated what I think to be correct for the motor but without having documentation or one to examine that is pure speculation. I can't say which pair are field or armature -- only that the Clipper switch reverses the direction using the brown and red wires by changing their connections to the yellow and to power.

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