Bongo Fury

hi simon
same problem as me only i had to dig around for an hour to find the coil end.
great pics
malc

ive got a mobile mechanic coming out on friday to have a look at galileo, from my description of the symptoms he reckons the temperature sender is burnt out when the hose went. when galileo is healthy again i will refit the mason alarm. meanwhile i will check that earth wire.

cheers

alex

Trekie - if the gauge was fine before you fitted it, then I reckon you've had the same problem that Malc & I did. I'd be surprised if you've cooked the sensor. Good luck with it.

Damage to Bongo gauge when you remove/replace screws to fit Mason alarm

I salute Simon Jones and telemalc for diagnosing and repairing this problem (above). It can not have been easy joining the wire which presumably has enamel insulation. I hope trekie can sort his too.

I have sold about 85 Bongo Mason alarms in the past 9 months. To get their three reports of similar symptoms with new alarms within two days made me wonder if there was a faulty batch of alarms. So the explanation is a surprise.

More of a shock is that the gauge in these vehicles has such a weakness. I can see that it is built differently from Toyota ones. After all if you couldn't repair the gauge you would try to fit a new one and could have the same experience with that? Are these three vehicles/instrument panels of the same not-fit-for-purpose vintage? Or were the screws perhaps slightly corroded in so the pillars turned when they were removed. It's hardly up to me to say these three owners were suddenly so much rougher than the 80 others when they replaced the screws.

After some thought I have withdrawn Bongo Mason alarms from sale until I understand how similar outcomes can be avoided. For example improve the fitting instructions; is it easy to watch if the pillars start to rotate as you turn the screws? do all three pillars have vulnerable wires attached? could the cable connections be changed to avoid the ones that do?


Faint squealing noise from otherwise-working Bongo alarms.

Dave Mason wrote:Secondly, I do wonder if this explains the faint continuous alarm "squeal" problem which three other owners have reported. This is probably caused by an intermittency in the gauge circuit. If a fracture occurs on the "blue" connection similar to what Malc reports on the 0V but it remains pressed closed then vibration in the vehicle could cause the "squeal" symptom. Anyone prepared to check?

Having seen Simon's photos I now withdraw that suggestion and would go with the theory that the alarm has suffered from being in the sun, supported by several comments. The 3 reports were all on Friday 13th! at the end of a week that began with some hot weather. I will be supplying replacements and investigating but I don't want these customers damaging their gauges when swapping over alarms.

when originally fitting the mason alarm i also tried to ensure that i wasnt touching any of the copper circuitry as it runs quite close together.

cheers

alex

Dave Mason wrote:Damage to Bongo gauge when you remove/replace screws to fit Mason alarm

After some thought I have withdrawn Bongo Mason alarms from sale until I understand how similar outcomes can be avoided.

Dave - there is absolutely nothing wrong with your alarms. Its just amazingly bad luck that a few of us have encountered the same weak point in the temperature gauges. In my case, I think I gave the screws an extra 'nip' to ensure the spade connectors made good contact. With hindsight, I should not have been so heavy-handed with it.

The speedo & rev counter have similar fixings, but the screws go into threaded inserted that are soldered to the PCB so it is much tougher. The temp & fuel gauges have a threaded metal tube that is fixed into a nylon/plastic holder & there is not the mechanical resistance to prevent it turning. The vehicle is 10 years old & there was no corrosion on the screws. They do have a spring lock washer between the head & the flat washer, which probably leads to over-tightening.

It took me literally a matter of minutes to find the broken end, scrape back the enamel & re-solder it. However, I appreciate that not everyone has the benefit of a background in electronics, a soldering iron & big magnifiying glass to see what they are doing. I'd be happy to offer my assistance to Trekie or any other members who experience a similar fault.

I can't think of anything you could do to improve the design (there is nothing wrong with it). My only suggestion would be to include a note on the wiring diagram warning that the screws should only be re-fitted using minimal force to avoid damaging the internal connections.

Keep up the good work Dave

Once I found the optimum setting for the 4 alarms I've fitted I put them down behind the panel next to your right foot where the fec#*n' bleeping relays live.

gave the bongo a bit of a ragging on the motorway and up the hills on the way home yesterday to give it a test, didnt budge past the 1oclock position and no beepage.
very happy with it, thanks again
my dads one has just arrived so ill tell him to be gentle when screwing it down!

Dave Mason wrote:Damage to Bongo gauge when you remove/replace screws to fit Mason alarm

I salute Simon Jones and telemalc for diagnosing and repairing this problem (above). It can not have been easy joining the wire which presumably has enamel insulation. I hope trekie can sort his too.

I have sold about 85 Bongo Mason alarms in the past 9 months. To get their three reports of similar symptoms with new alarms within two days made me wonder if there was a faulty batch of alarms. So the explanation is a surprise.

More of a shock is that the gauge in these vehicles has such a weakness. I can see that it is built differently from Toyota ones. After all if you couldn't repair the gauge you would try to fit a new one and could have the same experience with that? Are these three vehicles/instrument panels of the same not-fit-for-purpose vintage? Or were the screws perhaps slightly corroded in so the pillars turned when they were removed. It's hardly up to me to say these three owners were suddenly so much rougher than the 80 others when they replaced the screws.

Faint squealing noise from otherwise-working Bongo alarms.

Dave Mason wrote:Secondly, I do wonder if this explains the faint continuous alarm "squeal" problem which three other owners have reported. This is probably caused by an intermittency in the gauge circuit. If a fracture occurs on the "blue" connection similar to what Malc reports on the 0V but it remains pressed closed then vibration in the vehicle could cause the "squeal" symptom. Anyone prepared to check?

Having seen Simon's photos I now withdraw that suggestion and would go with the theory that the alarm has suffered from being in the sun, supported by several comments. The 3 reports were all on Friday 13th! at the end of a week that began with some hot weather. I will be supplying replacements and investigating but I don't want these customers damaging their gauges when swapping over alarms.

hi dave'
there is nothing wrong with the design of your alarm, the fault lies with the bongo guage in that the coil for the earth is connected directly to the pillar that the screw fits into. you cant see if the pillar turns as you tighten it as it is enclosed.
the earth connection is the only one to be wired this way, the other two are fixed differently.
as regard to overtightening i was very cautious and used a small electrical screwdriver, i also put a small dab of superglue
on the pillar to stop it turning in the future.
i think if people know that this might be a problem they would avoid overtightening, it would be a pity to stop this excellant product being available to bongo/ freda owners because of something that is not the alarms fault
all the best
malc

telemalc wrote:the fault lies with the bongo guage in that the coil for the earth is connected directly to the pillar that the screw fits into. you cant see if the pillar turns as you tighten it as it is enclosed.
the earth connection is the only one to be wired this way, the other two are fixed differently.

So might a solution be to not use that screw (A in the pic below) for the Earth connection? Just along the Earth track there is another screw (B, for the fuel gauge I think). Can someone tell me, please, if screw B also goes into a loose pillar with a fragile wire or might it be a safer place to connect the alarm's 0V wire? I need to be sure - guessing won't do.

hi y'all,
i know how to remove the dials becuse i have removed and changed the speedo dial face. but how do i safely dismantle the assembly to get at that earth wire
i do recall tightening the screws so i most likely have snapped the earth wire
if the earth connection is so delicate, would it not be better to earth the alarm to the main earth

cheers

alex and jan

Dave Mason wrote:

telemalc wrote:the fault lies with the bongo guage in that the coil for the earth is connected directly to the pillar that the screw fits into. you cant see if the pillar turns as you tighten it as it is enclosed.
the earth connection is the only one to be wired this way, the other two are fixed differently.

So might a solution be to not use that screw (A in the pic below) for the Earth connection? Just along the Earth track there is another screw (B, for the fuel gauge I think). Can someone tell me, please, if screw B also goes into a loose pillar with a fragile wire or might it be a safer place to connect the alarm's 0V wire? I need to be sure - guessing won't do.

hi dave
just been out to the van and swapped earth connection to the one you sugested , works fine .
well spotted problem solved
malc

Fuel gauge is basically the same design. I've fitted it all back together now, so can't say 100%. I've attached a picture:



There is another place on the back of the speedo that I used to power Haydns alarm. The other wires are to power the speedo convertor module. This goes into a much meatier nut soldered to the PCB, so would seem to be a better option (highlighted in yellow - it appears to be labelled as SP-). You can just see the mounting holes for temp gauge in bottom corner of the picture.

.

I reckon that's a better solution Dave

trekie wrote:hi y'all,
i know how to remove the dials becuse i have removed and changed the speedo dial face. but how do i safely dismantle the assembly to get at that earth wire
i do recall tightening the screws so i most likely have snapped the earth wire
if the earth connection is so delicate, would it not be better to earth the alarm to the main earth

cheers

alex and jan

hi
you dont have to remove dials just undo 6 screws on back fuel, temp guage and the whole assembly comes out, then just remove shiney cover to see works
malc

[quote="

There is another place on the back of the speedo that I used to power Haydns alarm. The other wires are to power the speedo convertor module. This goes into a much meatier nut soldered to the PCB, so would seem to be a better option (highlighted in yellow - it appears to be labelled as SP-). You can just see the mounting holes for temp gauge in bottom corner of the picture.

.

I reckon that's a better solution Dave [/quote]

hi simon
just noticed your post, looks like a better place. however mine can stay where it is for now the as the dash is
getting hot through being taken out so many times in the last 24 hours.
well done
malc