Noisy generator bearing?

[Bruce Lancaster]

The 2 brus gens do not have oilers...bearings just get packed like wheel bearings and last forever (within my available observation period) unless heavily loaded by over tight belts. Some 12 V armatures/rear covers have bearings, normal '39-48 stuff has a rear bushing and oiler.

[Hotrodvideo]

If it's noisy, does that mean it's shot already or does it just need more grease??

It is a 2 brush generator for sure.

[B-O-B]

replace it with a new one

[Terry,OH]

the 39 Gen running a fan on the pulley. I would disassemble the generator and inspect how the front end was put together. There are a number of special washers that have to be assembled correctly. They are for felt seals that seal dirt out of the original open bearing. I use a Koyo 6203-RS it has two rubber seals, I then remove the felt seals but use all of the steel washers in their proper positions for proper spacing. I have also found several generator pulleys with loose retaining nuts or bad keys.

[Fe26]

I had a squeaky front bearing in my generator, it was a modern sealed unit, I replaced it twice before I found a quieter one, then the one I replaced it with lasted about three months before it failed.

In absolute frustration I took it to an auto electrician who charged me $70.00 for a new bearing... Ouch.

[rotorwrench]

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I'm not used to the early model gens with the retainers & felts & stuff but the 8BA types have a sealed bearling that you can used a pick tool to remove and reservice them. You can also inspect to see what shape the balls & races are in. It's too bad that the 12-volt conversion didn't have some form of front bearing conversion to simplify the bearing mounting & retention. 8BA types are easy to convert to 12-volt but perhaps too large to be a good candidate for installation conversion to the early V8s with gen mounted fans or otherwise.

Kerby

PS: I wonder how well those smaller case gens deal with heat build up during night time loads with the lights on and such. I imagine they are limited to low amp output too. Most of the gens are though. They have to increase in size to be able to deal with even 40 to 50 amp outputs plus the use of heavy duty regulators.

[Hotrodvideo]

I'm probably going to take it back to the place that rebuilt it and have him change the bearing, it's still under warranty. The good news is that it's charging okay. It's just noisy.

That's a good question about how it would charge with the lights on, I should try driving it with the headlights on and see how well it's charging then.

[FlatheadTed]

The genny that has holes in the pulley for the fan is a well made design ,two back to back tapered rollers ,the later ones had only a ball bearing .If its carrying a fan then it needs the two bearings ,