Bongo Fury

Have just repaired my broken heater controller. I followed the directions on the fact sheet. Very easy to do took less than half an hour to do and cost about £10.
Very happy.

Well done harpo42.
Although I could of tried to repaired mine, I just got another from a scrappy, at slightly more then ten pounds . Well worth being a paid up member for the fact sheets alone

Not heard of that one before harpo42 - what was wrong with it?

I,m assuming the resistor burnt out Harpo?... Ive not heard of it plaguing the forum for quite a while now... Now everyone's is going to break!

Indeed BigDaddy. And if so, harpo needs to be sure the underlying cause (a tight / seized heater fan motor cause by rusting etc. caused by water dropping on to it from blocked drainage gutter etc.) has been resolved, or it will happen again from all I read.

I am in the same boat - will attempt some fettling when the bloody rain stops!

when the rain stops we may need boats not bongos

About 6 months ago there was a strong burning smell in Mango and the heater motor stopped. When I stripped down the motor it was siezed solid. This had obviously wrecked the transistor. I freed it up, cleaned it up and put it back together. It then ran only at full speed. Replacement transistor/heatsinks are readily available but very overpriced. (could well be an opening for re-conditioned units there Ian)

On rejoining the club recently I went straight to the fact sheet which explained everything very clearly. Ordered the Transistor as directed and replaced.

Have now added stripping down the heater motor and lubricating to my semi annual service.

Has anyone any recomendations as to what the best way to lubricate the phospher bronze bearing is? Grease and oil simply seem to attract dirt and make it stiff again. Also the brushes and the springs will need to be replaced very soon as they are simply rusting away. Any Ideas where to get them:?:

harpo42 - phew, you are obviously clued up (+ remember to keep that drain clear cos its blockage and overflow of water on to the heater motor that wrecks it - but you know that!).

So you've called your Bongo 'Mango' too have you. Our middle daughter Lucy christened ours with the same name and it has stuck. Between us we can have great fun causing confusion on BF.

Thats strange our daughter is also called Lucy.
We named ours mango as in MA zda bo NGO.

harpo42 wrote:Has anyone any recomendations as to what the best way to lubricate the phospher bronze bearing is?

If memory serves me correctly, you should soak phosphor bronze bearings in oil for a few hours, and wipe off the surplus - the metal is porous and the oil soaks in. If you have the unit stripped down, this action may be possible.

Thanks Good tip. I'm guessing that its phosphur bronze it certainly looks like it. Next time I strip it down i will try.

harpo42 said

Thats strange our daughter is also called Lucy. Laughing
We named ours mango as in MA zda bo NGO. Razz Razz

...thats pretty much exactly why our Lucy suggested the name + ours is green like a Mango. Amazing

Hey Harpo!
Just had the same problem with mine - heater motor seized up - controller resistor blown - only top speed on the blower! Bought a new motor and controller and sorted it - THEN joined the club and discovered the cheaper repair for the controller - DOH!!!
Moral of the story:- join the club as soon as you buy a Bongo, it will save you lots of dosh!
I've now bought a replacement resistor and repaired the original controller, so that will be on Ebay soon!!
Incidently, my new heater motor had a modified rubber drain tube when compared to the original - Mazda must be aware of the problem with the lower bearing and have tried to do something about it.
Malc.

Malc Mitchell wrote:

Moral of the story:- join the club as soon as you buy a Bongo, it will save you lots of dosh!

Hear hear! In fact, I'll go further than that. Join BF before you even think about buying a Bong. I did and moonshine, Dabs and others educated me and steered me gently so that in the end I got a cracking Bongo at a cracking price.