Gearbox Modification.

[gidge348]

Oh well the test was a dismal failure....

I bled the fuel up to the pump and ran the ground start at 28V, it quickly got up to 20% and while I was waiting for the fuel to come through, but the starter slowed after about 15 seconds and eventually I aborted it 25 seconds. I would have thought it should run longer than that?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMCv0b1u_rM.

Tried again after 10 minutes and the current spiked to 450 amps (not 600 as on the video) but no movement and looking bad.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7TlthSKf0k

In the starter it originally had a serries of what I believed to be radio suppressors in the cable box that I had removed to make it easier to get the cables in & out.


So I replaced them and did a free wheel test that ran for 20 seconds no problems.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOqRBXr3vds

Put it back in and still no joy.

I was hoping someone out there may know if the items are suppressors or something else?

Would you expect the starter to be able to run for more that 20 seconds? I Kris Krug's video "Adams Ride" and he seemed to have the starter on for almost a minute?

I took it to a friends place that put the armature on a growler and that all tested ok, the brushes & springs were fine and the bearings slightly noisy but still serviceable?
Nothing seemed burnt or busted but did smell cooked?

Any suggestions welcome.....
Ian...

[ozbooster]

Ian did you have this same trouble a few yrs ago ?

I can send my starter or any associated parts if you want , my motor turned for about a min when i first looked for oil pressure and just to see movement back in 07
before the old batterys i used at the time said enough

[gidge348]

Hi Greg,

Yep, I did have a similar problem back in 08 but though I may have fixed it when I cleaned it and removed the suppressors. It is funny how it all tests ok from what I can make out, but no joy. I was wondering if the symptoms may tell someone a reason or area to look?

Would be a big help if I could borrow your starter will PM re getting it here.

Thanks for your help
Ian...

[cursorkeys]

Hey Ian,

Are you connecting the field to B+? Even though the the diagram says 'generator field' that's a compound wound device and it won't have much field from just that shunt winding. Every time you run it you'll be magnetising the field poles a bit so that could explain the variable behaviour?

Of course if you are connecting it then that's that theory out the window

Cheers, Jon

Edit: I know they're supposed to overspeed with the parallel field open but the GTD-350's motor-genny just acts odd and underpowered without the field.

[Deleted]

if this makes sense..... the third smaller wire needs connecting to separate 24 volt supply on starting, and them disconnected once running. it should not be in same circuit of any of the heavier wires

[gidge348]

Wow thanks guys, when trying to start the engine a few years ago I did connect the small wire (no4) un-switched to the B+ but seemed to have no power to it before it turned over.
I had a solenoid/relay in B+ to run the starter and turned that off after it started, but when the engine was shut down and the B+ switched off the starter still had current to it and over heated?
I thought the solenoid/relay had fried so threw that but from what you are saying it could have been the no4 wire still connected that after the run somehow becomes live?

Will hook it up through a switch and give it another go today.

Cheers Ian...

[cursorkeys]

Sept 19, 2014 20:01:12 GMT -5 gidge348 said:

Wow thanks guys, when trying to start the engine a few years ago I did connect the small wire (no4) un-switched to the B+ but seemed to have no power to it before it turned over.

If you have a multimeter you could put the meter in series with 24V and terminal 4. I'd expect to see about 5A (not sure of the exact current off-hand but it's of that order).
That would prove the field winding is probably good.

Sept 19, 2014 20:01:12 GMT -5 gidge348 said:

I had a solenoid/relay in B+ to run the starter and turned that off after it started, but when the engine was shut down and the B+ switched off the starter still had current to it and over heated?
I thought the solenoid/relay had fried so threw that but from what you are saying it could have been the no4 wire still connected that after the run somehow becomes live?

That does sound like it was still connected somehow. At 5A the field coil is disipating 120W so (without cooling from the internal fan turning) that motor-generator will become pretty hot!

[gidge348]

Got it, will do.

I have to tidy up the wiring a little so will check the field wiring and let you know.

Thanks again.

Cheers Ian...

[gidge348]

Thanks Jon, I checked the field winding as you said with 24v and got a reading of 8.7amps.

After that I cleaned up the wiring a little and connected the generator field winding through a switch to the B+.

When I ran it up it seems to work like a soft start, the main winding will spin it up to about 15-20% then hitting the switch for the generator winding it goes straight up to 30%-35%.


AND……………. Drum roll……..


Its Alive…….!!!!!!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KYToVX6Fpg



I don’t have a free turbine governor on it at the moment so it ran straight up to 70%..... . Only ran it for a couple of minutes because I had no idea how fast the FPT was running, but it didn’t go bang so that was a good thing. 

It looks like I have fixed the oil leaks on the gas generator but the modified fittings etc on the new gearbox leak like a sieve so that is the next job.


I guess now it’s time to get on and build the car before I am too old to drive it….

Cheers Ian...

[pitciblackscotland]

Hi Ian,
Awesome well done mate! :-)

Cheers,
Mark..

[Johansson]

Congratulation Ian!

[cursorkeys]

Major congratulations Ian! I like the use of the (Tiernay?) GPU as well for the 28V

Edit: I am working on those docs as well, the autofeeder on the scanner is U/S so its as many pages as I can do each evening...

[racket]

Hi Ian

Congratulations ..............always nice to see another lump of metal spoolup into life

Cheers
John

[gidge348]

Thanks everyone, Yep it is a Tiernay GPU that I used to start it.

A bit hot, smelly and noisy in the shed, but I wanted to try and keep the noise down a little for the neighbours. Did not really quieten things a lot still had dogs, cats, horses, alpacas, small children etc, etc running for cover.

But as someone said earlier on this site, "It's a lot easier to apologise than to ask permission...."

[racket]

Hi Ian

LOL , sure is easier to apologise, ..................I use to live beside a small local fuel depot and the neighbours though my DIY jet engine was one of the fuel tanks venting and going up in flames when I first spooled her up ............they got use to it after a while ;-)

Cheers
John