The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Don't junk those 6v elec motors just yet

With colder weather approaching and my 49 3100 improving with any and all repairs & mods I do to it, it is time to get the heating system working.
The truck has a recirculating air type heater, not the fresh air type, and when I would apply voltage to it it would just arc & spark, no fan movement at all.
In takeing it out and apart the coil drained quite a bit of anti freeze out so this motivated me to dig deeper with the thought that the core may be good so lets see whats going on inside.

The motor was bound up tight and would barely move even with the help of a pr of channell locks. But thankfully these old motors were built to be disassembled.
Upon disassembly the insides looked good, the brushes looked to have plenty of life left, so I polished up the shafts where they go into the brass bushings at each end and dabbed a little bit of grease in them. I also used some emery cloth and shined up the commutator & brushs. Put it back together and the the moter spun easily by hand. I then applied 6v to it and she spun nice and smoothly with little noise
So I cleaned the rest of the heater up, blew decades of dirt,dust and whatever else out of the core, put it back together, reinstalled it and will be picking up approx 6' of 5/8" heater hose for a heat test tonight. Hopefully the core is still good.
Bottom line, these old trucks and their parts were built back in the day when everything was still serviceable so before you throw something out, take it apart and clean it up some, it may be very worth your while.
Dave

Dave,

Good words of wisdom.

Just for fun, I took an old starter that had been laying unprotected in the bed of a truck for decades to see if I could bring it back to life. The part was rusted badly and nothing would rotate. I first dunked the starter in my electrolysis bucket for a day or two and things loosened up enough to enable spinning the shaft and disassembly of the case. A little sanding and greasing, and the darn thing worked! Granted the wire insulation and other parts were unsafe for true service, but what looked like scrap metal "may" be brought back to life. How cool is that!

Paul

Yes those motors cam be disassembled and brought back to life as
long as the coils aren't burned out. I've gotten the brushes
from my local electric motor rebuilder, he may have to order
them for you. Click next for a few more pix of the rebuild:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/114154836

It would be a good idea to check that core before reassembly. I
made up an adaptor to leak check the core and Ranco valve but
you don't have to get that fancy, a tire pump would work also.
Just don't put more than 7lb. pressure on the core or you will
bend the tubes, they taint made to take any more pressure than
that. http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/113977784

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I used two tire valves, a hand pump and a tire gauge to check mine. I also dunked it in a tub of water.

As you can see Fred, I just had to get fancy and make up a
fixture for the radiator tester kit I had on the shelf. I liked
it cus I could monitor and control the pressure very close. As
I said, I was warned by an old radiator repair guy that had
been in the business since the 60's, we were old school buddies
as a matter of fact. He's the one that told me not to go over
7 lb. or I'd screw up the tubes.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Great input, I'm sure theres more than just me that appreciates and soaks up all this BTDT knowledge.

Update. I have heat & partial defrost!
Atleast I had heat tonight
I only ran the engine for approx 20 minutes but in that time the heat ran me out of the cab. The rheostat/switch is bad so I had to run it hot-wired full blast. The core didn't leak in this test so it's not conclusive that it'll hold up under prolonged use, so I'll be monitorin it closely. I have the manual water valve and it didn't leak when openned up for heat during the test either, so, so far so good

Parts needed to get it back into service is a new switch & defrost duct hose.

In studying the cutouts in the firewall and Denny's pics, I can now see how the fresh air heater mounts. This basic recirc type heater I have has probably been on the truck since new so I'll run it until it breaks.
It doesn't have a separate control for defrost, you get both heat and defrost once you turn the coolant valve on and the fan switch on. basic but it'll do for now.
I can see a fresh air heater w/an electric coolant valve one day perhaps
Dave

My recirculating heater has a knob that allows me to switch from floor heat to defrost. There is a little flapper inside that directs the flow.

Correct heater switch if you are looking for it is a version of this (several colors and labels, Air, Def, Heat). Not Ark-less or other rotary types they are not original to these trucks. They are usually marked Delco-Remy or Cole-Hersee. These switches come with both the Air-Flow and the Recirculating as I have owned both as NOS kits. I have owned or parted 30 of these trucks and on the near originals this is always the switch type found. There is a sound reason for this if a truck was accessorized with Fog lights the two switches go side by side and they are close together under the left side of the dash see fog switch picture, there is not room with a rotary.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/advance-design_parts_co/8129327386/in/set-72157631868452754
http://www.flickr.com/photos/advance-design_parts_co/8129466604/in/set-72157631868452754
Here is a NOS view of the defroster referred to above, your recirculating heater should be the same.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/advance-design_parts_co/8129330842/in/set-72157631868452754

After looking at the pic of the recirc heater, my heater must be an off brand type installed by the dealer. Its about as basic as it gets.
Heres some pics of the heater and switch that was in it.
Heater w/defrost output showing
Heater front view
Switch

Volfandt - Arvin was an aftermarket brand in the day, most likely installed by an owner .... Arvin also made domestic portable heaters, and I believe they still do

Bill

Correct switch for that type of heater, Arvin heaters came I several styles and trims.

Got the new fan switch and ductwork in and got them installed. I wired in a 20 amp fuse for the new switch/fan circuit and gave it a test. I like that the switch illuminates when on and that the intensity varies with the fan speed.
The defrosters work but even at high fan speed theres not a whole lot of air movement through them. I could possible block off some of the bottom heater outlet slots to get alittle more air flow out of the defrosters but I'll wait and see how it all works as is 1st.

I've been studying up on the delux air flow heaters and I really like their ability of opening/closeing coolant flow to the heater core by a control inside the cab. I may be looking into adapting that valve into my present setup.
Presently I have to pop the hood and manually open/close the coolant valve thats mounted on the water pump.
Dave

Dave, you can get an inline, cable controlled shutoff valve from
your FLAPS. They were very common back in the day and are still
available today. You can regulate the water flow with them also.
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/pa.../N-91sh0?itemIdentifier=142802_148102_0_



Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I would replace that 20 amp fuse with maybe a 14 amp. The fuse is there to protect the wiring and I think 20 amps is a bit high.