Thread: EV Landy Conversion - 8 years on

I had a 740 turbo Volvo which melted the main fusebox a few times over the years because of the fusebox contacts being brass and the fuse spades being alloy. The brass bits lose tension and the alloy soades oxidise which means a High Resistance joint and creates heat which buggers theings completely.
After the first time the smoke started coming out of the centre console (fusebox was under the radio in centre of dash) while stopped at the lights, a/c on flat out on a 35 degree afternoon coming home from work I realised what the problem was and bypassed the heavy draw fuses and greased them all.
It became an annual job to go through all the fuses on the whole fleet and scrape the fuse spades back to solid metal and after I started greasing them after cleaning there were no more problems.
A troopy we had at the time also suffered from melted fuseholders on a couple of high draw items.
You don't need much grease, the thinnest smear just to coat the spades is enough.
I've used Lanox for the same purpose and it works well until it really dries out and goes hard which probably at that point makes it worse.

Have had some email conversations with Sanchem, that make 'NP-OX-ID A Special'.

Minimum purchase US$265 plus UPS postage - roughly 9 tubes of 8 ounce each for example - bit more than I need - well over US$30 a tube or AUS$42 @ 70 cents to the dollar exchange. Ebay etc prices are all over the shop for just 2 oz containers and in some cases asking more than $42.

Sanchem export overseas, but do not keep specific records of whether the importers had any trouble with their own country's customs regulations, so nothing on imports into Australia - which would have been useful to confirm if your order would clear Australian customs or not.

Product sold on ebay, amazon etc claiming to be 'NP-OX-ID A Special' likely comes from resellers who have bought bulk supplies from Sanchem, but Sanchem cannot guarantee that there is not product substitution.

Sanchem is unfamiliar with the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS), pointing to 'NP-OX-ID A Special' beings certified under many other standards ie RoHS and why under those certifications the product could not be imported into Australia. The SDS sheet says it passes Californian Proposition 65 and is 'noted as listed or exempt' by Australia under 'International Lists National Inventory' - Australian Inventory of Industrial Chemicals (AIIC), formerly AICS.

An AI search says there are complaints on line by people whose imports have been banned by Australian Customs. Not being listed under AICIS has been cited as one cause for the banning.

Searched the AICIS site under inventory registered, product under assessment, or registered business and nothing comes up. Have put in a query with AICIS | Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS)

Otherwise the only other recourse to get the product is through amazon (if and when they ever get more product), ebay, and a few other online retailers. There is the risk of being scammed, but also, even if the product is genuine will it get past customs.

Its just occurred to me that I haven't asked AI on the off chance it knows where Goingbush got the product,

Well, an AI overview says - "Based on the "Goingbush" 1973 Land Rover Series III EV conversion project documentation, the author mentions purchasing components for the build from Milbay Australia". Tried calling them to confirm if they sell the grease but only able to leave a message.

Originally Posted by oka374

I had a 740 turbo Volvo which melted the main fusebox a few times over the years because of the fusebox contacts being brass and the fuse spades being alloy. The brass bits lose tension and the alloy soades oxidise which means a High Resistance joint and creates heat which buggers theings completely.

Volvo 740 fuse boxes were ****. The high current fuses were high beam, A/C compressor and HVAC blower. They all melted over time.

I used Penetrox on the fuse blades, but the high current circuits all got bypassed by externally fused relays. It wasn't a great design. Up until the 740 they used Copper/Ceramic fuses. They were pretty much indestructible. The fuse box had fat brass contacts and the fuses were pretty much temperature indifferent.

The 740 was the first move to blade fuses and the fuse carried more current than the fusebox. The Fusebox would start to melt which then increased resistance and melted the plastic around the fuses, resulting in a molten mess.

I had a bottle of Penetrox from doing roof mounted Antenna connections. Basically a thick zinc/oil paste. It helped, but for the high current circuits the only fix was bypassing.