On day 3 when I really hit the dirt roads my Garmin GPS rotated on it's mount I had made. I stopped to tighten the knurled nuts on the back of the mount.
Here's my GPs;
And a look at the back, note that I am pointing to the ARB compressor switch;
While tightening the nuts on the back I didn't notice that I had turned the compressor switch on, the engine was idling and I didn't hear the compressor kick on either.
So what happened was that every time I turned on the ignition the compressor would kick on. This caused a loud vibration type noise right behind the dash. I knew that I didn't have anything vibratory there and is scared me as to what was falling apart now. I checked on the firewall for any loose wires that could be jumping ground or what ever. This vibration lasted most of the day off and on with the key, sometimes when idling I could hear it vibrate.
Then one time(at band camp) it happened and a light went off in my head and I looked at the switches and sure enough the compressor was on.........
Now these switches are nice, on/off, lit when the dash lights are on, simple rocker switches. I didn't really like them because I couldn't tell which way was on and which way was off. I always had to mess with the compressor switch to see if it was on or off by hearing the compressor run.
So I figured out my distressing vibration noise. And I didn't want it to happen again as it was too easy to bump the switches on, then possibly wreck the Ashcroft locker by driving at speed or too long.
What to do?...
I decided on getting those safety switches you see in the movies, the one where the villain is about to set off the missile and flips the red cover off the toggle switch.
Gooooooooooooooooooooooogle found me these; Fastronix switches, on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BJ4LXPG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I got 2 and they came in a couple of days. There are cheaper ones, but they had some bad reviews, so I threw the dice and got these.
If you go back up and look at my dash I had used a perforated alli plate to make my dash extension, mainly because I wanted the air to blow thru when the vents are open. I wasn't fond of the look however.
Well the new switched forced me to change it as they have 1/2" round bodies while the ARB switches need these god-awful huge rectangular things. One thing I had to do was check the wiring and see if I could use the new switches. I did this by checking the ARB wiring diagram that came with the compressor. I figured that red and red/yellow were the control wires. I connected and extra switch and re-connected the battery and turned it on...sure enough the compressor came on! Good to go!
Here's a look at the back of the switches in the dash.
Crap load of wiring also for the on/off and lites and grounds for the lites.
I removed everything from the extension and clamped it to a donor piece then I spent some time marking and drilling all the necessary holes. Cutting the excess off.
For the 1/2" switch holes I drill an 1/8" pilot hole and then use a 1/2" speedbore bit, more commonly used for wood, in alli it goes fast and makes a nice hole. Just make sure everything is clamped down!
Putting the switches in was fiddly, I know I don't need them but I wanted to have the on/off tags on. Well the tag is too tall and I had to file the top of it off to fit under the switch hinge. You can see the difference in the pics, had to file all the way down to the letters.
Once the switch panel was done and the switches in I had to do the wiring. The ARB used spade connectors and the Fastronix use ring terminals with screws. 2 sets of adapters needed to be made. I got some red and some yellow wire and put a spade on one end and a ring on the other.
Plugged the spade end in to the ARB wiring harness and screwed the terminals on.
Ya know a cordless drill with a screwdriver bit really helps this go soooo much faster. The dash was re-installed, the battery re-connected and the compressor and locker turned on. With the ARB setup the compressor has to be energized before the locker switch gets power. It all worked and no smoke!
To prevent the GPS from vibrating loose again I made a brace from the mount to the demister. I drilled and tapped the end of the mount, then drilled one end of a piece of 1/8" x 1/2" flat bar to fit the screw for the demister and through a series of bends brought the other end to the mount where I marked it and drilled it for the 1/4" bolt. cleaned and painted and installed!
Rock solid!
From above;
Finally a pic of the new switches and dash panel
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