Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[MattBLancs]

A standard automotive dynamo will operate quite happily as a motor if it were not for the ccutout! It'll soon flatten the battery in this mode too.....

Ah,is that know as "a case of accidental mild hybrid"

[CitroJim]

A standard automotive dynamo will operate quite happily as a motor if it were not for the ccutout! It'll soon flatten the battery in this mode too.....

Ah,is that know as "a case of accidental mild hybrid"

Trouble is Matt, a standard dynamo doesn't generate a lot of power in its 'accidental motor' mode but it's a good test of basic functionality... It's really quite weedy and if the fanbelt is still on it'll not spin at all and instead will soon express its displeasure by releasing a little magic smoke

Zel's Invacar has a 'Dynastart', a combined starter motor and dynamo. Quite a clever little device that does both jobs on a small engine exceedingly well..

Back in the day there was a 'Magdyno' for motorcycles that combined the functions of a magneto and a dynamo and taking it to the absolute limit of trying to get something for nothing by combining functions there was the 'Maglita' for motorcycles at the cheaper end of the market that used the collapsing magnetic field of the magneto not only to generate the HT spark but to also generate a bit of 6 volts AC to operate lights... It's was a bit feeble... The Maglita and Magdyno should not be confused with the flywheel magneto used extensively on small motorcycles and mopeds that also incorporated a lighting coil. Flywheel magnetos are still used on things like lawn mowers to this day, albeit with a bit of electronics these days to replace the points and condenser...

Although the Maglita was a bit rubbish, the Magdyno was in fact very good. It did not try to be a compromise like the Maglita as it contained both a full dynamo and magneto in a common casting...

[MattBLancs]

Interesting stuff Jim, thank you

[myglaren]

I had just looked that up before your explanation. Heard my dad speak of magnetos and wondered if Zel's 'generator' was a magneto or a dynamo and what the differences were.
Excellent clarification Jim!

[RichardW]

.... taking it to the absolute limit of trying to get something for nothing by combining functions there was the 'Maglita' for motorcycles at the cheaper end of the market that used the collapsing magnetic field of the magneto not only to generate the HT spark but to also generate a bit of 6 volts AC to operate lights...

As fitted to my Velocette. Generally accepted wisdom is that you can have spark or lights, but not both!!

[CitroJim]

.... taking it to the absolute limit of trying to get something for nothing by combining functions there was the 'Maglita' for motorcycles at the cheaper end of the market that used the collapsing magnetic field of the magneto not only to generate the HT spark but to also generate a bit of 6 volts AC to operate lights...

As fitted to my Velocette. Generally accepted wisdom is that you can have spark or lights, but not both!!

Yea, that'll be about right Richard

[Zelandeth]

A good explanation Jim. It's one of those components that I understand the theory of operation well enough, just be curious to trace out how it's physically set up.

Having failed to read the instructions properly when I set the valve clearances last week (I missed that the instructions specifically stated a *tight* sliding fit), I went back in and did the job again today. It takes all of about 15 minutes so no excuse not to.

If you ever wanted a demonstration of the efficacy of the detergent properties in good quality modern oils, here you go. This was what the top end of the engine looked like about a week ago, the oil was changed later the same day as I recall.



Fast forward to this morning and about 100 miles since the oil was changed.



It's plainly obvious to the naked eye even at a quick glance how much of the varnish on the rocker arms and around the head has been cleaned away.

The oil that was drained wasn't horrible either, definitely due a change, but not like the black ink that was drained out of a certain Mercedes S123.

Be curious to see if this effect continues over the next few hundred miles.

Can't say I can hear any difference now, but at least I know the clearances are properly set by the book. I guess these engines just are a bit tappy from the top end. It's not bad by any means, just seems a little conspicuous on a car that is otherwise so refined.

[CitroJim]

Gosh, that really is a top demo of the detergent powers of a good oil

[mickthemaverick]

If you ever wanted a demonstration of the efficacy of the detergent properties in good quality modern oils, here you go. This was what the top end of the engine looked like about a week ago, the oil was changed later the same day as I recall.

I have to ask Zel, which oil is in there now?

[lemalon]

Looks pretty worn out Serious time needs to be spent for revision.

[Gibbo2286]

I recall that when detergent oils first arrived on the scene a lot of old tired engines almost fell to pieces, only held together with years of gunge.
Duckham's 20/50 was the saviour for a few of them.

[CitroJim]

I recall that when detergent oils first arrived on the scene a lot of old tired engines almost fell to pieces, only held together with years of gunge.

And even more recently too... Back in the late 90s when I was up to my ears in debt I was reduced to running a scruffy old Volvo 340...

The oil hadn't been changed for years... I knew that for a fact as I'd known the car for some time and dug it out of a hedge in my time of need...

What came out didn't look much like oil...

After the oil change it started knocking... Up until then it ran quite sweetly with no knocks!

Duckham's 20/50 was the saviour for a few of them.

I recall it being green and quite thick Was rubbish in MG Metros... The couple of times I tried it I lost both speed and performance!

In the case of my knocky old Volvo, a can of Wynns did the trick... When the knock returned it was a sign it was due another oil change and a new can of Wynns...

I did about 10,000 miles like that... It wasn't the engine that killed it either.

My best demonstration of the detergent qualities of oils was when I spilt some LT71141 ATF on my carpet tiled workshop floor... The tiles started out mid-blue but over time they'd turned almost black in places from general oily dirt getting on them... Where the LT71141 was spilt the tiles came back to almost pristine blue after it was mopped up!

[Zelandeth]

Today I was busy, so not going to be touching the cars save for a run to Toolstation for some cavity wall anchors.

Car on the other hand apparently had a different idea for how I should spend my afternoon.





Yeah, that's somewhat sub optimal.

Of course the fuel filter is the one that's still sitting in the boot waiting to be fitted, otherwise I'd have spotted this!

The guilty party:







That hose was fitted in July last year according to the paperwork. So almost six months on the dot.

Completely aside from the fact it's dissolved away to nothing, it's just normal fuel hose - not high pressure rated for use on injection systems. So shouldn't ever have been installed in this location anyway. Yes, this was done by a garage.

Oh, no surprises this was holding the hose on at the filter end rather than a proper fuel hose clamp.



Naturally 8mm isn't a hose size I had in stock. Cue a run round to Pirtek.

This should do nicely.



I think that should handle the ~50PSI or so this system runs at just fine.

All back together. Only took 30-40 mins.



The jubilee clip was begrudgingly reused as I don't have a proper fuel hose clip to hand the right size - though it will be there precisely as long as the weekend when I'll be swapping out the fuel filter. Doing that with the car on ramps though as I can't get at the outlet end with the car on the ground.

Then back to building furniture - and cursing the fact that our walls aren't square.

[bobins]

Someone on here put up a Youtube the other week about how an awful lot of rubber fuel hose is just sub-standard - even stuff sold by 'reputable' stockists. It would seem that the quality of the rubber is just generally woeful. Ethanol gets blamed for the fact that the hoses are falling apart, but even hoses that haven't been exposed to it are going brittle or rupturing.

[Zelandeth]

Someone on here put up a Youtube the other week about how an awful lot of rubber fuel hose is just sub-standard - even stuff sold by 'reputable' stockists. It would seem that the quality of the rubber is just generally woeful. Ethanol gets blamed for the fact that the hoses are falling apart, but even hoses that haven't been exposed to it are going brittle or rupturing.

Absolutely. I've got a bit hanging up in the garage which came from Halfords which had never even been fitted (no windows either so no UV involved) which had already perished beyond any semblance of usability after about six months.

Which is why I went to Pirtek for these. If they're willing to put their name on it, that's a pretty good recommendation to me. 99.999997% of their business is to trade customers looking for bits for very expensive equipment where downtime is money.