The Ford Barn

steamgas · 02-04-2023, 03:15 PM

i need a re builder to answer some technical questions about the powerhouse generator. i can not get the part to motor in the right direction,it will only very slightly jog in the opposite direction. i have tried everything like switching the ground and field lead, switching the field around the poles and nothing works. i can touch the ends of the commentator bars with a jumper and the rotor will turn good and free in either direction but it will not turn on it's own. i am using a positive ground. can someone help me with questions like theses?

Mike Peters · 02-04-2023, 07:07 PM

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showt...ouse+generator

Tom Wesenberg knew everything there was to know about powerhouse generators, but tragically passed away from Covid.

rotorwrench · 02-05-2023, 01:33 PM

A generator will motor but I never motor them to test them. If the armature growls out well and there are no shorts to ground in the coils or commutator then it's going to function. The fields are the same way. No shorts or opens and a decent Ohm reading through them and they will work. The movable brush controls the field and the other end is grounded. The field pole shoes have to be magnetized with the correct polarity for the way the battery is connected in the car. Flash the field at the field brush connection momentarily to get some residual magnetism in the pole shoes. The generator has to have that magnetism in order to generate the necessary current/voltage to close the cut out switch and bring the generator on line.

With the multi brush power house generators, it's not so cut and dried about which brushes to apply power to in order to get it to motor like a three brush will. On a three brush, apply power to the power output brush to get it to motor. A five brush generator is different.

Its this a three brush or a five brush powerhouse?

steamgas · 02-05-2023, 02:45 PM

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

dear sir
thank you very much for your reply. i have checked all of your suggestions and as best as i can see all is OK the part i am really getting to is, i wound my own field coils and have tried several combinations with the coils. first question is this a 3 pole generator winding or a 2 pole winding, with my first setup i had a (s,n,s,n,s,n,)setup. on my second setup i had a s,s,s,n,n,n,,setup. do you understand what i am doing and the information i am looking for?
tex holliday

02-04-2023, 03:15 PM	#1
steamgas Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: va Posts: 138	Rebuilding a powerhouse generator i need a re builder to answer some technical questions about the powerhouse generator. i can not get the part to motor in the right direction,it will only very slightly jog in the opposite direction. i have tried everything like switching the ground and field lead, switching the field around the poles and nothing works. i can touch the ends of the commentator bars with a jumper and the rotor will turn good and free in either direction but it will not turn on it's own. i am using a positive ground. can someone help me with questions like theses?

02-04-2023, 07:07 PM	#2
Mike Peters Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: South East Wisconsin Posts: 1,279	Re: Rebuilding a powerhouse generator https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showt...ouse+generator Tom Wesenberg knew everything there was to know about powerhouse generators, but tragically passed away from Covid.

02-05-2023, 01:33 PM	#3
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 16,440	Re: Rebuilding a powerhouse generator A generator will motor but I never motor them to test them. If the armature growls out well and there are no shorts to ground in the coils or commutator then it's going to function. The fields are the same way. No shorts or opens and a decent Ohm reading through them and they will work. The movable brush controls the field and the other end is grounded. The field pole shoes have to be magnetized with the correct polarity for the way the battery is connected in the car. Flash the field at the field brush connection momentarily to get some residual magnetism in the pole shoes. The generator has to have that magnetism in order to generate the necessary current/voltage to close the cut out switch and bring the generator on line. With the multi brush power house generators, it's not so cut and dried about which brushes to apply power to in order to get it to motor like a three brush will. On a three brush, apply power to the power output brush to get it to motor. A five brush generator is different. Its this a three brush or a five brush powerhouse? Last edited by rotorwrench; 02-05-2023 at 01:39 PM.

02-05-2023, 02:45 PM	#4
steamgas Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: va Posts: 138	Re: Rebuilding a powerhouse generator Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) dear sir thank you very much for your reply. i have checked all of your suggestions and as best as i can see all is OK the part i am really getting to is, i wound my own field coils and have tried several combinations with the coils. first question is this a 3 pole generator winding or a 2 pole winding, with my first setup i had a (s,n,s,n,s,n,)setup. on my second setup i had a s,s,s,n,n,n,,setup. do you understand what i am doing and the information i am looking for? tex holliday