Thread: Defender 300tdi - Aircon electrical - Thermo Amp

The actual unit doesn't look damaged, I'd be trying to save it.

On the heat side of things, usually only 2 things cause excessive heat.

1. Too much current draw - IE something downstream is dying.

2. A poor connection.

If you find where the most heat is for point 2, it's most likely right at the connector.

Once they have got hot, they can't be saved.

The protective coating comes off and they rust, and the tension guess out of the metal and they become loose, which becomes a self perpetuating problem.

I'd start by trying to fix number 2, as you have to do that anyway, you'll be able to see then if the Problem continues and you need to look elsewhere.

So I got the pins resoldered at the phone repair shop. For a very reasonable $30. They did all the pins, not just the 2 worst ones.

PXL_20231116_005655370.jpg

Aircon is running consistently now. Even feels a bit colder. Psychosomatic or maybe better current flow all round.

The connector still running warm but not hot like previous. Normal?

I'm trying to change the connector now. Not having any luck locally so far. Jaycar, Supercheap, the usual suspects. Searching online too but not seeing anything similar.

Any suggestions? I'll swing by a couple of local autoelec places also.

PXL_20231116_233135393.jpgPXL_20231116_233205940.jpgPXL_20231116_233238806.MP.jpg

A kf2510-8 may be close, but possibly not correct.

Other owners have simply soldered the wires directly on, this would definitely work.

It's also suggested to maybe use the Thermo amp to just fire a relay that takes the load instead, that would be best.

I removed the connector and pins, soldered the wires directly onto the board.
No issues for 10 years.

Hi

I replaced my Thermo amp with a 12 volt temperature controller, from ebay it was a long time ago but like this -

Digital Temperature Thermostat STC-1000 Controller Heating Cooling LCD 12V-220V | eBay

It took a bit of thinking regarding the wiring, I used the same diagram you have, and the instructions were a little unhelpful but got there in the end its been perfect ever since.
That was probably 6 or 7 years ago.

Originally Posted by jboot51

I removed the connector and pins, soldered the wires directly onto the board.
No issues for 10 years.

The local Land Rover guy mentioned similar. Wires soldered directly, as you say, with a Deutsch type connector.

Daytona DCON8P Deutsch Weatherproof 8 Pin DT Connector Kit.

My soldering skills aren't up to it right now so I'll have to seek out someone to do it. Might go back to the phone repairs guy.