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On 18 Jul 2005 at 10:41, Matthew Jones wrote: > I just spotted a potentially serious detail on the new > Bosch voltage regulator: > > The whole outer metal shell is D+. This means that when > the engine is running, it is at 12 to 14v. This sounds like a serious flaw. Was there any warning with the VR, or was this something that you had to discover for yourself? > This picture shows the old & new side by side: > http://vw1600e.org.uk/regulator/reg1.jpg > > This picture shows a side view: > http://vw1600e.org.uk/regulator/reg3.jpg I can't quite tell from the photos, but is it clear that the D+ terminal is NOT insulated from the upper case? I can see that the other 2 terminals DO appear to be insulated. Is there a ground connection point that is separate from the upper case? > I think an appropriate safety device may be an old > margarine tub over the whole thing. > > I replaced the vinyl "insulation" next to my VR with duct > tape covered in PVC insulating tape. PVC tape on its own > isn't sticky enough, and gets saggy when hot. > > There's a good reason for this design, I think. You can see > 3 electronic components pressed into the shell. By doing this > they get a nice big heat sink area. The heat sink is a good reason, but I don't understand why the new VR had to be larger than the old one. It should have taken up quite a bit less room. Unless there's something wrong with the one you got, I'd say that this is a serious design flaw. Most people would not have noticed this, and this would be likely to lead to damage to the generator or VR. That would have PO'd a LOT of people. Can anyone else out there confirm Matt's observations? -- Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711-3054 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~