The Craftmans Shop > New from Old
Re-building a Lucas ACR18 Alternator
Spurry:
Notwithstanding the beer discussion, a very useful and informative description of the alternator rebuild. :thumbup:
awemawson:
So this morning I soldered in the rectifier, installed the new brushes and set all the links connecting them to the regulator and brushes. Checked, double checked and was sure that there were no errors.
Then I set up a simple bench test - small 12 volt battery from an old UPS, 3 watt bulb from +12 v via a switch to 'Ind' terminal, with the obvious main + and - leads from the alternator output to the battery. Clamp ammeter round the alternator output lead, Fluke DVM across the battery - 'ready to test'
With my Milwaukee impact driver with a 22 mm socket I set it spinning. Did we charge NO :bang: The battery volts were going down not up - argh what have I done wrong :scratch:
Some time looking at photographs that I taken, and from on line resources particularly this one:
https://www.lrsoc.com/forum/forum_files/Lucas%20Manual%20A1-5.pdf
But I could find nothing wrong with what I'd done - I was about to re-install the old regulator when I thought hang on it's not the battery is it. Oh yes - another ex UPS battery - (even smaller this time !) hooked up and guess what - we start charging and the volts top off at 14.6 as they should.
Funny how you always doubt what you've done then it turns out to be something else :clap:
So when I can find a big enough battery in a reasonable state that I can drag onto the bench I'll give it a full test - the alternator is rated at 45 amps but it only took 500 milliamps to raise the 7AH UPS battery to 14.6 so a very modest load.
Then no doubt it will be sealed in a poly bag and sit on a shelf until my descendants put it in a skip :lol:
**** Later Note ****
I managed to scrounge a battery recently removed from a friends Motorhome that he keeps here - quite a sizeable battery. Lashing it up, initially it measured 12.6 under no load so by no means discharged. Setting the alternator spinning it started charging at about 15 amps rapidly dropping to about 4.5 with the volts at about 14.25 and slowly rising so I'm confident that the alternator is fixed and working and controlling it's charging rate. :thumbup:
tom osselton:
--- Quote from: RotarySMP on October 17, 2022, 12:01:26 PM ---Why do the British like warm beer?
Because Lucas also made refrigerators :lol:
--- End quote ---
Come on!
Nobody likes a Chilly Willie!
tom osselton:
Nice to see you fixed it. :beer: (not warm) :hammer:
It looks like the rectifier off a Brit motorcycle but they had a zener diode.
WeldingRod:
Whew! For a minute there I thought you had a Selenium stack rectifier from the dark ages! Geeze those things stink when they die...
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