My stock Sol. A resistor swap

[dragoontwo]

Okay, I neglected to take a few pics throughout the process, but I will be using some from the current How-to. The ones on the white carpet and the first one are not my pics, but thanks to whoever took them, and I hope there's no problem with me using them. So, on to the swap...


First, you want to remove the resistor. It resides here behind the battery.



Then if you like, you can remove the stock resistor by pulling the metal tabs up. This will give you some room so you can cut the leads as close to the resistor as possible for the connector.



Then simply cut off the connector leaving as much wire as you can.



The resistor I chose to use was this on Mouser's website. Here's a couple of photo's to campare with the stock unit.






Solder the new wires on, or use crimp connectors, whichever you prefer...



The resistor would probably be fine just on a piece of flat sotck made to fit, but I made a bracket to surround it with air to aid in keeping it cool. I made a bracket out of some .063 aluminum and alodined it for corrosion resistance. There's also a SS heat sink on the backside that I used thermal paste on.

Bracket




Resistor mounted



Mount in car, hook it up, and call it a day.

[Trevor]

Absolutely excellent and better than OEM.

It would be simpler to just twist the wires as a pair, rather than use ties. If some form of plastic box could be found to act as a cover, this would guild the lily, in case something conductive could fall down behind the battery. Not of any great importance.

[ShiuludeSVX]

If it functions the same, or better than the OEM, then I can see it in the future. It is definately an improvement on the original.

[Trevor]

Originally Posted by ShiuludeSVX

If it functions the same, or better than the OEM, then I can see it in the future. It is definately an improvement on the original.

Provided the correct resistance is chosen, there will be no change in function.

The resistor will run very cool as a result of an increase in head room in respect of current rating and it should outlast the car. Furthermore it is mechanically more robust.

[dragoontwo]

Originally Posted by Trevor

If some form of plastic box could be found to act as a cover, this would guild the lily, in case something conductive could fall down behind the battery. Not of any great importance.

Well, I did think of that, and I was thinking some kind of conformal coating or lacquer may cover it in the future. Or I may just put a couple of drops of RTV on it, so it's easier to remove..