wire connectors on ignition & light switch

[Hubert_25-25]

I mounted a 30 amp resettable circuit breaker fuse onto the back bracket of the ignition/light switch.  The plan is to connect the wire from the ammeter to this first,  then make a jumper wire from the opposite side of the breaker to the #1 connector in the switch.  This puts a fuse into my electrical system.  Not sure if I should have used 40 amps, but going to start with 30 amps and see where this takes me.  Maybe I will know when the lights are on and I blow the horn.  Then everything will go black and I will know that I should have installed the 40 amp.  My question is that the fuse is stamped 12 volt/30 amp, but this is a 6 volt system.  Did I buy the correct amperage fuse if I am trying to protect my system at 30 amps, or do I need something else?     Thank you,    Hugh

 

 

[Crazyfamily]

Will the breaker being made for 12v be an issue?

[27donb]

6 hours ago, Hubert_25-25 said:

I mounted a 30 amp resettable circuit breaker fuse onto the back bracket of the ignition/light switch.  The plan is to connect the wire from the ammeter to this first,  then make a jumper wire from the opposite side of the breaker to the #1 connector in the switch.  This puts a fuse into my electrical system.  Not sure if I should have used 40 amps, but going to start with 30 amps and see where this takes me.  Maybe I will know when the lights are on and I blow the horn.  Then everything will go black and I will know that I should have installed the 40 amp.  My question is that the fuse is stamped 12 volt/30 amp, but this is a 6 volt system.  Did I buy the correct amperage fuse if I am trying to protect my system at 30 amps, or do I need something else?     Thank you,    Hugh

 

 

 

You could test the breaker, off the car, with an ammeter and 6 volt battery, keep adding lights and see when it pops. 

 

In my mind, the bigger safety concern is a short on a circuit that is not protected with a fuse devise, causing an overheated wire, and possibly a fire. 

 

I would imagine a dead short to ground across that breaker will open it and protect the system. 

 

I prefer fuses to breakers. How long before that breaker resets, after the short or overload is corrected? 

 

A fuse can be replaced and you are back on the road.  In the case of too many amps, a slightly higher rated fuse can get you home in an emergency. 

[Hubert_25-25]

    I have also seen this style which may be a little better in that it has a push button reset.   This has a 12volt/24 volt range listed on it.  That is why I was wondering if it would also work for 6 volts at 30 amps.

 

 

 

 

[Bloo]

It won't matter that it is a 12v breaker. Current is current.

 

Breakers like the first one (and probably the second) are thermal, and have to be a bit lossy to generate the heat to trip. If it were me I would use a fuse or fuselink. It should result in a bit more brightness at the headlights.

 

To guess whether it will trip, you have to add all the current requirements (Amps) of everything that will be on. That can be hard to figure out ahead of time, as bulbs used to be rated in Candlepower rather than Watts (Watts = Volts x Amps). You could measure by inserting an ammeter in series with the breaker (so that all the current that flows through the breaker has to flow through the ammeter), and turning everything on. If I remember correctly you should load a breaker to 80 percent or less.

 

Buick did use thermal breakers on later 6 volt models.

 

 

Edited March 28, 2019 by Bloo (see edit history)

[27donb]

I added these fuse panels to the drivers side firewall under the dash, above the steering column.  I will be adding one for the 24-45 as well. 

 

27-25

 

27-54CC 

 

I wouldn't be worried about drawing too many amps and blowing a fuse or popping that breaker.  The generator gives what it gives, that's it. I use electric fuel pumps, and that along with the coil draw, I have about 18 amps at road speed when cold.  When warm, I have 9.  Add taillight and headlights, and I charge about 2 or 3 amps at speed. My seal beam driving lights are on the bumper for emergency, but draw more than the headlights, and I'm about zero at speed. 

 

Driving at night, you should have a good battery in a good state of charge. 

 

The real danger, is having a wire short to ground, overheat and start a fire.  I had that almost happen when I was messing with the taillght harness, the circuit breaker started vibrating, and by the time I realized what was shorted there was smoke from the wire loom heating up and starting to burn. 

 

A picture shows all, and my fuse blocks look pretty ugly and messy, but I know the circuits are protected and I haven't blow a fuse yet.   Easy to mount on a piece if wood, using the existing vacuum tank screws, no holes drilled! 

Edited March 29, 2019 by 27donb (see edit history)

[ROD W]

This Delco service manual for  23 and 24 master models ( unfortunatly I don,t have a 25 )  says the circuit breaker starts at 25 - 30 amps this being a 6 volt system.   My understanding  is that a 6 volt system carries higher currents than a 12 volt system .  The bulbs in my 1920 headlights are 24 Watt.  The resistance of the 24 watt light is 3 ohms.  This works out to 4 amps running through the headlights,  2 amps per headlight bulb as they are in parallel.  Say with all lights on,  headlights,  side lights and tail lights  this would be less than 12 amps  as lower wattage bulbs would be in the side lights.  The Delco manual says at average output the generator is putting out 15 amps,  which covers all the lights.   Following  ohms law  V= I x R  if  voltage is doubled and resistance remains the same, current decreases.  This sounds contradictory to 6 volt systems carrying higher currents, or maybe my maths is wrong.😲 A tail light in a 12 volt system is only 5W which changes the whole equation.  So sorry Hugh,  I,m not sure how the 30amp  12 volt fuse works in a 6 volt system.  But there would be twice the current flowing through the fuse in a 6 volt system.

Edited April 2, 2019 by ROD W (see edit history)

[Crazyfamily]

Does anyone have a bench top adjustable power supply that could test a 12v breaker/fuse in at 6v?

 

im sure if you find a local electronic repair facility they they’d be happy to test it for you.....

[Hubert_25-25]

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions.  I removed the resettable fuse as I agree that it could be a problem if it keeps resetting.  A regular fuse solves that issue.  I bought an FH-7 fuse block and attached it to the back of the switch bracket.  Once I get further along, I may use a larger fuse system as Don did.  I could easily put 4 fuses on the back of the ignition switch and then just use all the original wiring with just adding some short jumpers.  I also finished the rest of my switch backing plate restoration and replating.  I added this to my procedure at the top of this thread, and have included that new parts below.    Hugh

 

   

 

[John_Mereness]

On 3/8/2019 at 1:18 AM, Hubert_25-25 said:

It is a dual purpose knob.  When you rotate that knob, it turns on the instrument light, or if you forget to rotate it back, it drains your battery. 

On a RR PI it turns on the parking lamps and when you leave it on it drains the battery too. 

[John_Mereness]

By the way, if you ever need to repair the Bakelite, I have been using 3M panel adhesive that they use to attache modern sheet metal body panels - it comes in like a 90 minute dry and a 90 second dry (i have found either to be fine).  It is black and hard as hell when it sets up.

 

Great for black Bakelite steering wheel repair too. 

Edited April 6, 2019 by John_Mereness (see edit history)

[Crazyfamily]

On 3/18/2019 at 12:33 AM, Hubert_25-25 said:

William, 

    I am currently going thru my switches.  I have rebuilt several of the switch lever sections, so this should help you.  More to come on rebuilding and restoring the terminal backing plate.   I do have a switch unit that I may part with, and maybe an old lever arm.  We can PM regarding what I have.  If you follow this procedure, it should help you get the switch back to working like it it is supposed to, as I wrote it so you could follow the orientation of the internal parts for assembly if all the parts were loose.  Basically page 3 is what you need.  Your best long term approach is to purchase 2 new switch levers and a new housing and build the switch up from your remaining parts.

Hugh 

Hugh when I assemble the parts for the switch housing the spring goes in the hole and then the ball bearing goes on top correct?

[Hubert_25-25]

Correct.  It is a little tricky to put these back together.  I had to use a small screwdriver to keep the spring collapsed under the ball while I assembled each lever.  The screwdriver was on top of the wavy plate, which pushed the ball which pushed the spring.  The screwdriver gave me just enough room to install the insulators.  

[sligermachine]

just grow a new finger or too that would help on the Assembly. dang that looks like you did such a good job . 

[Larry Schramm]

6 hours ago, sligermachine said:

just grow a new finger or too that would help on the Assembly. dang that looks like you did such a good job . 

 

Kyle,  Good to see you back.

[Hubert_25-25]

Kyle, 

    I second Larry's comment.  I hope this is a sign that we will be hearing more from you on the forum.     Hugh

[dibarlaw]

Kyle:

There has been a fellow contacting us 2 Larrys  who is from California who found a 1926 Master Sport Roadster. He had a problem that the bottom of the engine was open and the oil pump shaft was missing. I gave him some specs from my pump and the Master Parts book for what was interchangeable. (he wanted to make it out of a piece of cold rolled steel) I also referred him to you. Last night he called for roadster top information and asked if it was the same as a Standard which I told him it was not. He said he had a supplier for a "top kit" for a Standard. I tried to tell him that the top will probably need to be made from scratch. He said there was no one in over a 100 mile radius that could do that type of work.

 His other concern was the clutch parts that were lying in the back compartment. I asked what he may need as these are different from our 1925 clutches. He could not tell me other than the transmission and all was still together with the engine. I told him how to access the flywheel area to at least check the clutch plates and to check the operation of the clutch first by turning over the engine. To see if things were stuck or free. He then asked what kind of job it was to replace the clutch. When I tried to explain the procedure he became quite upset.

 It seems like he wants the car on the road "Last week". Kind of like some old TV shows that had the derrilect old car found in the barn. Between commercials the family scrubbed and cleaned things up over a weekend and by the end of the episode the car was back on the road.

[sligermachine]

Thanks 

I did help him he seamed to not have any money to spend to get his parts  wile he was at my house . i found the oil pump parts for him but did not find a coupler for him told him it would only take 15 20 min to make it at my shop but we were at my house and it is not set up  as  awesome . I gave him the parts for 10.00  mostly free  .

I like helping but really bared in machine work .

     I desisted  to get my 1932 running boy it felt good to work at home on my stuff.

I guess . I have just been bummed out sense my son moved to the east coast  I figurine .  better get back to my Buick at least a day a week would get it done .

 

[C Carl]

On 4/26/2019 at 5:24 AM, Larry Schramm said:

 

Kyle,  Good to see you back.

 

Yes. We have missed you. Sorry your son is so far away. You have good friends here !   -   Carl