<VV> Gens and Alts

[Ken Pepke]

OK, I am with 'Smitty' on this one.  My first Corvair was a '63, slightly used, bought in the fall of '63.  Up until the last few years I have driven Corvairs everywhere with never a generator failure.  I have had two Corvair alternator failures.  The last one was a seized bearing due to shreds of a belt but the first one was a simple NO electrical output ... reason unknown.  The car was a '63 converted to an alternator.  It happened years ago, midway through Ohio on my way to the National Convention in the south.  I had to stop twice at service stations [remember those?] for a charge.  I drove through the night southbound on I-75 with no lights.  Arriving at the Convention early in the AM my first move was to buy a used alternator at the swap meet and install it on the spot.  It was that alternator, years later, that ate the fan belt pieces.

On other cars I have had numerous alternator failures to the point I would like to switch them over to generators ... if only possible.

As far as saving the weight ... it would be easier and more noticeable to move the spare tire to the front.  Then one could keep potted meat in the old tire well and it would be nice and hot for lunch breaks!

Ken P
Wyandotte, MI
Worry looks around; Sorry looks back, Faith looks up.

*********************************

> From: "lonwall at corvairunderground.com" <corvairs at pacifier.com>
> Date: April 10, 2012 5:27:09 PM EDT
> To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
> Subject: Re: <VV> Gens and Alts
> 
> Bob - You're not as crazy as you come across in person - I too have only 
> earlies (right now) and they are all converted to alternators. The 
> weight issue is a good reason but more compelling is the basic theory of 
> charging philosophies between a generator and an alternator.
> 
> When a generator suffers from a "break" in it's charging circuit it 
> shortly burns itself up. That problem can be a battery with a defective 
> plate, an overtaxing of the system itself, a broken or disconnected 
> wire, a malfunctioning regulator etc etc.
> 
> When similar things happen to an alternator is just cycles (stops 
> charging) so no damage is done.
> 
> I suffer a similar fate as you did. Around 1991 I was in a caravan in my 
> still generator equipped Greenbriar headed down to the Fan Belt Toss 
> (Palm Springs). I told my passenger (and friend) Gary Baldwin that the 
> only thing I feared on the trip was losing the generator.  Sure enough 
> it was about 11 pm (In November) just out of Grants Pass and the 
> generator light came on.
> 
> We had a crew with us and had to rebuild the generator by the side of 
> the road. It was NOT fun. I didn't have a choice.  With an alternator i 
> could have kept going until at least it was convenient. With the 
> generator is was SHUT DOWN NOW or burn up the armature.
> 
> Did I mention that my alternators and conversion kits are on special 
> this month?
> 
> Lon
> www.corvairunderground.com