Wagner dynamo(generator) not giving an output

I have a 1926 Standard 6 with all Wagner electrical components.

The dynamo has been rebuilt and it has a new cutout however the car is not taking a charge. I have tested the cutout and it works correctly.

I stripped the dynamo and can't see anything obvious, I bedded in the brushes to see if that would help and also checked that the spring tension is ok, which it seems to be.

Is there a way to check the armature etc of the dynamo. I need an idiots guide, with as much detail as possible.

I never had it rebuilt, this was done a few years ago by the previous owner, but the car has less than 200 miles on it since.

Inside it all looks as new and is very clean.

Any help appreciated

Wayne

clean the armature where the brushes ride, it should be shiny copper, rub it with a penny on its flat side

Is the third (movable) brush properly positioned? Try moving it.

Terry

clean the armature where the brushes ride, it should be shiny copper, rub it with a penny on its flat side

The armature is shiny, as mentioned it has been reconditioned and hardly used. I did initially think the the brushes weren't seating correctly so bedded them in by wrapping emery paper around the armature, rough side out, and then rotated it to help make the brushes take on the shape of the curve. This never helped

Is the third (movable) brush properly positioned? Try moving it.

Terry

I will try this on monday and let you know how I get on.

Wayne

I have just tried altering the position of the third brush and it doesn't seem to alter anything.

I also disconnected the lead from the dynamo to the cutout and put a voltmeter on the post, it seems that the dynamo is giving out 3.5volts, which isn't enough to close the points in the cutout.

Is there an obvious reason why the dynamo is not kicking out enough voltage?

I was going to strip the dynamo again and see if there are any grounded wires, but I would assume that if that was the case, the reading would be 0.

Any further help??

Wayne

Maybe one of the field coils is open circuited rather than shorted. That could account for low output.

Terry

Have you tried bypassing the cutout? How did you test the cutout when you determined it was working properly?

-Jason

Have you tried bypassing the cutout? How did you test the cutout when you determined it was working properly?

-Jason

If I hold the points closed when connected to the dynamo the ammeter on the dash goes up to max. The reading I got from the dynamo of about 3 - 3.5volts was when the cutout was disconnected with a voltmeter on the post of the dynamo and the other end to earth.

To test the cut out I disconnected it from the dynamo and then gave it a feed to the dynamo contact which made the points close, so I assume it is working.

If I hold the points closed when fully connected the ammeter on the dash goes up to max.

When I bought the car the original cutout is in a box of bits maybe my next job is to connect this back up and see what happens.

Thanks for the input

Wayne

Just an update, I took the car to an auto electrician, who couldn't sort it.

I tried it on the work bench attached to a drill and it doesn't work, I then dug out another similar one I have from my Big 6 car, I tried this on the bench and it worked fine. I then dismantled the generator and also dismantled the similar one I have, I swapped the armatures over and still mine didn't work, but the other one still did, so this showed the armatures to both be fine. I then dismantled them both again and noticed that the field windings were wound the opposite way in one to the other. So I unsoldered the link wire joining the 2 together, I then swapped the 2 field coils around, and added a link wire. The I soldered the brush wires back on. Reassembled the generator and hey presto, it now all works well.

I am no electrician and cannot explain why it now works, but it does.

If anyone can point out what I have down I would be grateful.

Wayne

Usually when fields are connected in reverse, that indicates an opposite rotation generator. Obviously not in your case since you got it to work running in the same rotation. With that said, I can't tell you for sure why they were wired differently without seeing it.

I'm glad for your sake that you got it running again. Don't take offense by this next statement, but in getting your generator running you have created a rebuilders nightmare. In all the years I've been rebuilding starters and generators, the jobs that have created the most headaches are the ones where people go in there changing stuff around. Then when it quits working or still doesn't work, I get a box full of parts and a "Here ya go, fix this". Like I said, No offense to you. I'm just simply thinking out loud.

Good Luck, hopefully you're back in business.

-Jason

Jason, funny you should mention about rotating in reverse. When I tried to motor the generator it spun slowly, upon lifting the adjustable third brush off of the comm, the generator instantly spun faster but in the opposite direction. I tried the same with the working generator and this spun slowly, but upon lifting the brush it just sped up in the same direction.

I know what you mean about people tinkering, and then asking experts to help. However before playing with it I took it to an auto electrician who couldn't suss the problem, he just relieved me of a few pounds, hence why I had a go myself.

A few years ago I bought a 1932 Oldmsobile that didn't charge, previously the generator had been reconditioned and at the same time had been converted from 6v to 12v. I bought the car with it not working and so asked about for someone to rebuild it her in England. The prices I was quoted were £400 - 600 which is absurd. I had a holiday in the USA booked and so rang a few people with regards to rebuilding it in the USA, I found a guy who said he could do it. I brought it to the USA in my suitcase, sent it to him the day I arrived. He rebuilt it and returned it to me within the 3 weeks I was in Texas, I then brought it back and it has been brilliant ever since. All of this for about a 1/4 of the cost I was quoted in the UK.

Here in the UK no one wants to rebuild stuff for a reasonable rate, they either want to rip you off or sell you a new item.

You guys in the USA don't know how lucky you are!!

Wayne

Hello,

I don't know if you have solved your problem, I ran into a similar problem with my car it would charge and the quit. I had a couple of issues. I had mismatched components. the previous owner had put a remy gen with a cut out mounted on the gen, and the car still had the cutout from the wagner gen on the firewall.

they were fighting each other and causing the thermal overload breaker in the gen to open, causing a no charge after a short run. it would cool off and work again for a little while. it was quit maddening to figure out, hope this helps,

ethan