weak starter
weak starter
Logistics Pro
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 3,951
Likes: 117
From: Upper Left Coast
There's nothing wrong with Y-block starters.
If you have a 6v unit.......they didn't turn very fast to begin with.
A 6v unit will actually be more susceptable to poor electrical connections since you only have 6v to start with. To produce the same starting power a 6v starter has to draw nearly twice the current (AMPS) as a 12v starter.
The voltage drop across a poor connection in a 6v circuit will be higher (percentage wise)than the same in a 12v circuit since the current in the 12v circuit is less (1/2). [According to my 54/55 manual the 6v unit should draw about 190A and the 12v unit draws about 90-100 A]
If you had a poor connection (loose battery/starter cable, burned solenoid contact etc), that resulted in a 0.01 OHM resistance, the voltage across that resistance would be V=I x R or 190 times 0.01 = 1.9V
Since all voltages in a series circuit add up to the supply voltage then the voltage available to the starter would be 6V minus 1.9V = 4.1V meaning that the starter would only have about 70% of full voltage to operate.........A WHOPPING 30% drop!
If this was in a 12v circuit, that same 0.01 OHM resistance (poor connection) with a 100A starter current, would result in only a 1V drop. which would result in 11V available for the starter. This is only about an 8% drop in voltage available to run the starter.
With a 24v starter it's even less! Also since the higher voltage means less currents the wires can be smaller! (This is why aircraft have 24v DC and 115V 400hz ac electrical systems)
All this electrical engr gobbledygook means is that you must have clean, dry, tight electrical connections and they're more important in a 6v system.
Ensure that you have good clean battery connections, good clean cable connections, a new solenoid, and good brushes.
Also ensure that all the ground connections are clean and tight.
You can take that starter apart yourself and clean up the commutator, replace the brushes and lube the bushings inside and improve things.
I went to National Autoparts in Puyallup, WA and bought a rebuilt starter (BECK ARNLEY) for $49.95. (less Bendix drive) .....Core charge was $15
Mine was a 12v unit but the 6v unit was the same price.
Napa had the exact same Beck Arnley unit for $99.95
For $49 it's not hardly worth taking it apart!
Even the local Auto Electric guy couldn't do it for less than about $80.
My wife never asks me the time......(She says I spend WAY too much time explaining how to build a clock!!)
Regards,
Rick
If you have a 6v unit.......they didn't turn very fast to begin with.
A 6v unit will actually be more susceptable to poor electrical connections since you only have 6v to start with. To produce the same starting power a 6v starter has to draw nearly twice the current (AMPS) as a 12v starter.
The voltage drop across a poor connection in a 6v circuit will be higher (percentage wise)than the same in a 12v circuit since the current in the 12v circuit is less (1/2). [According to my 54/55 manual the 6v unit should draw about 190A and the 12v unit draws about 90-100 A]
If you had a poor connection (loose battery/starter cable, burned solenoid contact etc), that resulted in a 0.01 OHM resistance, the voltage across that resistance would be V=I x R or 190 times 0.01 = 1.9V
Since all voltages in a series circuit add up to the supply voltage then the voltage available to the starter would be 6V minus 1.9V = 4.1V meaning that the starter would only have about 70% of full voltage to operate.........A WHOPPING 30% drop!
If this was in a 12v circuit, that same 0.01 OHM resistance (poor connection) with a 100A starter current, would result in only a 1V drop. which would result in 11V available for the starter. This is only about an 8% drop in voltage available to run the starter.
With a 24v starter it's even less! Also since the higher voltage means less currents the wires can be smaller! (This is why aircraft have 24v DC and 115V 400hz ac electrical systems)
All this electrical engr gobbledygook means is that you must have clean, dry, tight electrical connections and they're more important in a 6v system.
Ensure that you have good clean battery connections, good clean cable connections, a new solenoid, and good brushes.
Also ensure that all the ground connections are clean and tight.
You can take that starter apart yourself and clean up the commutator, replace the brushes and lube the bushings inside and improve things.
I went to National Autoparts in Puyallup, WA and bought a rebuilt starter (BECK ARNLEY) for $49.95. (less Bendix drive) .....Core charge was $15
Mine was a 12v unit but the 6v unit was the same price.
Napa had the exact same Beck Arnley unit for $99.95
For $49 it's not hardly worth taking it apart!
Even the local Auto Electric guy couldn't do it for less than about $80.
My wife never asks me the time......(She says I spend WAY too much time explaining how to build a clock!!)
Regards,
Rick
