grounded armature

[rocket ron]

Rebuilt (brushes & bearings) and tested a 32E generator. Seemed to be charging OK. Sold it to a friend(ex friend?) who used it for about 2 hours then it packed up. I've found through testing that the armature is grounded, i.e. completed circuit between commutator and armature core. Anyone know how this happens and is it easily repairable? Thanks.

[john HD]

an overload could melt the solder in the armature.

john

[tomfiii]

Could be do to age,probably wire lost lacquer insulation and grounded itself.

[1950Panhead]

32E generator is unregulated and operates at low charge or high charge dependant on ignition switch position.
My relay failed this summer, battery died, generator survived.
Friendships are more valuable then generators or armatures.
Buy the generator back and fix it again.
Jerry

[Frankenstein]

Sometimes a close inspection of the armature, where the wires enter and leave the slots at either ends will show a spot where there has been rubbing. I have saturated the armature core with insulating varnish and restored the armature that had this problem. It was however, an original HD armature, not an aftermarket. Probably the best advice is to just replace the armature though.
DD

[rocket ron]

an overload could melt the solder in the armature. What would cause that, John?

Friendships are more valuable then generators or armatures.

I was only kidding Jerry, We've been friends a long time and he knows I wouldn't knowingly sell him a dud.

I have saturated the armature core with insulating varnish and restored the armature that had this problem.

Would that be Shellac, Dr Dick?

There's no problem I'm building him another, just wondering what might have caused it. He did get an Auto electrician to test it, would somethig he did have caused it?
It would be a shame to junk an original armature if it could be repaired.

[Frankenstein]

Something like this might work,
http://www.google.com/search?q=insulati ... =firefox-a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It would be best to look for a physical fault where the windings rest against the armature laminates, to see if you can actually clear the fault, if that's where it lies.
The Techie shouldn't have caused any problems simply by testing it. I presume he used a growler to do his testing. You should have access to one, it makes it easier to do your testing.
The one I fixed was one with cloth insulation on the armature windings, by the way.
Understand this is a last ditch repair effort, but worth a try.
DD

[Cotten]

Folks,

Glyptal is a popular "insulating varnish" that has other uses as well.

....Cotten