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Bugeye generator help

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Yes, sorry, they are the same thing, control box=regulator. You did what I would have done, Kevin. If it ain't broke leave it alone. Is this a newish battery?

Charlie
 
A new contorl box will be good for the next 50 years mostly.
 
Battery is new. I am not going to touch the control box until I know the condition of the generator. I am always nervous about touching things I know little about and like you, Charlie, adhere to the "If it ain't broke.."philosophy too. Am I oversimplifying things, or can I use the "Mechanical Setting" directions for adjusting the control box that I have in my manual? Seems simple if that is all I have to do.
Kevin
 
Sure, I would think you could use those, yeah. They look pretty simple.

Did you download MGA guru doc I sent you a link to? It will help you understand what the voltage regulator does. I think it is helpful to know before you start.

Here is another good one. Voltage regulators 101.

Good luck,
Charlie
 
I will download everything when I get home, Charlie - thanks. Jack, why would a control box go bad? They look pretty heavy duty. Do they actually sell new ones anymore? I have actually seen some NOS on ebay before - wish I would have bought one now.
Kevin
 
Who knows what might happen after 50 years. Heck, look at me. When I was 20 I was fine.
 
Where the h**l do you come up with a "moving coil" voltmeter? I'm assuming my VOM isn't one.
BTW, if you are going to fool with the regulator [control box], clean the points.
I've had an old regulator start working after doing that.

Kurt.
 
"Moving coil" means an analog, not a digital, voltmeter.

Yes, cleaning up the points might do the trick. You can get electrical contact cleaner at any Radio Shack. I am not sure emery paper is the best thing for them but some people will say it's fine. Others will say run a dollar bill between them.

Charlie
 
Ok, Jack, that is funny. I have had to make numerous trips to the doctor this year trying to get a problem solved. I was in the doctor's office yesterday thinking how similar I am to the car. Every time a doctor checks me out to solve a problem, they end up fixing other stuff along the way, but still haven't fixed the original problem I came in for to begin with. I never realized I had so many broken/worn out parts.

I read the section on cleaning the points, Kurt - seems like a prudent thing to do. The procedure in the manual does not look that complicated.

Took the generator out tonight and it goes in tomorrow. At least I will be narrowing down the variables.

Kevin
 
Kevin,
I would recommend that you take the generator AND control box and find yourself a little old mom-and-pop automobile electrical shop and take them there. They can test them together as a system, and hopefully will be able to help you sort this out.

These older shops will know what difference between an generator and an alternator is; who knows they might have even rebuilt a generator before. If it were me I would take the appropriate pages from your manual and the Moss catalog as well.

Hope you can get'r done.

Charlie
 
I didn't know that you could take the control box out to be tested, Charlie. Had I known, I would have sent that in to be tested too. I think either way I am going to clean the unit and reset gaps myself. I found a guy in Tacoma (thanks to another BCF member) who is an outstanding British car mechanic. He does good work<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic"> and </span></span>can talk to me at my level. He will hopefully be testing my generator today so I will know what to do next.
Kevin
 
ichthos said:
I found a guy in Tacoma who is an outstanding British car mechanic. He does good work<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic"> and </span></span>can talk to me at my level.
Click to expand...
:whistle:
grin.gif
 
There is a very simple test for a generator to do off the car. Essentially a generator is an electric motor. All you need is a battery and a set of jumper cables. Hook the positive terminal of the generator to the positive side of the battery and the negative side of the battery to one of the ears of the generator. If the generators spins like a motor it’s good, you may have to give it a little turn with your hand one way or the other to get started, it won’t spin very fast, but if it spins its good!
 
Kevin,
Sure, the control box and generator are a system. A good traditional electric auto shop--if they know anything about generators and mechanical voltage regulators--will see if your generator 'motors' as Bluemax suggests. And if it does they will say, hmm. Nothing wrong with this."

If they had the regulator too likely they would just wire the whole thing up on the bench and check it out, and adjust it if it needed it. These old generators and regulators work pretty much the same no matter who made them, but you need a shop with people who have a lot of experience. Old timers!

But at this point I encourage you to try adjusting it yourself, you've nothing to lose.

Best
Charlie

PS LOVE WALLACE AND GROMMET!!
 
Now that is an excellent idea Charlie.
 
Well, my wife had to take in the generator today. She called me briefly to say the shop said it is garbage and not worth fixing. Hopefully she got specifics. Any idea on what can be so bad about a generator that it is not worth fixing? The bearings sounded like they needed replacing, but that is not that much money. What would make a generator not worth rebuilding? I was looking at prices for a new generator. Moss seems to have the cheapest at $180. One cool thing they had on the internet catalog was youtube videos on how to check various components of the charging system. Wish I would have seen that sooner. I do have a second bugeye with a generator in it. I want to try testing it out of curiosity, but do you guys think it is foolish to put in another used generator? My wife will be driving it most of the time, so I am especially concerned. Your opinions?
Kevin
 
I did have mine rebuilt locally (cost about $160 I think). Seems to be working fine now. If you're staying with the generator then I'd say to pop one that works in and rebuild the other as a spare.
 
So my old VOM with the moving hand IS a moving coil voltmeter.
Sadly, all the old mom and pop shops are gone around here.

Kurt.
 
www.powerlite-units.com turn the old generators into altenaters, within the original casing, looks stock and you don't need the regulator as it is built in. Just leave the casing for show. More voltage and amps for extra lights and battery charging.
 
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