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| Buchanan Midget 6 volt or 12? |
| Author |
Message |
    
Norm Lehman
| | Posted on Friday, June 18, 2004 - 09:48 am: | 
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Here's an area I hope someone can help me with. I have a vintage 1938 Buchanan Midget in my boat. It has what looks like the original Auto-Lite generator, which I've just learned was/is a 6-volt item. I can't tell about the starter, but it looks to be a newer unit than the generator. The thing is that for 24 years now, I've been running the boat with 12-volt marine batteries. The instrument panel (tach, Oil Press, Water temp, voltage) is a 12-volt. Stewart-Warner. The charging system has low amperage, but it does keep the starting battery topped up through the season. I'm a pretty good amateur mechanic, but I don't know enough about electrics to figure this out. Can anyone help? Does this mean that someone did a 12-volt conversion sometime in the past? How can I tell?
Thanks in advance
- Norm |
james
| | Posted on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 09:40 pm: |
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Your best opion is to take a look at the coil and if it says 12 0n it the starter would br 12 but if the coil is 6 volt the starter would be six. |
miro
| | Posted on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 10:16 pm: |
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I run my Midget on 6 V but start it with 12V by adding another 6V battery inseries with the starter and the first battery. Everything else is run on the first 6V battery. Once a month or so I charge the second battery overnight. and about every 5 or 6 years I replace the battery for about$50 each.
These engines start well if they are kicked over smartly with full choke. After about 8 years of this kind of treatment, the starter is no worse for wear.
I looked at the generator carefully and it is a 3 brush unit, the third brush provides regulation or current limiting to about 6-7 A over the range of engine speed ( the calibration on the ammeter is dodgy).
A buddy had his Midet generator re-wound to a 2 brush version with an external regulator cost of about $200.
I wanted to keep mine as original as possible.
Seems to me if you are getting charging current with a 12V output, the most you ought to expect is 2 or maybe 3 A. A 3 brush generator doesn't "know" if it is connected to 6 V or 12 V, it produces output power ( V x A ) in the range of about 75 Watts. And if you've got a set up that is working - don't try to "fix" it.
You can tell if someone has done a re-wind by seeing if it has a 2 brush or a 3 brush set up.
( actually there IS a way to modify the 3 brush from 6V to 12V by inserting additional resistance into the third brush winding) FOr a very good explanationof how a 3 brush generator regulates, have a look at a Dyke's book) . If you'd like, I'll dig mine out and scan the pages and email them to you. I also have the tech specs and the speed - torque curve for the engine.
Miro |
miro
| | Posted on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 10:20 pm: |
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One other VERY IMPORTANT point - do NOT run the a 3 brush generator with an open circuit - the voltage will build up until it damages one of the windings. Could be as much as 75V.
Miro |
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