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Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:04 pm

Ad says its a genuine VW part, any warnings against the "new" style?

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=934174

Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:08 pm

I heard that when these new ones fail they fail to the closed position unlike the originals which fail to the open position. I've only used the old ones myself, it is easy to tell when they are still good.

Thu Mar 18, 2010 7:20 am

I've never seen that version before? How long has that been out? The Brazilian ones that have bellows like the OG ones were supposed to be "fail-closed" I thought. I never tried to fail either one but one day I was going to try it by pricking each kind and see what became of it. That looks like the coil-y part expands when the gas inside the coiled tube expands, or is that just a spring?

Thu Mar 18, 2010 7:27 am

joe cool wrote: I heard that when these new ones fail they fail to the closed position unlike the originals which fail to the open position.
I've heard that also and would not use one.

There are plenty of good used original thermostats at swap meets.

Thu Mar 18, 2010 7:35 am

I just bought an old style thermostat... pricey... And we out here in the boonies dont have the 10 acre vw swap meets, its like 17 guys with the same ol schtuff...

I looked at those, I dont see really what could fail, unless the spring broke. And then it does look like it would fail closed (bad thing).

I went with OG, it cost, but I feel good about the purchase.

Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:56 am

derluftwagen wrote: Ad says its a genuine VW part, any warnings against the "new" style?

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=934174

That thing is from the future! (late 2025, to be exact...)

I was planning on adding a simple micro-switch warning light apparatus that is on when the flaps are closed, just for fun. I'd definitely do that if I were to use a new style thermo.

Fri Mar 19, 2010 7:44 am

The old style thermostat contains a water/IPA mixture that when heated, causes the thermostat to expand. When the bellows gets a pin hole leak due to corrosion (after 10,20,30+ years) the bellows USUALLY expands, leaving the flaps in the full open "fail safe" position. I say ususally, because I have tested a bunch of thermostats and found 2 thermostats that where fully contracted and did NOT expend when heated.

The new style VW thermostat uses a wax pellet inside that expands when heated. However, it uses a high tension spring (like 12lbs force) to collapse it when it cools back down. IF the wax leaks out, the flaps will be in the full closed "fail UNsafe" position. So in that sense, it is not as good a design, but it is probably way cheaper to make than the bellows type. But having said that, the new style does work and should provide years of service.

I am currently working on some thermostat options for the air cooled VW community that I am not ready to talk about yet, so for right now the only two options are running a 25+ year old VW German thermostat, a new VW Mexico thermostat, or no thermostat at all.

Tue Mar 30, 2010 7:40 am

volkaholic1 wrote: ..............so for right now the only two options are running a 25+ year old VW German thermostat, a new VW Mexico thermostat, or no thermostat at all.

ummm....... that was three options :lol: :lol: :lol: , sorry couldn't resist