Puma / Dorman 6LE / MacFarlane B46B / 110 kVA Generator Resurrection

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awemawson:
As part of my bench testing of the new controller when it arrives, I intend to have monitoring on it's inputs and outputs, and I decided that actually it would be quite handy to have indicators permanently wired. I had several 24 volt ac/dc LED panel indicators, so I made up labels for:

a/ Fuel Solenoid
b/ Starter Solenoid
c/ Oil Pressure
d/ Engine Overheat
e/ Not Charging

All this inputs and outputs are wired to or from this panel anyway, so incorporating them is relatively simple. I had hoped to get away with the original coat of paint by the expedient of covering it with masking tape prior to drilling, but no it made a mess. So it got stripped, sand blasted and re-painted this morning. Do you add holes or remove them :scratch:

I also made up a little box to house a Neutrik 20 amp socket which will be connected to the 24 volt battery and allow the internal battery charger to be easily removed - it will be bolted to the rear cabinet panel with Rivinut inserts.

The hugely expensive roll of 35 mm 'meter tails' arrived just as we were going out (grand child to see Farmagenddon - a disappointment - not a patch on previous Aardman productions like Chicken Run) so they remain to be hammered into place tomorrow.

hermetic:
"Do you add holes or remove them"? It is the same with gears andrew, do you cut the teeth, or the gaps between them? Who really knows, but the truth is out there!
Bad luck with the DS controller, I have done very similar things when my train of thought is disturbed when wiring.
Phil

awemawson:
Today was the day to start wrestling with Sea Serpents :bugeye:

I'd forgotten just how hard it is to manipulate 35 mm csa meter tails, and five of them together isn't half hard on the hands ! Some months ago a friend had been clearing out a garage abandoned by one of her tenants, and one or two tools came my way including the correct tool for stripping the outer and inner sheaths of this double insulated cable, and I must say it makes the job far easier and indeed neater as well.

So, select the correct hexagonal dies for the hydraulic crimper, strip a length of the outer sheath to indicate which conductor it is when mounted, then strip the correct length of inner sheath to expose the copper that will actually enter the crimp lug. With the lug lightly gripped in the crimper, insert the cable end, and pump the handles until the preset pressure is reached and it clicks like a torque wrench.

Very simple in essence, but as I installed the first lug onto the stud of the generator output terminals I noticed ever so slight movement between the copper and the lug - that is a FAULTY crimp thinks I.

Turns out that the pre-set on that crimper is out of trim - fortunately I have a second one so re-made the crimp with that, which although it forms a similar hexagonal crimp, doesn't take the same series of dies.

When I came to the Earth / Green / Yellow cable, fortunately I noticed that the copper wires of the cable were wrapped in a very thin cellophane layer under the main sheath - just waiting to be missed in a dark cabinet and effectively insulate the copper from the lug :bugeye:

Much pushing and pulling and lashing with huge Ty-Wraps and the monster was largely contained - I'm never happy with jobs like these as I find the extremely stiff cables hard to lay neatly.

awemawson:
While I was subduing sea monsters the replacement Deep Sea 3110 controller arrived, so next job is to wire it into a test set up on the bench (well my desk really!)

Once it was all wired and double checked, and I made a diversion to save a maiden in distress who had had a trailer come uncoupled on the A21 and suitable calming down coffees and handkerchiefs had been applied (same maiden from whence the cable sheath stripper was sourced !!) I was able to apply power and try it out.

I'm delighted to be able to report that it performs as I'd expect. Pressing 'Start' it powers up the fuel solenoid shortly followed by the starter solenoid, and cranks away merrily until it's 'failed to start' timer expires - well it has no engine attached so of course it doesn't start !. It repeats this sequence three times then gives up and reports 'failed to start' by symbol on the screen.

I'll hold off wiring it into the generator until tomorrow when I'm a bit fresher !

tom osselton:
Great work as always!
I see the non functioning like button has disappeared.

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