condenser update

[Monte NZ]

Thanks crosbyman and Tubs once again for your much appreciated input……..Mr Mohat’s  article and the You Tube on expansion and contraction are very interesting.

I am pleased to report that I have spark…….one side has a bigger spark than the other. I swapt the spark plus around and installed new HT leads, but it didn’t make any difference…….what that indicates I’m not sure. Maybe I will wait until and see how the motor runs.

Regarding the dismantling of the gearbox and pump, I got that apart ok. I found that by lowering the drive shaft with the gear, that there was a steel ring round the top of the gear and by sliding the ring up it exposed a steel drive pin, which slid out easily…….simple but very effective.    I managed to get the pump apart. All appeared ok and worked well later when tested in our it laundry tub. One point I would like to make though, is to be very careful undoing the top valve which has a the thin hexagonal section with the adjustment screw in the middle.

It is  easy to have  the spanner slip and damage the hexagonal end of the valve so I mounted the pump body (which goes into the gearbox) in my lathe, making sure it was tight in the chuck and using an  on old car inlet/exhaust valve, fitted into the tailstock  chuck, I then brought the face of the valve up to the hexagonal section, so that it was just touching and  locked the tailstock from moving. I then fitted the spanner and gave it a gentle smack with a hammer, which broke it loose…….”Hey Presto” …… no damage !……….Hope this helps someone dealing with similar problem.

Thanks again

Monte NZ

[joecb]

Hello Monte,  I ve lost track of your motor project, so not sure which motor you are working on but based on the “two spark” comment, I assume that it’s an opposed twin. If that is the case, be aware of the high voltage path from one spark plug to the other, the electron path is different for each plug. For one plug the electrons “jump” from the SP center electrode to the ground terminal… on the other SP the electrons go from the ground to the center electrode. My guess is that in the latter case the spark may not appear as bright as in the former.  You can test this theory by flipping the connections to the “dull” SP, wire to the SP body and ground the terminal. See how the sparks appear then.

Joe B

PS, good move on the creative use of your lathe as a holding fixture… necessity IS the mother of invention

[Monte NZ]

Hi joecb. Thanks for your reply. I’m working on my 1924 BNL 2hp Johnson that I got recently, which as you know is an opposed twin. Thanks very much for the info……that’s something I didn’t know!…..It will be interesting to try it out.

Thanks too for your comments on my lathe idea…….would you believe I used a Model T Ford valve out of my Grandfathers old truck!……worked well.

Thanks again

Monte NZ

 

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