Fuse box woes!

I've had them stick on the lower speeds and that may be the cause if overheating .

- I'm guessing the fan is creating a bit of resistance in its old age... John C ??!

I am sure you are right Rupert .... as is Lee's comment above.
When you consider the front and rear fans in these Alps, they are all fitted with 25 amp fuses .... that says a lot, ie, they all take a considerable amount of current. However, the ventilation fan is the only one that runs continuously as soon as the ignition is switched on, albeit at different speeds depending on the speed setting. But the fan could be running for some hours at high speed / current on a hot summers day on a long run. The heavy current at high speed is also borne out by the fact that the speed selector switch cannot carry the full high current, so the selector in the high speed position only has to carry the current of the High Speed Relay coil which carries the full current.
Now these Alps are around 30 years old, but how many have had their fans removed for cleaning and lubricating ? not many I guess ....... except of course mine which has been done once about 8 years ago, and apart from the fan rotor being heavily coated with dust, the bearings were absolutely dry but still able to rotate but with a bit of resistance. Not enough to stop them but enough, when hot, to tighten up due to the expansion of the shaft. As the bearings tighten, this puts a drag on the motor which increases the current drawn by the motor.
Clearly the fuse holder can carry high currents intermittently, as it does for other high current motors in the Alp, it does not appear to be able to carry high currents continuously, hence the melted holder.
What Rupert has done is what I would do, There are these single blade fuse holders available with current ratings of 30 amps, with a length of wire coming off each end which can be crimped on to the wires cut off from behind the melted fuse holder.
Also, I would suggest that the fan motor is cleaned and lubricated, I was able to get the fan out without having to remove the wiper mechanism. But .... I suggest that you do not try to remove the plastic fan rotor as it will be well stuck on its shaft. Below I have posted a pic of a method of getting the oil to the bearing behind the rotor .... but be patient. because you can't get to the felt washer behind the bearing which acts as a oil reservoir, you need to run some oil down the sleeve to the shaft, remove the sleeve, and rotate the rotor so the oil passes through the bearing to the felt washer and repeat a few times. The patient you are with this the better the job will be.
The next picture shows the other end of the motor, and just around where the bearing is, you will see the other felt washer which needs to be soaked with oil. Once all that is done, you should have a quiet and efficient running fan motor.





These pictures are of the engine bay fan which I serviced some time ago ..... I have not got pics of the ventilation fan, but the basic principles are the same.

A memo to myself ....... time to service the ventilation fan in my Alp.

PS ...... This is the type of fuse I would use.

http://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/p ... ategory/62