The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Generator and Regulator Condensors

Should there be capacitors/condensors on the regulator and the generator-If so how many and which one(s). I have looked around and have found no part listing for such an animal. I have also not found reference to them in any service manuals.

I should know this info but I haven't run a generator in ten years. I have ben pulling them off.

This is a 52 car with a 216. The wiring mess that I have uncovered and repaired in the car leads me to believe that the condensors may not be standard. The cap on the gen lost its connector and I do not know which terminal it was attached to.

Again, should there be any and if so where?
What part numbers do I look for?

Thanks,
Lucas

I may be wrong, but I think they were only used when a radio was installed. Not sure why.

No.

A most decided no.

The generator is just that: A Generator. No caps, no resistors, no Chips, no nothing.

A regulator looks a bit like this . It's there to take the AC off of the Generator and turn it into something the truck can use, namely, DC.

The only cap that you should have anywhere in your cars' electrical system (save the radio) is the condenser in your distributor.

What you're probably thinking of is a ballast resistor to the coil, and if you have a 12v system in there without a resistored coil, then yes. I'm pretty sure that you need one.

I know that in my truck (which is 6v), there's not one, and it wasn't stock. I'm not seeing on the wiring diagram for you 1952 car, either.

They were put on for radio interference only. If you get a buzzing noise in your radio you may want to find some. One goes on the A term of the gen. & one on the bat. term. of the regulator. They also put one on the coil bracket & hooked it to the pos. side of the coil. This does not apply to the cond. inside the dist. It must be there.

lucforce,

A copy and paste from "red58".

there is an anti-static condenser on the coil for the radio, as well as one on the regulator, one on the generator, one in the hi-tension coil wire, and antistatic doobies in the front hubs - originally!!

original #'s:
ignition coil capacitor (No. 1929070) [+ term]
generator capacitor (No. 1911095)[arm term]
voltage regulator capacitor (No. 1917580) [batt term]
so it looks like, NO, any ol one won't do

prolly all unecessary if yer radio is A-1 or if you use a modern radio - they mostly got scrapped soon when any work was done on the part they're attached to

-thanks Bill-

Brendan.. :confused: :confused: :confused:


Stuart

Sorry, but I must dispute this. A generator produces DC current. A regulator regulates the amount of current.

An alternator produces AC current. It uses a rectifier to convert it to DC.

Well, I was right about them not needing to be there...

Well, Apparently I don't know what I'm talking about. That does answer some questions, though. If you'll excuse me, I have a high school physics teacher to file a complaint with.

But, in the meantime, if someone could be so kind to straighten me out, that'd be great.

Why does the generator that runs my truck put out DC, while the generator (note the similar spellings, and cause of my confusion) that runs my house puts out AC?

Is it because of the way it's built (e.g. more like a motor)?


Thanks!

A DC generator has a commutator and produces DC voltage...A AC generator has slip rings and produces AC voltage.

Your automotive alternator has slip rings and produces AC voltage that is rectified into DC.

The voltage regulator, either on the firewall, or "SI",inside the alternator proper, regulates voltage and current for the system, based on its needs, and how the regulator was adjusted.

For the layman, the house is AC and the car parked in front is DC...you should have taken auto shop AND physics!

AC/DC-Stu

Thanks, Stuart. Now I'll have terms to watch for when I do some research on this.

What auto shop? My school didn't have one.

Though, you would have thought that when we were covering electricity in Physics, they'd have mentioned that, "Oh, and by the way, automotive generators are DC."

But, by that time, there weren't a lot of automotive generators around, and they didn't think that they had to. We did cover the fact that alternators were AC with a DC rectifier, though. Another reason for my confusion. I assumed (I should know better) that they were of the same ilk. Now I know why my dad (who is a mechanical engineer) says, "If it's got that magic electrical [stuff] on it, it's not my problem".

And since I've made an @$$ out of myself... and possibly someone else...

I'm going to go and stand behind my mother and my aunt and look menacing while they yell at my uncle. In other words, something I'm good at.

and for Lucas' original question, nice to see that old response still shows up! there were always condensors added to all the places listed if the optional radio was ordered, or if it was later installed by a dealer - depending on the condition of yer radio [if ya have one], and all the electrics on the engine, they're not necessary, but ..... they were put on for a reason

Bill

I've always thought of electricity as FM (f%#@$% magic). Thanks a lot Brendan for pointing out that I'm not the only one who feels that way! I look at it like I do plumbing. And stay away from that AC stuff, it'll hurt ya.
Ed

If the condensors do not help with static on early radios, you could also add the anti-static "spring" and powder in the front wheel bearing cap (of course, you should have already added the extra ground strap between the head and the firewall).

Ahh...yes! I remember asking the same question as to the why and getting the radio noise answer years ago. I have almost completed rewiring the car. If the radio still works, (I removed it for the rewire) I will see if the cap on the gen needs to be replaced (it is not connected due to the conductor falling out).

On second thought, I will replace the capacitor so people can ask why its there! I will look in the a.m. to see if that part number is still good.

I knew that someone here would have a part number. Thank you all for your help and consideration.

Lucas

This question would have brought a better answer over on the Radio Forum.
These condensers have nothing to do with static or radio interference. These terms generally refer to something being picked up by the antenna.

If you have ever looked at a motor or generator or alternator in a dimly lit garage or at night, you will have noticed sparks flying off the brushes. This is electrical NOISE. If your generator is closed up, look through the vent holes on your hand drill.
An oscilloscope is a voltmeter that shows voltage over a short period of time. 12 volts from a battery is just a straight line. 12 volts from a generator looks like hacksaw blade teeth, only not as regular. If you rev the engine up, the teeth will pull back closer together. "If you get a buzzing noise in your radio" as wrenchbender said, that speeds up with the engine, you will most likely need a condenser on the generator and/or the coil to filter out the noise.

That AC-Ducey stuff has very little to do with radio noise, but you guys forgot half of the story. On the radio forum, someone just ask about vibrators the other day. With an old truck with an old tube radio and a modern alternator it works like this. The alternator produces AC, the rectifier converts it to DC, the vibrator converts it back to AC, a transformer kicks that AC up to at least 90V and a rectifier converts it back to DC.
So what you really have is AC-DC-AC-DC and then you get your Merle Haggard

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Brendan M:
Why does the generator that runs my truck put out DC, while the generator (note the similar spellings, and cause of my confusion) that runs my house puts out AC?
Is it because of the way it's built (e.g. more like a motor)?


This is a somewhat easy answer....(pay attention now)
The reason the "generator" that powers your house is called that, is because the originaly they were just that, "generators"... They produced DC currant to recharge the house batteries on the farm. Of course this is before the REA and AC electricity arrived in rual america.
Back then farms produced DC electricity in many ways... ie. DC generators mounted on windmills.... small acale hydro-electric... and gas generators..... for the most part these all produced anywhere from 12 to 48 volts (depending on the system installed)... and the batteries were normally 6 volts wired in a series-parralel circut.... so that depending on how they were tapped? The farmer could have electricity at whatever voltage his equipment needed. such as 6volt lighting...12-24 volt motors, 48volts for the B+ on a radio... and so on..
It wasn't untill the advent of WW2 that generators started also producing AC as well as DC...... There were many configurations during the war.... including one..the PE-103 that produced 1.2KW AC&DC...that's 10A@120V AC as well as 100A@12V DC...... it was also push-button start... with a 12V batt supplying the voltage/currant to spin the generator as a starter....to fire the single cylinder engine.

These also had the advantage over the modern gen's as the wisconson and B&S engines were low-stressed...(produced lots of power at low RPM) and could run for days on end without ever skipping a beat.....
Comared to modern generators that run on engines from Honda etc...that are high-stressed..... (engine/gen only produces power at MAX RPM) and are NOT intended for anything but teporary use (4-5 hrs at most)certainly not continous duty, as well as having ZERO DC capability.......
but that's why they only cost a couple hundred bucks at Home depot....While the bigger Onans...start at a couple grand..and go up from there...they ARE designed for cont. duty.
just my 10 cents worth....

michael

iuc--- The 1953- 1955 corvett used capacitors through out thier system when radios were installed, could be that you have a voltage regulator for an early vet. If so and the dang thing works, take it off and up it up somewhere. That little sucker is high dollar. A vett. owner will give you upwards of $100.00 for just the capacitors. If you find the one for the coil (oh buddy)

Maybe the Corvette had these items in abundance because its fiberglass body offered little resistance to electrical noise compared to a steel bodied rig. Would this make sense!


Stuart

Yep, the antenna was part of the deck lid. A metal plate just under the surface of the fiberglass.