Re: Stewart's 1955 Packard 400

Posted by HH56 On 2016/2/4 21:24:16

At this point, without seeing what is happening for myself I can't advise farther. If the bimetal is moving and contacts are clean and being made, a relay should energize with each direction of the lever. The switch I'm playing with takes the approx 7 seconds with lever moving toward center energizing the outside relay and maybe 10 with lever toward the outside energizing the inner relay. Once the relay contacts close it connects either the pink or the yellow terminal to ground.

I believe you said the solenoids energized and motor ran in both directions when you manually grounded the wires at the control switch which were connecting to the limit switch. Control switch mounted in the car with the relay closing should do the same thing -- at least in the one direction. The fact nothing at all happens in the other direction is suspicious. That could be not making a solid mechanical contact to a burned out heater.

You were thinking of getting another switch earlier so maybe it is time to cut the losses and go ahead with that plan. If you get the reworked switch just be aware of the possible polarity issue. I would be most interested if there is any supporting documentation or cautions accompanying the switch.