Dynamo - Wanted - for TR4A wide belt. NOW SORTED - THANKS.

[Bfg]

Dynamo - Wanted - for 1967 TR4A with wide fan-belt.

I discovered today that Katie's dynamo is ..let's politely just say 'worn'.. and has stopped working. 

If someone happens to have one that's cheap and serviceable ..and could be posted ? (they weight 6kg + packaging) then I'd be interested, as long as its bearings (I'm referring to plain-bushes rather than brushes) feel tight and smooth to turn. 

^ this can be refurbished with new plain-bushes, etc.,  but the rest of it doesn't look too bright ...so if you happen to have one on the shelf

Cheers, Pete - in Suffolk

 

[Andrew]

What is wrong with the rest of it. I refurbished mine Bly a couple of weeks ago and it was in a worse stare than yours

andrew

[Bfg]

I'm not sure there is much wrong with it.  One of the brush springs is very weak and so its iffy contact is possibly why it has stopped working right now.  "It was OK until it broke "   ..Those copper coloured filings are from the plain bush, the other end bear doesn't feel too tight either. 

My last experience with a dynamo (from one of my Sunbeam motorcycles) being professionally refurbished is that it cost me £200.,  plus post and packing x6 times back and forth to a London specialist, because they didn't seem to believe me that their repair hadn't worked.  This was when I was trying to sell the bike and so things were delayed and delayed.  Eventually the prospective buyer took the bike.. knowing the issue and then had his local chap (down in Devon) look at it.  Initially he couldn't see what was wrong with it, but that it was barely kicking out any charge ..and the skimming of the armature each time it was rebuilt had left the clearances a little too large.  However he was a persistent chap who liked the challenge.. and after several weeks discovered almost by chance that the armature had been wound back to front !  So much for official Sunbeam motorcycle specialists &/or the London dynamo experts who had done the job !

Often owners upgrade their Triumph's dynamo to an alternator and a narrow belt, so it's quite plausible that someone has had one sitting on their garage shelf for the past 10 years, which is perfectly fine ..and much less hassle and cost than I experienced in having one refurbished.

Pete.

[Colin Lindsay]

The bush is available, as are the springs and brushes, all very cheap. I've just completed one and it was simple, just needed a lot of cleaning. The only problem was tensioning the springs; do you go for light pressure, or will another turn of the spring push the brushes in so much that they'll wear away in seconds?

  

 

 

[Bfg]

I think I'm now Sorted  - Thanks..

I've been offered a working dynamo by Bob on the TR forum ..for just the cost of postage. 

He'd swapped to an alternator on his car and has two dynamo's sitting on the shelf.  Seems that's the way many TR owners go, possibly because they don't like the wide belt.

Personally I sorta prefer it as it can be run very loose and still not slip, and that of course puts less load on the water-pump bearings. 

Pete