New generator for the collection.

I managed to get myself a genny to run off one of the engines, it needs a bit of work to get it going though, here she is....







Trouble is it was direct coupled to a Villiers engine, so there's no bearing or shaft on the output side, just a hole which leads to an internal taper....



Fortunately Ian has been having similar issues with a modern genny & was sent a couple of tapered shafts to try out, neither of which seemed to fit, but this one seems to fit my little genny....



All I need to get now is a bearing in some kind of flange block to go on the output end, maybe something like this....



It should go straight on with the correct hole PCD & bore size for the shaft.....



These bits aren't cheap but the genny didn't cost me anything, so it should still end up being a cheap genny.

The previous owner also said he had a little trouble getting it to give out power, it seems he over loaded it. The windings all seem fine, but there is a capacitor which has gone, which looks to be a smoothing cap on the DC output of a diode bridge leading to the top stator winding.

I'm trying to work this one out, as most alternators take their power from the stator windings, whereas this one takes it's power from the rotor slip rings.

It may look large, but it is only rated at around 160 watts. I wondered what would need a generator which is rated with such a small output? My only conclusion is that it is for a mobile traffic light set-up, as it is rated for a continuous output (meaning it will give that out 24hrs a day) whereas most gennys wont (except military generators, which should be continuous).

My plan is to get it so I can run it off at least 2 or 3 of the engines, so whatever engine we take to the rallies we will have something to run off it. It will probably spend much of it's time running off the Scott though. It would have been perfect for the little JAP model 3, but I've sold that now . I will mount it on wooden skids & blocks to bring it off the ground a bit.

Oh & no, I'm not putting it on wheels!

Nuts you seem the best person to ask as your into showing gennys. What are the ruling ( H&S I think) about about using gennys over 150volts. Is it just a case of having the grounding earth spike wired up and in place or is there more to it then that?

Stu.

stationary stu wrote:Nuts you seem the best person to ask as your into showing gennys. What are the ruling ( H&S I think) about about using gennys over 150volts. Is it just a case of having the grounding earth spike wired up and in place or is there more to it then that?

Stu.

TBH Stu, an earth spike won't do you any good with a portable generating set, as they are not bonded to earth, but some shows call for them. In fact, safety wise, an earth spike is probably likely to cause more harm than good with a portable genny.

To put it in simple terms, a portable genny is what they call a "Floating Supply" You could grab just the live wire & be fine, you could grab just the neutral wire & be fine, but touch both & you will get a shock.

All the regs call for is adequate circuit protection, usually in the form of an RCD or RCCB (both the same thing) at the genny output, & (obviously) a safe installation beyond that (IE: no open terminals, no dodgy ropey old cables or smashed sockets, that kind of thing). It's all just common sense really, but for the sake of argument, if a particular show asks for an earth spike, I would just loosely join it to the genny chassis in an attempt to make them happy.

Thanks for the explanation, I always wondered how safe is something putting out 240v on a typical english summers day with wet grass and rain coming down, I'm ok with electric but that sort of scares me think I'll stick with my 28v genny and be happy with that

Stu.