The Dark Wob

fried onions wrote: ↑Fri Jun 26, 2020 9:51 pm

MLOR wrote: ↑Tue Jun 09, 2020 7:50 am Those idiot lights have lenses that move to give day and night (bright and dim) positions.
They were fitted in the Sunbeam Stilettos I had.

I put a battery on the scrapper and with what limited remaining electrical functions there were tested this out. The blue light is set to bright for comparison with the other (blue being the most restrictive filter).



Thank you so much, I would never have given them a second look!

You're welcome.
I only discovered them by accident when cleaning the dash on the first of my Stilettos xx years ago
( that one I called"Auto da Fey" {"auto-da-fe" means "Act of Faith" and that was all that held that car together! })

Some electrical fun, Part 1.

Ages ago I had tried to set the voltage and current regulator, but it quickly became apparent there was a fault on the current regulator, so I set it as best I could. Although it has not given any trouble, the ammeter readings are not as they should be - a constant charge of about 5 amps is showing in daylight, dropping to just above zero with headlights on. What I would expect to see is a high charge rate after starting the engine and then the needle dropping to just above zero, and also after switching the headlights on, for that is what is meant by constant voltage control (C.V.C.) Also I have to top the battery up every fortnight or so, a sure sign that the battery is overcharging, although only slightly in this case after I'd set it up as best I could.
I had a spare secondhand C.V.C. unit of the Lucas RB. 310 type. I also wanted to change the ammeter as the needle wasn't bang on zero.


That actually proved futile because this is the instrument I removed:


So it must be gravity pulling the needle down slightly. No matter, it's slightly better than before and it gave me a chance to check the other instrument cluster connections. This was just before they adopted Lucar terminals, so every wire here had to be attached using grub screws or small nuts, obviously a very labour-intensive process. It's no wonder so many cars caught fire in those days, especially the better ones. I already had to wrap some insulating tape around the ammeter wires where the insulation had melted, though I suspect this occurred under the tenancy of a later owner.



The main job was to swap the C.V.C. unit. Removing the existing one it looks like someone had done something to it judging by the solder (top).


I cleaned the contacts of the replacement and bunged it in. Connecting up the battery tentatively elicited no sparks so that was the first hurdle negotiated (the contacts can sometimes stick shut, discharging the whole battery current through the ammeter and dynamo turning it into a motor). I am not starting the engine this evening as I finished late and would rather face disaster tomorrow. Speaking of batteries, whilst I had to disconnect it I removed it because I wanted to clean the top properly and, more importantly, attach some tat in the form of terminal post identification felt washers and an old sticker I'd won as part of a job lot on eBay.


The LinCon sticker is on the other side away from view, so when I saw these I thought they were ideal, especially as they are London addresses, which is where the car came from. It was a choice between the blue Wimbledon label or the Bulldog Commercial, seeing as I opted for the increased capacity 88 amp/hour fucker. The blue Wimbledon label won, as a little colour won't go amiss, even if the silvered lettering is somewhat degraded.


My least favourites are the green Bulldog Minor sticker, the CMS and the Sprite.


Must be quite a rare find as they're just another example of those everyday items nobody at the time, like now, would give a thought to, which I can understand. But the artwork was so much better then and these had been in somebody's scrapbook apparently. Thank goodness there were and are people out there saving this stuff.

To round off I'll start the car up in the morning and see what happens. I'm not expecting it to work, truth be told, as hardly any parts like this (regulators, ignition coils, dynamos) I've bought secondhand do work. But I might be able to make a good one out of two bad examples like I did with the Moggy's. I've left the battery disconnected until the moment of truth tomorrow.

Proper mechanical controls, none of that cheating with electronics.

I've never really understood the purpose of the ammeter in a car. I have several in a box. Are they just for use with a dynamo?

I've got an ammeter in my alternator MGB, along with a voltmeter and a vacuum gauge.

They were basically fitted in the same period as the front spoiler, now removed, when adding tat like rear window visors was a thing.

Ammeters were of purpose in the dynamo era and gave instant indication of charging rate fluctuations which might otherwise result in a flat or overcharging battery. Cars (and motorcycles) bereft of all other instrumentation generally still carried an ammeter. I find mine useful in the Cowley - especially in traffic when the dynamo is not putting anything out and you can monitor use of heater fan etc.

I think the are a lot more use with dynamos as the charging rate on them varies a lot more with engine revs.

Aye, all it does is show what's being taken from and put into the battery. Quite a useful instrument but not strictly necessary with C.V.C. I think they were a carry over from the Third Brush era but so deeply ingrained in people's minds they continued to be fitted until warning lights took over.

As a mechanical simpleton I've got to ask what the Third Brush Era was. I assume that it refers to the dynamo brushes.

There was George and George W but buggered if I can remember another one....