LeJay Electrol, trolling motor

[Buccaneer]

Today I pulled both ball bearings off the armature so I could clean
the old dirty grease out, and then repack the bearings.
I shined up the commutator, spinning the armature on the lathe,
and used sand paper.
I “tried” soldering on a heavy gauge wire to a field coil connection that
looked like it had a wire hooked to in the past.

I put the motor back together, omitting the rheostat, seeing if I could
get any action out of the motor using a 12v battery.
While my solder job adding the hot wire to the field coil looked “fair”,
the connection failed right away and the motor never got excited!

Back to the drawing board.

Prepare to be boarded!

[29Chev]

Found this information while hunting on the net today – you may already have it but thought I would try and help.  There is a brochure for sale for a Lejay Electrol trolling motor if you are looking for the real thing – https://www.ebay.com/itm/265704265253

 

 

 

[Buccaneer]

29Chevy, Thanks! It’s a different model than I have, but I’ll check it out.
I did make a little progress today. After my soldering job failed yesterday,
I retried attaching the hot lead to the field coils.
Again, I tinned the lead wire, but this time, bound it to the field coil wire terminal,
using four strands of copper wire, then soldering over it all.
Time will tell.

I finally came to the conclusion that the Rheostat didn’t have to going
in the “hot” side of the circuit, so I wired it into the ground. I’m pretty
sure that’s correct for this unit……… at least it appeared
to work on the bench.
Sadly, the 12v battery sat in the tractor all winter, was down to 9 volts,
and out of “oomph”!
Will try to charge the battery tomorrow and play around some more.
I had to order some grommets for the wires going through the motor
case, so the wires aren’t permanently routed yet.

BENCH TEST VIDEO

https://youtu.be/ck1cW6XCTNw

Prepare to be boarded!

[Buccaneer]

Using that phamplet’s address, this is the location Google Earth
came up with. Sadly, looks like LeJay is “Out of Business”, or
built a newer building!

Prepare to be boarded!

[Buccaneer]

I tried the LeJay again today, with a fully charged battery.
Spins over great now, but the rheostat doesn’t seem to
regulate the rpms very good, but hey, it’s probably 80
years old.

I tapped a wood dowel into the motor where the driveshaft would
hook up, just to see some action.

A “one” inch piece of electrical conduit fits in the motor base perfect
as a “holder” to paint the motor.

Once I get the new grommets, I’ll have to pull the bottom of the motor
back off and route the wires properly.

Got the rest of the parts cleaned and painted up today.
I tapped a wood dowel in the bottom of the motor where the driveshaft
hooks up, just to see some “action”.

Maybe it will debut on the boat this summer, then go back on the rack
for a few years!

ACTION PACKED VIDEO
https://youtu.be/xbLbhaPvS4g

Prepare to be boarded!

[joecb]

I had never messed with one of those. Looks like a well made machine. Wonder what they cost new?

And thanks “Bucc” for the always good write-up and pix.

Joe B

[Buccaneer]

Joe, funny you should ask about the price. I stumbled upon
that a couple of days ago –
$42.55 retail, in 1944, for the same model mine is.

Prepare to be boarded!

[joecb]

$42.55 was pretty pricy for 1944, that’s about what a small 2 cycle outboard would cost.

Joe B

[Buccaneer]

Pricey, and more hassle to take those one or two batteries
in and out of the boat, than that little gas outboard.

joecb wrote:

$42.55 was pretty pricy for 1944, that’s about what a small 2 cycle outboard would cost.

Joe B

Prepare to be boarded!

[Author]

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