Automatic heater in 41???

[Eric Quarnstrom #17675]

I was looking through my master parts book for information relating to the heater in my 40 and ran across references to an automatic heater starting in 41. Was this really a thermostatically controlled heater? Meaning that you could set it at a given temperature and the heater would adjust automatically. If it didnt do that then what is meant by Automatic.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts,
Eric Q.

[Doug Houston]

The top line heater system in 1941 was a system that had a thermostatic control on it. The heaters were two underseat recirculating heaters, blowing into both the front and rear compartments. There were two selector levers on the control, mounted to the left of the steering column. One selected fresh or  recirculating air for the defroster fan, which was mounted on the passenger side of the firewall. There was a fresh air intake with the butterfly valve coming through the firewall and into the defroster. A heater duct came theough the radiator shroud into an air filter on the inner RH fender, then routing to the firewall. The control also had a two speed switch for the defroster fan, which operated independentl;y of the heater fans.

A Ranco valve, mounted on the defroster unit, sensed engine temperature and closed contacts for the underseats when the engine temperature reached a certain amount. This "turn-on" temperature was adjusted by the heater lever on the control. There was also a resistor on the Ranco valve that bnacked off heater fans when the car temperature was sufficiently warm.

[John Tozer #7946]

Doug,

Is this the same valve as is shown at http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? TARGET=_blank>http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? at the moment?

Regards,


JOHN TOZER

[John Tozer #7946]

Doug,

Sorry! Got link wrong. Try this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=42606&item=4530012782&rd=1 TARGET=_blank>http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=42606&item=4530012782&rd=1

Regards,


JOHN TOZER

[Doug Houston]

Thats a Ranco valve, similar to the one used in 41, but not the exact one.

[Eric Quarnstrom #17675]

Doug:

Thanks for the detailed reply regarding the automatic heater controls available in 41. That is so cool I almost wish I had a 41 instead.

Anyhow, Ive done some more researching and Ive come up with the following information regarding heaters available from 39-41. While I believe the info below is accurate please feel free to correct me if I missed something.

To begin with, I have photos of most of what Im going to be rambling about so as to hopefully make things a bit clearer. They can be found here:

http://groups.msn.com/EricQsmisc-items/cadillacheaters.msnw?Page=Last TARGET=_blank>http://groups.msn.com/EricQsmisc-items/cadillacheaters.msnw?Page=Last

The standard heater and controls for 39-41 are the same. It appears that the heater was available with the fresh air intake or not. The difference in the heater unit being a whole cut in the side of the housing. With the standard unit you had the choice of heating or defrosting but not both simultaneously. Im not sure how the flow of fresh air was controlled as there doesnt seem to be a lever for it.

The deluxe heater for 40 allowed for indivdual underseat heater operation and/or defroster operation at the same time. The deluxe heater had the fresh air intake and it was controlled by the lever on the bottom of the controls.

Since Doug has already done a great job of detailing operation of the deluxe heater for 41, all I can add is a picture of the heater controls.

Hope this is of value or interest,
Eric Q.

[Virgil Perkins #19943]

Does there exist a wiring diagram from Cadillac showing the correct sequence to wire the deluxe heater and defroster, or does anyone have it from another source? We just rewired my 6019SF, bypassing the Ranco valve (as the capillary was cut in two pieces) and have the heater working manually by the lever, but I just obtained another valve and would like put it back original. Thanks, VP

[Eric Quarnstrom #17675]

Hello Virgil:

I havent found wiring diagrams for the accessories yet so I cant help you there. The wiring diagram for the standard heater is very straight forward and I would be happy to detail it but it really wouldnt help much with the underseat heaters.

Good luck,
Eric Q.

[Virgil Perkins]

THANKS Eric. I have also posted on the tech forum the same request, so you might check to see if gets any responses there that could of benefit. If I come up with anything from any other source, will pass it along to you. VP