The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Getting pulley off generator

This is probably a silly question but ...how do you get the pulley off the front end of a generator (1954 6 volt). I took off the bolt already, but it didn't budge. Thanks.

Two or three jaw puller? Just make sure the force is on the center of the shaft, to protect the bearings.

A Lisle 38850 puller grabs almost all the way around the pulley. A 2 or 3 jaw gear puller can easily distort the pulley.

I might not remember this correctly, but if you plan on dissembling the generator, can't you pull off the back, slide the center off and pop the fan and front cover off as a pair after the nut is removed. I recall opening vise jaws wide enough to accommodate the armature but not the front cover and fan. Stick a piece of wood on the threaded stub and give it a slight whap! Make sure you hold the armature so it doesn't fall.

Does this sound right??

Stuart

Say there Ken, I was looking at that puller kit and it's not really clear just where or how it grabs the pulley.

The method that I use is to heat up the pulley hub a little, not a lot, just enough to expand it slightly. Then I install the nut just flush with the end of the shaft and holding the armature in one hand give the nut a couple of sharp wraps with a soft hammer.
Here are a few pix of my restoration:
http://rides.webshots.com/album/555161678EhIoCb?start=252
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Thanks for the info and the great pictures.
Joe

After looking at Mr. Grahams pictorial, I think my recollections are incorrect. The little woodruff key would preclude tapping the pulley off using the method I described. The pulley and key would have to be removed first as the shaft won't go through the bearing ID with the key trapped by the pulley...so much for recollections.

Stuart

One of the best things you can do is to set the pulley up so that its facing straight up in the air. Spray it down with penetrating oil and let it sit for awhile. There is a half moon key in there and it will stick on that as well as on the shaft itself. DO NOT use a puller on the pulley. The pulley is a stamped still pulley that will bend very easily. If its stuck good you wont get it off with a typical 3 jawed puller. After you let it soak you may be able to come in from the back side with something very blunt and tap it off that way. You can do like Denny suggested with heating it but be very careful, again, its thin stamped metal that will bend, distort etc. If all this fails find your local starter and alternator shop. A good shop will have the special press and tooling for taking pulleys off. If you cant find one, ship it to me and I can have it off in less than 10 seconds and it will only cost you the shipping. If you do get it off but end up distorting it beyond repair, let me know. I have them NOS.
Ken

The machinists on here can take a piece of 1/2" aluminum plate and fabricate a puller adapter with a little lathe time. I've fabricated several things like that for special assembly/disassembly jobs.
Jerry

How about a bearing seperator? it looks like a two sided guillotine, with two long bolts and nuts. You place each half under the bearing (pulley?) and tighten the bolt/nut combo until it slips under the part to be removed, and then use a slotted two bolt puller to pull it. It concentrates the force as close to the shaft as possible. I'd guess that a large enough one to pull a gen pulley would'nt be rediculuosly expensive, and would work really well!

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/taf/DisplayItem.taf?ItemNumber=3979 Her's a cheapo HF one that shuold be the right size.

I also have good luck with the method that Denny uses. A little heat and a tap with the hammer, they pop right off. It's a straight shaft so they usually are not very tight.

The Lisle tool works much like a bearing separator, in fact I have used a bearing separator when I couldn't find my tool. I have used heat too. Just anything to keep from distorting the pulley. Some of the pulleys are really flimsy and and if you bend them, you never seem to get them straight again.