For the last couple of weeks my rear window de-fog has only been staying on 3-4 mins instead of the 10 mins it used to stay on,then it shuts off & won't work again for about 10 mins.I believe the circuit breaker is tripping that controls the de-fog/pwr seats because for those 10 mins the seats won't function either.
My question is...What are the chances that the circuit breaker is wearing out compared to the possibility of a bigger problem ?(such as a short,etc)
Has anyone else had this problem ? It's on my '99 Z/28 with 65,000 mi if that helps.Thanks

 

Most likely it's the circuit breaker. Replace it with a 30 amp fuse and see if that doesn't fix the problem.

 

Yes, they have. It is one of the most frequent cold weather questions posted every year. Using the fuse solves most people's issues.

 

Yep I replaced mine and now it works great. If I remember right its the big silver looking metal fuze. I replaced mine with a 30 amp twice now... problem is is that they get hot and melt but they dont actually blow. Not sure why this is happening.

 

Thanks,I'll try a new fuse & if that does the trick maybe I should stock a spare or 2

 

no prob ... let me know if it works

 

The new circuit breaker works better than the old one,it re-sets itself within a min or 2 instead of the 10 mins it took the old one to...however...it still is tripping the circuit breaker after only a few mins.
Any ideas ??

 

Throw the circuit breaker away, and put a fuse in it's place.

 

...tried to tell him...

 

Sorry,thought you were interchanging the terms circuit breaker & fuse to mean the same thing,but........
Do you have any idea what would be causing the problem ? There must be an underlying issue that would cause the circuit breaker to trip,right ?

 

A fuse and a circuit breaker are not the same and I would never interchange the terms.

It happens to most everyone. Over time and for whatever reason (maybe just age), resistance in the circuit increases to more than what the breaker can hold. The fuse gets hot, but will hold most times and still give you protection of 30A on the circuit. Keep a couple of extras in the glovebox for emergencies.

 

Sorry,but you wouldn't believe how many people I deal with that think it's an interchangeable term,whether talking about cars or household electrical systems.
Is there any chance that there might be dirt/dust build-up on the contact points that could be causing the added resistance ?
My '84 doesn't have that problem at all,it's never blown a fuse for the rear de-fog. Is that set-up different ?

 

I don't know anything about a 1984.

Not sure about the cause, but the fuse works. It's hard to argue with success, but you are doing a good job.