OT: Delco Remy Generator

Olivers starting with the 'double-digit' series 77-88,etc (and maybe the

oh, and having a magneto does not rule out having a distributor, Brainiac................

Magneto Runs on it owe power ..

Regular distributor need a coil

multi-cylinder engines with magnetos still need a distributor

ever seen an old Farmall H or M ?

Hi!

Yeah, but isn't that built into the magneto unit itself? Not saying it isn't a distributor nevertheless--as it certainly is--but every one I've ever seen has the plug wires going straight to the magneto.

Are there some that are different with a distributor external to the magneto unit?

There's one around here...somewhere. (Pretty bad news when there are more tractors around than I can keep an eye on...) I will have to take a look. It *might* have been converted to a distributor/coil type system already.

William

Hi!

What would you adjust? Would this not be a pretty much "drop in the higher voltage battery and go" kind of deal?

Maybe to some people it would. I don't care so long as it starts and charges reliably whether it is 6 or 12 volt. If I ever do convert a tractor myself, I will keep all the 6 volt stuff just in case.

The 8 volt conversion looks really easy to reverse if required. If I understand it right, nothing else needs to be touched while you just drop in an 8 volt battery. Then if you want six once again, just put one in there.

I suppose the best of both worlds would be to find a 12 volt generator (I have a Minneapolis-Moline Jet Star with a 12 volt, positive ground system on it) and use that for the most original look AND 12 volt power at the same time.

This is no show tractor we're talking about anyway. I wish I had a picture (actually, I do, but I'm on the tractor in each one)...it has seen much better days. The paint is OK, but the birds in the barn haven't been kind to it, the radiator cap has gone missing, and there is a lot of grease that has accumulated over the years in spots. Someday I might restore it, but for now I'm just trying to catch up on a lot of maintenance that has not been done in far too long. There are also a few "boo-boos" in the grille where people have hit things over time.

I changed the coolant a while back only to find that the original was so nasty that it had turned grey with the odd chunk in it. That could not have been good. The oil filter area was also leaking quite badly until I repaired it.

William

Hi!

I want to thank everyone here for their help and input. I've learned a lot for the next time that this needs to be done.

The only thing I find a bit puzzling is the tendency of the regulator/interruptor points to open and stop the charging entirely as per the ammeter. This has to be right though--I can't see any other way it could work. There is no "partially closed" position on the thing and I can't see a way to adjust it.

If it is working right, this suggests that a lot of the other six volt tractors around here don't have properly functioning generators either.

William

I think the confusion here comes from confusing a "distributor" (which yes William is integral to a multi cylinder magneto) with a "Kettering" ignition. It also has a distributor but is an ignition system consisting of a mechanically driven breaker type ignition also containing a coil and derives its primary electricaal source from a battery. It was the forerunner of the modern ignition we now use. They were in use up until electronics took over, though probably no one on this newsgroup even knows who George Franklin Kettering even was. Google him and be amazed. Unless you have a magneto for each cylinder, you will have a distributor, and it may even be built into the magneto itself, none the less it is a distributor and performs the same function.

The regulator responds to voltage, and the regulator is working correctly as you have observed. The older systems have an ammeter which senses and displays current flow, which incidently is directly related to voltage, inversely so but none the less directly related. The points open and close (cycle) as needed but a generator system is less sensitive to voltage requirements than an alternator system.

To use an 8 volt battery the regulator must be adjusted for an output of about 9.6 volts max. A 6 volt system is adjusted for a max output of about 7.2 on a hot day with a fully charged battery. Notice a relationship of 1.2 volts per cell??

An alternator has the capability of tapering the charge rate via the electronic control but an older generator system uses the on/off manner of control, inherant in a mechanical breaker system.