Generator Light Back On Blues

[ruckman101]

I'm getting real tired of this.

It's been behaving marvelously, then last night driving home from work in the dark rainy night, my generator light glowed bright red, mocking me for a mile or so, then poof, out it went. Whew.

But on the drive in today, sunny, dry, it stayed on the entire time, dimming a bit at idle. All fuses intact.

I would kill a small animal in rage but I know that will only make me feel worse.


neal

[Randy in Maine]

Brushes would be my guess, but it is hard to see here in Maine.

[Hippie]

Could be the brushes again? Didn't you just get them working?
I wonder of they are hanging up on a burr sometimes. Battery any good?

[Amskeptic]

generator light on

What we're missing here, Neal, is your learning.
You have been subjected to this lamp coming on, and you have verily occasioned it to go out. Now you have a database in your mind.

So get in there and doubly-damn-check that your prior work is holding. If you have been delivered to a new cause, by all means let us know and add it to your database.

But let's say it is the stupid brush again because the brush was worn down to a nub and the spring did not have enough tension, but you got it to work last week. This week, the brush is still too short, the spring is still too weak. No sense in getting tired of it, replace the brushes.

But you already did, I read it.

But you also had an incident where a simple push on the brushes restored contact. Have you pushed on the brushes? Checked to see if the commutator has loaded up with crap again? I have seen oil film from a lousy loose oil breather blast into the generator and turn it into a carbon facsimile of Rasputin's beard.

Run through all of your known/learned issues and let us know if the damn light is on after all prior issues have been checked again.
Colin

[ruckman101]

Yep, thought I had a full database. Feels like I've gone over every contingency, but obviously not. Even not being in Maine, the bottom brush is a pain to see even with a mirror.

And these are new brushes, as of what, September or so. So it goes.


neal

[JLT]

Yep, thought I had a full database. Feels like I've gone over every contingency, but obviously not. Even not being in Maine, the bottom brush is a pain to see even with a mirror.

And these are new brushes, as of what, September or so. So it goes.


neal

I've had experiences with bad brushes. My suggestion: replace them again, but instead of using the mounting screws, replace them with cap screws ... much easier to wrangle with an allen wrench.

If it's something that comes and goes, I'd suspect loose connector, bad wire, bad voltage regulator in that order. The bad wire is probably the hardest to trace, but if you've swapped out the regulator and it hasn't gone away, it's pretty much the only thing left. A jump wire (alligator clips at both ends) can be used to bypass the offending wire and if the light goes out, bingo.

[ruckman101]

So I reached in in the dark and gave both brushes a push. Again all kinds of brush dust. Gonna get 'er home and have a look in the morning before work.

Blow it out, scope it good, if giving the brushes tonight clears it up, it would suggest funky brushes to me, and I like the idea of allen wrench heads.


neal

[Amskeptic]

So I reached in in the dark and gave both brushes a push. Again all kinds of brush dust. Gonna get 'er home and have a look in the morning before work.

Blow it out, scope it good, if giving the brushes tonight clears it up, it would suggest funky brushes to me, and I like the idea of allen wrench heads.


neal

Careful here. Brushes might only be the canaries in the coal mine. Commutators could have a rough score track from dirt and be eating those poor little innocent hard-working brushes.
Investigate with a fully open mind to any number of possibilities.
Colin

[ruckman101]

Well, by golly, the new brushes are completely worn away. Time to apply a more thorough application of sandpaper to the commutators. And maybe even cleaning out the cracks which seems rife with damage potential.

And yes, thank you JLT, I have cap screws to replace the originals.


neal

[Highlander]

I chased an intermittent generator light for six months, and even changed the brushes (even that #$%@ lower one), and the light would still occasionally come on. Finally looked at the big wire coming off the regulator...it was loose. Took the pliers and snugged the throat on the connector and no more problem.

[ruckman101]

I think I have isolated the issue. Bailing on little pieces of wood to sand the commutator, I just poked my finger in there after taking off the belt, engine not running of course, with a strip of sandpaper, and spun the generator to sand and I noticed a dip. The commutator isn't round, it has a flat spot. Curious. I have no idea how something like that could even happen.


neal

[Hippie]

Crapola. Do you need a whole new generator then? Maybe you can swipe a commutator from a junkyard Bus.

[hambone]

At this point I think you should get a decent rebuilt generator. That is NOT a part ya wanna be farting around with on a type1.
However, Halsey sold Gypsie a suspect "rebuild" so buyer beware.

[midatlanticys]

Neal, a good alternator/starter shop can turn down the commutator on a lathe to get rid of the flat spot, depending on how deep the *flat* is. First thing might be to check the commutator to make sure there are no dead segments lurking. G'luck!

[Amskeptic]

The commutator isn't round, it has a flat spot.

Good for you . . . you found the coal mine. Poor little dead canaries.
ColinStuckInTheMetaphorDitch