ELECTRICAL PARTS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 344, 4 October 1932, Page 2

ELECTRICAL PARTS

ADYICE ON CARE OF DYNAMO COMMUTATOR AND STARTER. The motorist who -does not undersiand electrical apparatus will, no doubt, be reli'eved to learn that there are few parts in the. equipment of a car to give trouble. A few facts about the starting and lighting set may be helpful in the care of these components. iStarters and ^ynamos ara smiliar in construction and are essentially simple units. They have o.nly one rotating part, and nothing that coul.d strictly be called mechanism, no moving levers, gears or cams. The dynamo armature runs on ball bearings, which only lequire infrequent lubrication. The dynamo commutator should be cleaned say, once in 6000 miles, by detaching th circular protection band at one end of the dynamo and pressing a piece of soft rag on the commutator v/hile the dynamo is running slowly, the 'engine being throttled down to idling speed. The cleaning removes any carbon dust which may tend to lodge between the qomiputator segments. The novice should not try alterings or experim'enting with the brush gear. He will probably learn z s he gains experience that th,ere is a control brush which is adj.ustable, so as to regulate the output of current, but it must be kept in mind that this adjustment is originally fixed by the manufacturers. The Dynamo. The general condition of the dynamo so far as generating its full output is concerned can be gauged from the rmmeter readings. The system of controlling the output 'ensures that it v/ili hot inerease when a certain speed of the car is attained; that ig usually 25-30. miles an hour. Beyond this speed the ammater charge reading will remain steady, or it may 'even go back to a small extent. Any falling off of dynamo output will mean that a uischarge is. beihg taken from thd battery, wbereas there should be a small readipg on the "charge" side of the ammeter when all lights are in use.

As regards the starter, the brushes and commutator of this comp.opent of tha car undergo very little wear, owing tp the very short periods of iptermittent running. The circular protection band is usually 'easily detachable, and the commutator can be cleaned in the same way as that of the dynamo whei] it requires iti