Generator Light Back On Blues

[ruckman101]

Poor old tired generator. What to do? Obviously first step would be taking it off the engine, and to a shop to lathe out the flat spot.

Or replace it with an alternator. Hmmmm.

Or replace the generator.

38 or 30 volt, so much to learn. Taiwanese or Brasil?

I'm curling into a fetal position ball of introspection now, my daily driver needs to be.

I am unable to work on my other projects whilst daily driver concerns demand attention.


neal

[Hippie]

I would take it to a local auto-electric shop that does restoration work.
They are more accountable than an assembly line rebuild racket from overseas.

Have them go through it and look at bearings and everything.

[Highlander]

My 38 amp gave out and was not rebuildable. There were no 38 amps units available new or rebuilt at the time. On the advice of the mechanic I had him swap in a 30 amp 'bug' genny (cheap and easily available), and changed out the backing tin. It has worked fine. I don't have an amp or even a stomping big stereo so 30 amps has been just fine to keep the starting and deep cycle batteries charged.

[ruckman101]

So if I go with an alternator, will the extra amperage fry my wiring?

neal

[Hippie]

No, that's the reverse way of thinking about it. The alt will have a the potential to supply more current, but the loads you have on the circuits (stereo, etc.) won't draw anymore current through the wires than they already did before.

The alt will allow you to add more and bigger loads and lights and stuff and still be able to keep the battery charged.
The wires won't fry unless you oversize the fuses with the same size wires and have new, bigger loads on them.
Don't oversize fuses to existing wiring if you add stuff, just put in new wires and appropriate size fuses to carry any new loads separately if you add a Fosgate kicker box or something.

[ruckman101]

Thanks Hippie.


neal

[ruckman101]

Whew! Quite the job, but Bertha is sporting a new Bosch 30 amp generator. Took two days and the help of three other monkeys, but Bertha is back on the road proudly sporting no glaring red generator light.

There were a few other things, too. For some reason bits were missing. Lots of missing tin screws, an exhaust clamp, clips on the thermostat linkage, the bolt holding the thermostat itself in it's bracket that it might work, a nut on the starter. Good grief.

Also got things cleaner and new heater hoses installed. New ignition wires, new belt, and a splash of color.


neal

[Hippie]

And no brushes (well, not the troublesome kind) =D>

[Amskeptic]

And no brushes (well, not the troublesome kind) =D>

??
Why would a 30A generator not have the troublesome kind of brushes?
He did not install a 30A alternator . . . ?

[ruckman101]

The brush pigtails mount a bit different than the 38 amp generator that went south, sideways in comparison. Did swap out the little screws for allen headed ones. Fairly easy on the bench. And yes, new one is a Bosch 30 amp generator. Seems fine, lights were bright, didn't notice a difference, but then I don't run a stereo, no second battery, not even a cigarette lighter.


neal

[Hippie]

??
Why would a 30A generator not have the troublesome kind of brushes?
He did not install a 30A alternator . . . ?

My bad. I misread him to say alternator.
(I have never personally had brush troubles in a generator though. Just bearings.)

[ruckman101]

Curious. Today I learned a couple of things not to do in regards to installing a generator. I went out to adjust the valves, and while turning the engine over to line up cylinder #1, I heard a scraping metal on metal sound. WTF? I had been hearing some weird noises at start up recently, and concluded it was the belt fluttering a bit loose, installed new when the generator was put in, so I tightened it up. Then driving home from the Lab a few weeks back, the generator light began to glow, and really lit up briefly at one point. So we pulled over and I suspected the belt didn't get tightened up enough. Well, the pulley nut wasn't even tight. Came off without the screwdriver wedge. Got it put together good and snug, and no problems, although occasionally I thought I noticed a sound I didn't like, but couldn't place.

So today, metal on metal scraping. I took off the belt, and still scraping, so it has to be the fan on the housing. Then I noticed that the strap that holds the generator to the stand had slipped off the end of the pedestal and was hanging loose. WTF? In addition, there's a black cap that goes over the hole where you can access the brushes in place on the bottom, which was wedged between the generator and the pedestal, thus it slanted back a bit, and wasn't flush in the pedestal.

Good grief. Hell is in the details.



neal

[Amskeptic]

Good grief. Hell is in the details.

Honestly?
Reliability is in the details.
Focus is the key to executing the details.
There is, sure as the sun rises, a great deal of Zen in the maintenance of these cars, they truly do reward you when you have attended to the details.
Colin

[ruckman101]

Yes, I had it backwards, hell is in the details overlooked.


neal

[Hippie]

That's mechanical in general. Anything that required tools and/or calculators.
There is no forgiveness in it beyond a thousanth of an inch, and Murphy's Law applies.