Brake floaters and alternator question

[TMarsh]

3500 miles on brake job with woven shoes and cast drums. No brake problems, but I have heard a lot about brake floaters. Are they recommended if your brakes seem to be OK?
Second question, should I fuse my alternator at 1 and 1/2 output rating, as I have heard, the electrical system is fused at the starter?

[Oldgearz]

If you are satisfied with your brakes and they work well......why not stay as you are. I have Ted's setups all the way around and have had a heck of a time getting the brakes setup so I am satisfied. I also have new shoes and drums. I have trouble with the front brakes not being equal even though I have followed proper setup (15 degree lever angle, etc.) My brakes were all worn out before I got the new stuff so I really can't compare floaters or no floaters.

[rotorwrench]

The floater system by Ted is designed to reduce the friction involved with actuating the brakes. It gives more pressure on the shoes with less pressure on the pedal compared to the OEM design.

[katy]

Originally Posted by TMarsh

Second question, should I fuse my alternator at 1 and 1/2 output rating, as I have heard,

I don't see a need for that. It's never going to put out enough to blow that fuse.

[nkaminar]

I have the Flat Head Ted floater system on my car. The brakes were in good shape when I installed them. The pedal pressure is about half what it was and the car stops better. It took a while to get the brakes adjusted by making minor adjustments (20 to 45 degrees on the adjusters) and then doing a brake test. My focus was the stomp on the brakes and I adjusted them so that they did not pull to one side or the other. I was not concerned about uniform temperature after a drive. To me, the important thing is to stop in the shortest distance without swerving into another lane.

Regarding fusing: Generally the circuit breaker or fuse is rated at 1.5 times the load. It can be increased to the next highest standard size. People use 20 to 30 amps for the fuse that is mounted next to the starter switch which is enough to run the usual Model A. The alternator can put out more than this but the load is what is protected.

[rotorwrench]

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A fuse it to protect the conductor wire. If it overloads or shorts, the whole wire will burn with no fuse. The rating of fuse needed is firmly associated with the gauge size of the wire. You can use a smaller amp size fuse than rated but it is not advised to use a larger amp size fuse than what the wire is rated for. I've seen a wire burn before when it shorted to ground and all 6 feet of it burned in about one second. If a fuse it to large a rating, the wire will burn before the fuse does.

Electrical systems are designed to have the correct gauge of wire or cable size for the electrical load it will need to carry.

[Bob Bidonde]

Ditto nkaminar re Flat Head Ted's Brake Floater Kit. The big advantage of floating the brake shoes is that the shoes engage concentric with the drums, so contact area is significantly improved over stock brakes.

[Badpuppy]

The fuse is intended to protect the battery from discharging into the generator due to a stuck cutout contact, a common occurance. The proper size fuse for the 12 gauge wire is 20 amps, but high power headlamps could cause that to blow when the generator is cut out, so most folks use a 30 amp fuse.

[nkaminar]

Rotorwrench is right in that the wires have to be protected. In some modern cars there is a fusible wire that burns up when there is a short. I never liked them because of the difficulty in changing the "fuse."

[jack backer]

Floaters allow model A centered direct actuation brakes to work more ( but not totally) like the Bendix design self energizing brake common on drum brakes for decades, on application the floating shoe is energized ( basically grabbed) by the spinning drum and forced to apply, which assists brake application pressure.

Rumor alone has it that Mr Ford didn’t care for Bendix products dating back to the starter drive on the model A, where Ford resisted Bendix with the Abel starter drive, which functioned so poorly Ford had to switch to Bendix.. it was part of the reason ford stayed with mechanical brakes for so long, and designed their own hydraulic brake foundation, ultimately giving in to another superior Bendix design, the self energizing brake

[jack backer]

To answer the other question there is no need to fuse the alternator output circuit.

[nkaminar]

The floaters work forward or reverse. The Model T had an after market brake system called Rocky Mountain Brakes. They were also self energized, but only worked going forward. The man who developed the disk brakes for the Model T had a friend die in a Model T when the Rocky Mountain Brakes did not work in reverse. That is why he developed the disk brakes.

The old Rolls Royce from the same vintage as the Model A had a servo system for their mechanical brakes. A disk was rotated by the transmission. As the brakes were applied a pad rubbing on the disk applied force to the linkage, essentially power brakes. The big advantage was that when the rear wheels started to slide the force would be reduced, leading to reduced braking and the sliding would stop. Sort of like modern anti-skid brakes but without all the electronics. My did had to do an emergency stop in his 37 RR to avoid hitting a school bus that had pulled out in front of him. The brakes worked flawlessly and kept him from crashing into the bus.

The electric brakes on trailers have a pad that is forced against the drum when the brakes are applied, This pad is what actually applies the force to the brake shoes.