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man130 Samba Member
Joined: August 25, 2008 Posts: 406 Location: long island , ny.
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Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 2:06 pm Post subject: Bn-4 heater step by step |
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Ok, I finally have heat!!!I can't believe how well it works. So thanks for all that helped me alomg the way,I would'nt have been able to do it without you guys.So I figured I'd put all I learned on a post that might help others get a understanding start.Hope it helps
A- Fuse w/ screw for adjustment of THERMAL SAFETY CUT-OFF under plate is bi-metal spring with a gap that is adjusted by tightening or loosening screw.Fuse should blow if temp. reaches 420*
B- TEMP. SWITCH- controls how long fan continues to spin after fuel pump shuts down.Cool down feature/ to increase the length of time blower continues to spin, turn adjusting screw ( top rear of switch) counter clockwise.
C- RESET SWITCH- small lever on rear of switch slides left and right.If heater does not ignite after a set period of time, the switch clicks off power to heater unit.To reset just slide red lever towards passenger side and it will click and stay.
D-COIL for glow plug
E-4 wires from inside heater tube
WHITE -goes to points for ignition,should interupt ground 1 for every revolution of fan.The fan spins to fast to check if points open and close w/ meter or test light unless you spin fan by hand.
BROWN-ground to body of fan.
BLACK-power supply fo fan motor
GREEN-goes to rear points for fuel pump should disrupt ground 1 for 33 revolution of fan,and stay grounded for 6 revolutions of fan
F-fuel inlet from pump under gas tank
G-GLOW PLUG w/white wire from points under fan.
Here are some other specs- FUEL PUMP should pump between 13-15 cc per 200 clicks(strokes) of pump,I used medical seringe to measure .
POINTS- both sets of points are supposed to be set at 4mm.or .0157 in.
TO CHECK POINTS- get a voltmeter that can test continuity(or test light)
open fresh air side of heater far right(driv. side)to expose fan,attach 1 wire to a 12 volt source then attach other wire to WHITE wire pic in label E and spin fan by hand the test light or tester should go off w/each revolution of fan,that tests ignition.do the same w/ geen wire to check fuel pump set of points.If they dont work I suggest just slightly cleaning face of points with very fine sand paper.
I'm not very good at explaining things in posts.But I really do have good understanding of how these things work.If anyone has any questions just ask I'll try to help -Dave
Last edited by man130 on Mon Apr 13, 2009 5:19 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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crofty Judas of the North

Joined: August 09, 2000 Posts: 19760 Location: Land of Whine and Phonies
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Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 2:49 pm Post subject: |
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Sticky: Heating FAQs - BN4 Gas heaters & heating related topics
merge with the faq? _________________ Your Vanagon sucks, Stop waving at me.
HamburgerBrad wrote: |
I slept on crofty's tent once. I passed out drunk from two bottles of Everett's brother's wine. |
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Captain Spalding Samba Member

Joined: February 19, 2005 Posts: 2519 Location: . . . in denial.
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Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 3:21 pm Post subject: Re: Bn-4 heater step by step |
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Awesome post, man130. Glad you have your heater running. |
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Emeritusx Samba Member

Joined: June 20, 2008 Posts: 2775 Location: 12 inches behind the wheel
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Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:17 pm Post subject: |
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After all the VW's we have froze in, its nice to have bona-fide heat! _________________ 82 Westy ☢, 66 Splitty ☮, 73 Type 181 ✠ |
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Fun 181 Zu Geil!

Joined: October 20, 2006 Posts: 1003 Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 5:00 pm Post subject: |
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crofty wrote: |
Sticky: Heating FAQs - BN4 Gas heaters & heating related topics
merge with the faq? |
Done. _________________
Ian Epperson wrote: |
Holy poop, that's full of awesome! |
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thinghunter Samba Member
Joined: May 18, 2004 Posts: 403 Location: North Texas
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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Wow, that's alot of info right there. I remember when you first started down this road of fixing your heater you had so many questions and now you appear to be an expert on the subject. |
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mrea46 Samba Member
Joined: November 03, 2008 Posts: 94 Location: Montrose, Colorado
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Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2009 9:08 am Post subject: Thing Heat |
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I am still trying to figure out my heater. It appears to be complete and in great shape. I need to get your email address from you to pick your brain.. Mine is [email protected], could you drop me a line?
Great post with the pics. |
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baseballfreak20 Samba Member
Joined: August 26, 2006 Posts: 32 Location: Tampa
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 12:55 pm Post subject: |
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So after tapping just about all the components, the two issues I have are the fuel pump not pulsating and the fan takes a long time to shut off after I turn the timer off. I adjusted the temp screw a bit and since it went off I suppose it's fixed. However, I dont understand how to test the points for the pump. I did get the orange fan off and see the points but not sure what to do from here. Do I have to dig deeper? Yeh I read the "To Check Points" but I'm still dumb founded. More explaination please.? _________________ We become immune to what we tolerate
Nobody is ever useless. They can always be used as a Bad Example! |
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baseballfreak20 Samba Member
Joined: August 26, 2006 Posts: 32 Location: Tampa
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 1:02 pm Post subject: |
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So two sets of points? How do I get to the second set? _________________ We become immune to what we tolerate
Nobody is ever useless. They can always be used as a Bad Example! |
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man130 Samba Member
Joined: August 25, 2008 Posts: 406 Location: long island , ny.
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 3:14 pm Post subject: |
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Basballfreak-If you look at photos above (the one with pic of orange fan on right )is pic of points for ignition.Guess you found them. The next set is the other pic one down ,it is on the opposite end of that same fan housing unit ,if I remember correctly only a small cap covers them ,I remember their were only two screws and they were filled with red paint ,under there are the points for fuel pump .Did you check your pump with direct 12 volt current.Just get a positive and negative, unplug wires to pump and connect neg. then only tap the positive wire to other post (only for a second at a time )you should here the tic tic tic with each tap of power,if not tap pump with wrench or somthing just to free up inside Good luck P.S the fan is suspose to stay on for a little while ,to cool down the unit ,remember when it works it will be very hot. Bye the way read "please one more BN4 question" under the fix your BN4 heater sticky it will help alot |
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baseballfreak20 Samba Member
Joined: August 26, 2006 Posts: 32 Location: Tampa
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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So the second set of points is not under the first set, huh? I gotta take the entire caseing apart? Cause I did get to the first set and took that ring out but was afraid of going any further since it seemed to be tight. I just double checked the pump and I rigged to from the plug up top and primed the line. It does work and I got the heater to work for a minute til the few drop oif fuel that I just shot in there ran out. SO I'm kind of thinking that the pump isnt "pumping", even though it has power which is why I need to get to the other set of points. _________________ We become immune to what we tolerate
Nobody is ever useless. They can always be used as a Bad Example! |
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Ian Epperson Samba Member

Joined: January 12, 2005 Posts: 2262 Location: Alameda, CA
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:00 pm Post subject: |
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The pump often seizes if it isn't used regularly. If it seizes, some percussive maintenance will help it out. Often that means that you hit it, it works for a few tics than stops, hit it again, it works longer then stops, hit it again and it's good.
I've helped people troubleshoot these heaters several times. On almost every heater that the owner was trying to get running, the pump had seized. Only once did I see a heater where the points weren't triggering the pump. I'd investigate the pump and be sure you're not getting 12v pulses down at the pump before tearing into anything else. Un-seizing the pump is a whole lot easier than adjusting those points. _________________ VW-181 shirts and stickers.
http://ian.epperson.com/vw |
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kubelmann Samba Member

Joined: April 13, 2003 Posts: 3268
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:28 pm Post subject: |
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Excellent sharing. Are you willing to send me your data on this to add to our RoMTOC Thing Data CD. This would make a great addition to our already large files on the gas heater. |
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baseballfreak20 Samba Member
Joined: August 26, 2006 Posts: 32 Location: Tampa
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:31 pm Post subject: |
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But when I put ground to the brown and white wire and 12v to the green side then tap it, it does pump one squirt each time. Do it again, same thing. Still you think the pump? Its as if the current is just steady and not pulsating. _________________ We become immune to what we tolerate
Nobody is ever useless. They can always be used as a Bad Example! |
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man130 Samba Member
Joined: August 25, 2008 Posts: 406 Location: long island , ny.
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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Also you can check to see if the points are working without taking apart. go to the step by step post .All the points due is interupt the ground.So if your brown wire coming out of heateris going to a good body ground ,then get voltmeter and hook to some positive then find in post which wire go's to pump points I think green if I remember,then turn fan by hand remember you only should get reading once every 33 turns (actually it lasts for about 6 turns if I rememer.That way if you get ground ,no need to open.But listen to Ian beat that pump !! |
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baseballfreak20 Samba Member
Joined: August 26, 2006 Posts: 32 Location: Tampa
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:39 pm Post subject: |
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Im pretty sure I did that. I thnk I got a steady light from the green as soon as I turned the temp switch on. I did notice that the coil won't start sparking until I short it out. Then it works fine until I shut everything down. Then I gotta short it out again to get it to work _________________ We become immune to what we tolerate
Nobody is ever useless. They can always be used as a Bad Example! |
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man130 Samba Member
Joined: August 25, 2008 Posts: 406 Location: long island , ny.
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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NO NO NO do not use heater switches,this is only to test points,Get an alternitive 12 volt source seperate wire from anywhere (directly from battery?) and use green wire only for ground like I said It will interupt the ground WHEN YOU SPIN FAN BY HAND, DONT TURN IT ON it spins to fast usually for a reading.IF your using a test light it should prob, be off till you spin fan ,and count like 40 times to be sure you got the right spot on cam,then light will light for about 6 spins of fan then go out and repeat,make sure you have good ground from brown wire on fan housing and good ground to body.Do you understand when you say it works when you short it out your bypassing the points ,that what your checking so dont short anything ok |
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baseballfreak20 Samba Member
Joined: August 26, 2006 Posts: 32 Location: Tampa
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 5:01 pm Post subject: |
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OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Ok. I understand!. I will try that and let you know. Thanks. _________________ We become immune to what we tolerate
Nobody is ever useless. They can always be used as a Bad Example! |
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baseballfreak20 Samba Member
Joined: August 26, 2006 Posts: 32 Location: Tampa
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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So I definitely have the white wire (first set of points) light up for each rotation. However, I got nothing with the green (second set). I guess I gotta take it all apart now to see what I got..?? Does this sound right. It's making sense now. _________________ We become immune to what we tolerate
Nobody is ever useless. They can always be used as a Bad Example! |
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Captain Spalding Samba Member

Joined: February 19, 2005 Posts: 2519 Location: . . . in denial.
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:18 pm Post subject: |
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baseballfreak20 wrote: |
So I definitely have the white wire (first set of points) light up for each rotation. However, I got nothing with the green (second set). I guess I gotta take it all apart now to see what I got..?? Does this sound right. It's making sense now. |
You may have ended your test prematurely. The first set of points closes once per revolution of the fan. The second set of points only closes once every 33 revolutions. See that gear? That's why. To test the second set of points you need to spin the fan as many as 33 revolutions.
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