ARB compressor wire melting?

Hmm, that looks odd, let’s investigate.



Definitely working as intended, ARB.



If you’re installing the ARB dual compressor from ARB USA on your Toyota Tacoma or Toyota 4Runner, hopefully your wiring doesn’t create a fire hazard like this.

 

This.

One time I had a fuse holder (standard ATC blade type) on a set of auxiliary lights actually catch fire (a Bussman one too at that), smoke coming out from under the hood. Fortunately the flames were out by the time I pulled over and got out with an extinguisher, but there was still soot from it on the underside of the hood.
Since then I've been cutting into these types of connections and soldering them. (sorry, no soot pic)

As if it's somehow possible to wire a compressor in such manner to cause a fuse holder or it's wire to burn up (but not the fuse itself) if nothing is defective... What would be the purpose of a fuse then?

 

I never considered just soldering the connections vs replacing. Interesting concept to be sure, and a lot more straightforward.

But yeah, I’m pretty disappointed in ARB’s customer service.

The compressor is great, but their customer service is sub-par.

 

I can't believe that they didn't simply offer to ship you replacement wiring.

 

I promise they did not.

…says one stranger on the internet to another.

 

I removed the compressor for inspection and found a situation similar to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpGd71ZIeYg

I've ordered replacement parts and a lower pressure switch.

 

Late to the party, but I had this happen recently.

 

My compressor partially cut out on the weekend. Found the same issue. Not sure if vibration over time caused a short but this sucks. Fuses did not blow. Compressor is 5 years old. Light use.

 

This is real reassuring considering mine is bolted under the front passenger seat on a desert does it mounting bracket.

 

You guys should send a joint signed letter to ARB letting them know the community is well aware of this issue even if they won’t admit to it.

 

Not psyched on seeing this, and hoping I don't have to deal with.

 

It's not vibration or a short-circuit. It's poor design. IME, terminals crimped onto bare copper wire seem to be more problematic than ones onto tinned copper wire (the ARB wire is infact bare)... However I've had both fail. Oxidation forms within the crimp over time, this creates resistance in the connection... Resistance creates heat when current flows through it, the heat then melts/burns it until it fails. Best ways to avoid it are either do what I showed in post #44 (100% success rate so far), or replace with something else entirely (ANL or Mega fuses maybe... something that bolts or screws both the wire and fuse in place).

Now would be the time to cut into the plastic and solder them (before they burn). Once burned, it's very hard to get the solder to stick well to the wire, which may still require you replace it first.

 

What did you use to seal it afterwards? Silicone?

 

I just had something similar happen to me. The power in side of the relay melted and caused the relay to fail.

 

Does the compressor just get ground through its mounting plate or is there a separate wire? Show pics of your mounting/grounding

 

Yikes! Thank you for posting pics.

 

That's the problem. Everything has an outstanding warranty against defects and workmanship but you are always responsible for abuse. Then when it breaks - they claim abuse.

I had a Ford Tech tell me repairs weren't covered because "you drive your truck off road."
I asked how he knew. He said because it is a 4x4 and everyone thinks they can drive them off road.
I pointed out the marketing materiel he had in the dealership that showed my truck being driven off road and that unless he has seen me drive it off road, that's not going to fly.
He moved on to other excuses, reasons, and BS.

I had a roof fail at 12 years. My USAA coverage was for 20. They denied the claim calling it "wear and tear" and told me I was too hard on the roof. (huh?) I asked how they knew it was wear and tear and that I was too hard on the roof and they told me that if it fails before 20 years, then it was wear and tear and not an actual failure. How the what the fuuu?

But that's the rub. All of these companies have the money and lawyers already lined up. For you to stick up to them costs money and time - and they are counting on that. Sad to see ARB was one and immediately laid down the "abuse and neglect" charge.

Guess I'll stick with the cheapo $45 Harbor Freight / Amazon Special of the Month air compressors. They use the same air and same electricity and when they die for what ever reason I'm not out a truck payment to a company who won't even look at the part to see if it was their fault. If I buy a new pump every year, it would take 7 years before the ARB would have been the better deal.

 

If you’re going to replace them which at this point is hard to argue with as a preventative measure I’d upsize the wire on the battery side at the same time since it will help with heat dispersal from the fuse blade connectors. If possible I’d upgrade the other side as well all the way through the relays to the motors but that’s probably overkill since the downstream side doesn’t show the same heating. I’m just a bit finicky about maintaining consistent wire size in continuous circuits. Remember the fuse blades are just push-ins and susceptible to the same issues as un soldered crimps. They top out at 40A which strikes me as an indicator that it’s a design limitation anyway. A pair of 40A breakers probably have more robust internals.

 

Certainly it couldn't hurt to do that...
I've not noticed any significant heating on any of the dozens of connections like this that I've soldered, but I do see the potential is there for a fuse blade to heat where it's shoved into the holder.
What I often do is use a bit of dielectric grease on the blades (silicone grease seems to work too). The grease should help prevent oxidation from forming.

Yeah, silicone or RTV (I would've used black RTV on my example to match it up better, but didn't have any on hand at the time).

Separate wire.