blower motor fuse melted - thought car was on fire

[rsmartin]

That was scary for a moment! '86 560SEL

Driving down the road all of a sudden my A/C blower just stopped. Blew a fuse I figured since it has been known to happen on occasion.

Then started smelling electric smoke, then the blower motor came back on, THEN smoke started coming through the vents.

Turned car off in the middle of four lane boulevard, opened hood to see smoke and then noticed the 30 amp fuse holder in front of the fuse box absolutely melted like a Hershey's chocolate bar in summer sun.

Wow! Why did it do that??

[OTTOBUNZ]

My 300's fuse did that. I got a new fuse holder, and it has been fine since.

Dont know what caused it, either. I guess they just...get old and die?

[anziani]

The same thing happened to me in our '87 300E. My wife panicked, opened the door and got ready to leave the car. However, I reminded her we were doing 40 MPH.
Anziani

[86560SEL]

Wow, that is scary. I have owned two W126s and so far that has not happened to us. I dont even know where this "fuse holder" is for the blower motor. Is there a precaution that could be taken, like replacing it before it gets too old and worn out? My mom has the car now and she would panic if something like this happened to her.