VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1912-1928 Max Amp

I was just woundering on my 1928 what would be the max generator amp that the electrical system could handle, I am using the original coil, electric heater, radio, and extra lights ,I find that my system is labouring to handle the load.
Any ideas on how to make this work better for me without burning out the system.


Keeping vintage Chevy alive.

The system is not the limiting factor on generator output. The generator should be limited to 12 amps as any greater output risks over heating and melting the solder in the armature. I set my '28 generator to between 6 and 8 amps and don't have a problem even with limited nighttime driving.

With that many appliances to operate, I would recommend A 5k KAUBTO, or Honda makes a real nice 4K generator. When mounting one of these generators it should be as near the center of the vehicle as possible.





This is in jest you know.

Thank's Chipper and Ray, further inspection of my electrical system I found that my ground cable to the frame was not making a good enough connection, I cleaned up connection area and bolted down tight now seem's to have fixed my problem, everything running much better now.

Keeping vintage Chevy alive.

Interesting Jay28, I found the exact same ground strap issue on my 26. However, I still have an issue where the ammeter pegs negative while running at speed. I have looked at everything, including replacing the generator. My next action is to replace the wiring harness. It is dry and cracking. The only thing that appears to pull the ammeter back to positive is to turn on the lights, and then it only comes back two half the operating current. It sounds like a loose connect (resistive) rather than short. But I don't know.

It sounds like your two wires on the back are back to front if it charges when you put the lights on.
One of the most important things about 6 volt systems is having a good earth.
Chris

The ammeter runs in the positive for the first 15 minutes, then jumps to negative, as though there is a hugh draw. I have gone through the connects, but I haven't found a loose point. I will look at connections to assure the right point-to-point.

How far to the charge side of the ammeter does the pointer go?
Might pay to check the cut-out on the generator.With your lights on and the engine running,open the bonnet(hood),remove the cut-out cover,and rev the engine up and observe the moving arm of the cut-out.
If the contact arm opens at high speed,and you have the generator 3rd brush set to give you a safe maximum output,which is about 12 amps hot,then the problem lies either within the generator or the cutout.The cutout points should close at between 7.0-7.5 volts when checked with a multimeter.

I will check the cut-out switch first thing in the morning, thanks!

Dave

The rest of the story: it turned out to be the ammeter. I got the failure mode to exist, and while I was playing with the generator, cut-off switch and wiring, and as I touched the back of the meter, it jumped negative to positive! I had looked at this before, but never saw the meter jump. I will fix or replace.

Thanks all form the advice!

Let me know what you find out with your ammeter you got me woundering.
I took out my light switch lastnight and blasted the inside with a good electrical spray cleaner, and was amazed how much crud came out of it, I let it dry out and then reinstalled it and was amazed how well all my light's worked after the clean up and it seemed to help out with my other electrical problems.
I'm going to spray out my ammeter next and see if it helps any, will let u know how it work's out.

Keeping vintage Chevy alive.