How to Bench Test Generator

[Bingster]

How do you bench test a generator?  I took it off the car some years ago, painted it and had it stored.  It's a six volt off my 47' Desoto.

[Tom Skinner]

With a growler - not beer growler, but an electric commutator testing device (growler).

They sell them on e-bay, they are proud of them, and price them accordingly - $100 - $200.

Or find a buddy with one, or a shop that has this service and will charge a small fee to do it.

Any big City has several shops in town with the equipment to service starters and generators.

Try your yellow pages or google search one.

Tom

[ptwothree]

Try this:  

[Tom Skinner]

ptwothree,

Wow great video! Thanks!

Tom

[knuckleharley]

How do you bench test a generator?  I took it off the car some years ago, painted it and had it stored.  It's a six volt off my 47' Desoto.

I just use a battery and jumper cables to test starters. If they kick in and spin they are good.

 

For generators I just used a fan belt on an electric motor to spin it after hooking up and polarizing a regulator,and use an ammeter gauge to read output, In fact,that is the setup I had for a battery charger back when I was a kid. We used a 6 V generator for 6 v batteries,and then switched it out for a 12 v generator when we needed to charge 12 v batteries. Not real high tech.but since it was free due to the generators and regulators coming off of parts cars that had already been scrapped the price was right.

[dpollo]

 If you hook the armature terminal  to a negative lead and positive to the case, the generator will "motor".

 

There will be enough residual magnetism in the field poles to allow this to happen.   If it worked when removed and has been kept dry, it will very likely work when you reinstall it.  It is always a good idea to Polarize the unit which simply amounts to brushing the

armature stud with a wire from the negative side of the battery  ( on Pos. Ground Cars)     Mostly all these units ever needed was brushes, so check them for adequate length . You need only remove the cover to do this.