Hi everyone reading this,
I'm working on a '51 Flathead 6-cylinder engine. The generator is a 6-volt type and has not been run for many years. In it's original condition, I bench tested it as-is. My method was to hook up a voltmeter to the output and ground terminals. Then I took a 20-foot long piece of twine and wrapped it around the belt pulley. I pulled it as hard and fast as I could. The meter read 0.5 volts.
So spent a couple of hours disasembling the unit and gave a very thorough cleaning. I replaced the armature bushings with new ones. Used 0000 steel wool on all the inner contact surfaces and gave them a shine like new. Vacuumed and blew out all the dust and wool debris. Cleaned and polished all the terminals.
It looked great, shined like new inside.
After putting it back together I did the twine trick again and got the same result....0.5 volts at the highest speed I could spin it. Turning it slowly by hand will get about 0.15 volts.
So, what am I doing wrong? Should the generator be spinning at 1000 rpm or more to get a 6-7 volt output?
Any advice or suggestions to test the output when it is on a bench?
Thanks,
Tom
.
I'm working on a '51 Flathead 6-cylinder engine. The generator is a 6-volt type and has not been run for many years. In it's original condition, I bench tested it as-is. My method was to hook up a voltmeter to the output and ground terminals. Then I took a 20-foot long piece of twine and wrapped it around the belt pulley. I pulled it as hard and fast as I could. The meter read 0.5 volts.
So spent a couple of hours disasembling the unit and gave a very thorough cleaning. I replaced the armature bushings with new ones. Used 0000 steel wool on all the inner contact surfaces and gave them a shine like new. Vacuumed and blew out all the dust and wool debris. Cleaned and polished all the terminals.
It looked great, shined like new inside.
After putting it back together I did the twine trick again and got the same result....0.5 volts at the highest speed I could spin it. Turning it slowly by hand will get about 0.15 volts.
So, what am I doing wrong? Should the generator be spinning at 1000 rpm or more to get a 6-7 volt output?
Any advice or suggestions to test the output when it is on a bench?
Thanks,
Tom
.