When I receive the latest ipd Newsletter in the mail, it's a lot like when I receive the latest Car and Driver or Road & Track Magazine...almost everything is put on semi-hold for an initial, cursory, "flip-through" (and to recycle the magazine subscription cards)...but I came to screeching halt when I saw a 122 fuseblock...with a non-original wire installed (?), under a "Tech-Tip" title, and I had to immediately read, with great interest, the entire article.

Now, I find myself trying to compose something which doesn't sound like it attacks the writer, or the source too much...because understand, I have NO reason to do anything destructive to the vintage Volvo (vV) community, INCLUDING IPD, AN EXCELLENT SUPPLIER AND RESOURCE WE ALL APPRECIATE AND SUPPORT. But anyone who has owned a vV and who has surfed around, is likely aware of my long-term commitment to this community, and my specialization in things electrical, so I do feel an obligation to correct misleading information.

I was pretty disappointed with the content of the tech tip. The "temporary fix" presented in the tip is questionably useful as shown, and other than "seeking out a new fusebox" (which IPD doesn't stock), few suggestions for a long-term repair or even just maintenance are given...and the most important 25A (shorty) fuse is conspicuously absent from the IPD catalog too!

I've studied the issues in some detail, and have been writing about the electrical maintenance in vintage Volvos, particularly 122 fuseblock problems...causes, symptoms, trouble-location and repairs, for over fifteen years now, and while I commend Shayne and IPD for trying to help, they missed presenting some of what I would consider to be important points, and even bordered on errors... while the information presented in the Tech Tip essentially correct, it would have looked a bit different if I had written it.

I am "self-published"...that is, my Tech Articles are posted on the SwEm site with a few clicks of a mouse button...after I ALONE am satisfied with the content and presentation, no outside proofreaders, no tech editors, no criticism other than the suggestions and feedback I get per e-mail or left on the site guestbook. That is why I make DAMN sure of the information and presentation I put out there for the vV community, and the entire world to see...lest I look like a big weenie, pretty fast...and when I return a refurbished and improved 122 fuseblock to an owner, and they install it according to the instructions (and maybe with a new 25A shorty fuse, which incidentally, I CAN supply), I can honestly state that ALL fuseblock related problems are a thing of the past....I know of which I speak!

To be specific:

The bypass wire shown is NOT a fix for the rivet problem, as suggested, and shown on the RIGHT side of Fuse 1, it would ONLY be a "fix" for a poor fuse connection at the conical fuse-end (but so would cleaning it and applying anti-corrosive paste...another thing I've been writing about for over a decade...IPD even sells this product, but the Tech Tip FAILS to include any mention of this important step!). The "bad-rivet" condition occurs typically (but not exclusively) on the LEFT side terminals, and is in-fact less of an issue with the rivet than with corrosion on the terminals it is intended to hold together, so to bypass (the possible 3!) poor connections on the left side the fuse using this trick, three wires would be required (!)...clearly too complicated and totally impractical. I recommend against installing any "bridge" wires. Instead, conical fuse ends should be kept clean, and treated with anti-corrosive electrical paste, along with all of the push-on terminals, and when the voltage drops due to corrosion between the terminals get excessive (indicated by the AMP light glowing worse and worse) REPLACE the FB with a (SwEm) reworked one (as these have been fully dissasembled and reworked). End of Problems, PERIOD...ask around! Full details may be found you-know-where!

I hope we can still be friends, Shayne...and nice job on the "Radio Flyer" wagon shown elsewhere in the Newsletter..I'd love to see some color pix of it! In the meantime, can I interest you in a no-"bridge"-required, EVER, fuseblock?

Cheers