Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

if you have a generator (instead of alternator) and it's working fine, as to charging properly, my question is does it get hot to touch? Not my Lotus, but I have a generator setup on another make vehicle, but thought i'd ask here as well. Under normal working conditions, does the generator generate heat and make the outside casing hot to touch?
thanks

I would say make sure it turns freely and oil the oil light bush which gets forgotten.
Alan

Hi

If by a generator you mean a dynamo then they do dissipate a fair amount of power. The field coils are in close contact with the case of the unit and if the dynamo was working hard then the field could be on at full current of around 3.5A so with 14V or so this is close to around 50W. The armatures and the brushes probably add a similar amount. Assuming it is a car application then it is likely to be bolted to the engine block so it will get close to the coolant temperature of the engine. So generally I would expect is to be very hot to touch

I have used car dynamos as DC motors in a variety of odd applications and with 3.5A field current and 15A Armature (input) current it got too hot to touch if run for more that 30minutes or so

hope this helps

best of luck

Bob

Dynamo?s are fitted with a cooling fan, ensure there is a free flow of air over it.

thanks, good info. yes, has fins on pulley.

At least it's not like on a Lotus very close to a stinking hot Exhaust Manifold
Alan