# adding a second ceramic heater core



## dtbaker (Jan 5, 2008)

I am considering adding a second ceramic heater core to upgrade from 'warm' to 'hot' for wifely comfort.... 

It seems like with the volume of air from fan on 'high', the air temp just isn't very hot. Its enough to clear the windshield and eventually heat the cabin, but not fast.

Has anyone out there put two cores in tandem....? in series, or parallel?

I am sort of debating whether I would hardwire it so that both cores always come on... but I am concerned the double load at startup would blow my fuses. So, and considering a MANUAL switch or relay unless there is some automatice way to fire up the second core after the first has a couple seconds to warm up?

At this point I cannot easily use the OEM core with a fluid setup as I chopped off the tubes riht at the firewall, and don't really wanna take apart the dash, so I am committed to trying to figure out a better (hotter) core to put in the fan duct....

thoughts?


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## DC Braveheart (Oct 12, 2008)

dtbaker said:


> I am considering adding a second ceramic heater core to upgrade from 'warm' to 'hot' for wifely comfort....
> 
> It seems like with the volume of air from fan on 'high', the air temp just isn't very hot. Its enough to clear the windshield and eventually heat the cabin, but not fast.
> 
> ...


See here: http://www.evconvert.com/eve/car-heat


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## dtbaker (Jan 5, 2008)

DC Braveheart said:


> See here: http://www.evconvert.com/eve/car-heat


excellent documentation, and I really liked the graph showing output with one and two cores fired up. What I didn't see is whether the cores in the final install are in series or parallel, or if it matters....

I am thinking that perhaps if I run them in parallel I could have a separate switch for the second, and only use it if required, and avoid the big power surge when they are cold to start.

One problem I am having with my fan though is that I seem to have only off, and BLAST... the middle settings do not fire up the fan. I don't know if it was like this before conversion and maybe a faulty switch, or maybe a result of having slightly less voltage from my dc-dc than from a regular ICE battery not quite kicking in however the fan speed is varied.

In any case, looks like a two-core setup might work just about perfectly.


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## DC Braveheart (Oct 12, 2008)

dtbaker said:


> excellent documentation


That conversion (http://www.evconvert.com/eve/all-about-eve) and Jerry's first conversion (http://jerryrig.com/convert/) were the main inspiration for me getting off my *** and doing my own. Shame he has got distracted by real life  - I'd love to see how 'Eve' eventually turns out. If you have not done so, I thoroughly recommend reading both conversion blogs from start to finish.


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## dtbaker (Jan 5, 2008)

yeah, I think I read them both about a year and a half ago, or maybe 2! I tried to put together an entertaining picture history on my site (www.envirokarma.org) but am not as witty a writer.


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## DC Braveheart (Oct 12, 2008)

And in case you didn't see it - here is how he put the dual ceramic elements together - http://www.evconvert.com/eve/bring-on-the-heat (that was the link I meant to post in the first place).


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## dtbaker (Jan 5, 2008)

ok, found the schematic... parallel to the two cores.

I couldn't really tell what he ended up using for the relay/switches though. I thought you could NOT use a typical AC switch for this kind of application though because they would arc and weld together... I haven't tried it though! I just went along with the recommended big $60 contactor with snubber caps and resistors and run the solenoid off the fan power. 

I would love to know if a less expensive (but manual) switch would work, or is just a bad idea for switching heater power on/off under load because of the high v and a? Or, how about a more beefy, but not too expensive 20 or 40 amp circuit breaker like the ones at Hardware stores? I haven't checked the DC rated voltage/amperage on those....


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## DONEAL (Sep 10, 2008)

dtbaker said:


> One problem I am having with my fan though is that I seem to have only off, and BLAST... the middle settings do not fire up the fan. I don't know if it was like this before conversion and maybe a faulty switch, or maybe a result of having slightly less voltage from my dc-dc than from a regular ICE battery not quite kicking in however the fan speed is varied.


Your problem could be as you mentioned the fan switch, or it could be the resistor. If you can get to the fan switch it would be easy to check with a hand held volt meter. 
If you don’t have a volt meter you can use a 12 volt test light. The type that looks like an ice pick with a bulb in the handle. The bulb will burn the brightest on the high side of the switch and as well as on the positive wire.
It will burn dimmer on the lower settings. I think they are 4 spade terminals on the back of the switch. The test light works but not as well as the volt meter.
The resistor on a s-10 is in the air duck on the outside under the hood. I would recommend you to try to locate your resistor, since the problem could be either the switch or the resistor or both.
Hope this helps.
I don’t have a good picture but the second picture on page one, you can see the wire plug. The wires go around to a relay then to the fan motor. Look to the left of the air breather. It has two screws holding it in place. Once you take it out it looks like some coils of wire. And they get red hot when the fan is on.
Your resistor may be similar just located in a different place.
http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/1992-s-10-chevrolet-build-38834.html


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## dtbaker (Jan 5, 2008)

hhhmmm....
I do have a multi-meter, so may go switch hunting when I am under the dash attempting to install my Cycle Analyst meter. I expect the may be significantly different in the Suziki Swift than in a Chevy s-10 though.


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## tomofreno (Mar 3, 2009)

The blower switch is kind of hokey in the Swift. It is a plastic box with brass contacts in it, and a plastic lever with brass contacts on it. The lid pops off, a bit too easy, for access to the inside. I had to stretch the spring in mine so it would "click" into each position more positively. Also had to carve away some plastic to get it to reliably stay in the "high" setting. It is right behind the dash but hard to get out to work on.


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## dtbaker (Jan 5, 2008)

tomofreno said:


> The blower switch is kind of hokey in the Swift. It is a plastic box with brass contacts in it, and a plastic lever with brass contacts on it. The lid pops off, a bit too easy, for access to the inside. I had to stretch the spring in mine so it would "click" into each position more positively. Also had to carve away some plastic to get it to reliably stay in the "high" setting. It is right behind the dash but hard to get out to work on.


shoot, so I bet the lower settings have had the contacts fall out or something... Probably not worth the time to remove the dash unless I end up going in there again for some reason.


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