12V ride on car help needed

[davehoey81]

Hi. Firstly apologies but I am a bit of a spanner when it comes to technical stuff so go easy on me - and any help is gratefully received.

I (well my 4 year old daughter) have a 12V ride on car which is 24 months old and is non operational. Via some decent chaps at work I have identified that the issue lies with a faulty 'relay' although a couple of guys at work have said its a 'microswitch'.

I have uploaded a photo of it. It is a 12 VDC 15A unit with 2 spade connectors.

I cannot for the life of me find a replacement. I have tried all the usuals in the UK and tried to contact the manufacturer without success.

I could really do with some help in identifying from where I can purchase one of these - or an alternative replacement.

I really appreciate any help that I can get. Thank you in advance.

 

[KJ6EAD]

Your picture is out of focus but it's not a relay; that would require at least three terminals. It may be some kind of circuit breaker or fuse. Can you test continuity between the terminals?

 

[davehoey81]

Hi

I have uploaded 2 more images, apologies for the quality, to add a little perspective. It is a switch of sorts as when placed on its side it made the connection between accelerator and battery and the vehicle moved. Sadly the switch element is broken (it rattles) as the vehicle only moved a little and only then moved again once the switch was shaken.

If anyone can provide a link so I can purchase one I would be entirely grateful.

 

[KrisBlueNZ]

I haven't figured out what it is. I found a discussion on a Polish electronics forum but there was no clear answer on whether it was just a fuse, or some kind of resettable thermal fuse. It could be some kind of switch as you say. The manufacturer could be a company called Champion who specialise in dishwasher parts.. or not.

Can you show us the insides? The best way might be to grind one side off using a grinder, if you have access to one. Otherwise you could try putting it in a vise and hacksawing the top off. I think we really need to know what it is!

 

[Gryd3]

Where was it in the vehicle?
If it were a switch, it would most need to make physical contact directly/indirectly with the gas pedal.
Can you take a picture of where it was removed from?

 

[Anon_LG]

Wow, I have just googled this and at least 3 other forums have queried this. The choices are:

bimetallic heat protection, this is most likely if the box was positioned near the motor/ batteries

fuse, to prevent overcurrent

current limiter to set a limit on the current

Looking at the posts the component have different amp ratings printed on them. (of course, I did have to translate some russian using google)

Post some detailed pics of the inside and this should show which it is.

 

[debe]

I would bet on it being a 15Amp circuit breaker. In image 1275 there looks to be a reset button which would pop up when triped.

 

[KJ6EAD]

It's probably an automatically resettable thermal fuse similar to this:

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/1610-92-15A/302-1243-ND/509845

These are used in cars to protect wiring and small motors such as windshield wiper or window operator types. They have a bimetallic element so they can accept large inrush surges without nuisance tripping.