Generator work gone bad!

Tom Wesenberg

Tom Wesenberg

Well-known member
I just opened a box with a generator sent to me for work. As soon as I opened the box I could smell trouble. As soon as I removed the band I could see what caused the trouble. Someone had worked on this generator and had the field wire going to the output brush, and they had the output wire going to the adjustable field brush. This mistake cooked the generator, so it now needs an armature.

The adjustable brush is thinner than the other 2 brushes. If you have any doubts about which wire is which, just connect an ohm meter, or continuity tester to the generator output stud and each of the 2 wires. The wire that shows continuity is the output wire and goes to the THICKER output brush, which is 180* from the ground brush.

To check the field you can connect a 6 volt battery charger + lead to the case and the NEGATIVE lead to the field wire. The battery charger should show about 4 amps if the windings are good.

I don't know who did the work on this generator, but I had to fix 2 generators about 2 years ago for the same problem and both of them were worked on at a professonal generator shop.
 
FOREVERFOUR . . . . . . . . . .
In Daytona Beach, Fl., there is an auto electric shop owner, that advertises in our local old car meet brochures, that he works on older car electronics.
He is Doug Lenz of Lenz Auto Electric and the phone no. is 386-255-3111.
He does not rewind armatures, but he knows where to get it done. Don't ask how I know.
MIKE :)
 
It does seem that Generators are an item that frustrate many restorers! Tom I wish you post a few pictures of your generator test stand.

I had the opportunity to view it and his "bicycle generator" last year and both are really neat pieces!
 
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