Technical Allen Syncrograph - Model E-316HD Resto

Thanks! Funny you mention Paramount, as I was doing a search for Xenon bulbs for Sun distributor machines last night, and a link to that company came up. Checking it out, it looked familiar, and I then recalled coming across it before years ago when I first got the machine. I think I might have even called and spoken to someone back then. Definitely a resource to keep in mind. They did a fantastic job on that Sun 680 for @Jmountainjr .

http://paramountd.com/parts.html

 

Finally had a look at all the paper in my file folder. Looks like at point I found additional
info. Even found a copy of the orig ad. It was only USD$75 and not the $250 I thought I paid. Holy Hell!

 

I’m actually now finally going to start to test this damn dist. Watching this YT vid as I go. They’re testing the Ford helmet style distributor on a Sun machine.

 

1. First removed the vacuum advance brake cylinder, spring, washer, and nut.

2. Adjusted dwell to “SET” on Dwell Meter scale using the SET knob, with middle knob positioned to “SET” position.

 

First hiccup. Manual mentions after setting the dwell meter to “SET”, next step (3) is to “Turn SCALE SELECTOR to RUN position. I do not see any such setting on any of knobs,





Hmmm…

 

Think it is the “CAM” position.

3. Block off one of the sets of points for dual breaker type. Vid mentions blocking off “left have set of points”. So I blocked off the same one - opposite the advance bolt/screw even though not quite the same on the Crab vs the Helmet in the vid. Manual mentions the same thing (6), but to block off the right hand set of points. Oh vey! To do this, I removed the rotor as it was in the way a bit.



Forgot to mention that vid mentions moving the distributor degree indicator to “0”. Using the “ruler” method, I had set it slightly off by 0.5 degrees. So, returned it back to “0”.

 

4. Basically following steps (7,8) in manual with middle selector knob set to “CAM”. The “CAM ANGLE” needle moves as it should (“SET”) when points are closed and “OK” on the scale even though manual says it should return to “0”. As I rotate the chuck by, needle settles at around 45 degrees between the extremes.

 

5. Skipping the “Poor insulation or league test”, next is step (11). I don’t have such a switch on my machine. Only one scale which is up to 5,000 rpm (engine).

 

6. Vid mentions setting if to the 1000 rpm scale on the Sun machine. Also, need to set rotation for “Left” direction. Vid then says to set rpm to 200. Manual vers off (12,13) and mentions running the distributor at between 3,000 and 4,000 rpm or at max speed of eng.



Hmmm…

 

Playing around with the speed, it seems something is not right. Seems distributor is turning slower than tach indicates. I now see that the drive motor actually moves in an arc relative to the drive wheel on the main distributor driveshaft. This now makes sense as the drive wheel on the motor is somewhat cone shaped. The main distributor driveshaft spins freely when rotated by hand. Hope I didn’t bugger anything up as someone mentioned about not adjusting the speed unless it’s running. Will need to break for supper. I purchased a cheap optical rpm meter off of Amazon last week, and will use that to compare rpms with what the tach is showing. Damn, this is a massive time sucker…

 

So, looking into the speed control, the lowest speed I can achieve according to the tach is 500 rpm. This based on the limit “stop” on the dial knob turning it CCW (decrease speed). Maximum speed will exceed the 5,000 rpm indicated by the needle on the meter going past that point. The speed dial still had about another full turn before hitting the limit “stop” on the dial knob turning CW (increase speed). At the lowest speed setting, the drive wheel of the main driveshaft is near the centre of the drive wheel on the motor. So, not sure if it can get much closer. I cures it should be capable of that based on the test procedures, but not sure how to make any such adjustments.

 

Should also mention, that I removed the drive adapter and distributor when I took the above pics. I noticed that when I switched the drive switch to “Left”, it wouldn’t turn unless I have it done help with my hand, so something could be binding.

Found this comment in an article I photocopied when I was gathering all the info in the previous pic. Interesting…

 

I need to know WTH this knob is for?

 

Next is to compare speed with optical meter.

 

Confirmed tach is not accurately measuring speed according to optical tack. Comparison of the two readings (cam rpm or driveshaft/chuck rpm):

Allen tach - 500 rpm
Optical tach - 174



Allen tach - 1000
Optical tach - 309



Allen tach - 1,500
Optical tach - 474



Allen tach - 2,000
Optical tech - 648



Allen tach - 2,500
Optical tach 818

 

So, the ratio in terms of the differences in measured speed vs indicated on the machine is about 3:1. Not sure what that means, or why it’s like that? Will ask my buddy.
The good news is that I could keep turning thd speed dial knob until I reached a measured maximum speed of 2,424 rpm. This would be very close to the maximum
speed indicated on the meter of 2,500 rpm. A difference of only 3%.



Check out the position of the drive wheel of the motor! Big difference from before at full scale reading of 2,500 rpm on the Allen tach.

 

Greased the acme style thread attached to the speed dial knob. It moves a steel block up/down that has a cable attached to it which moves the drive motor assy up/down. After adding some wheel bearing grease, it (speed disp knob) moves much easier now.



Appears some adjustments can be made using that threaded rod to dial in the motor position relative to the wheel on the driveshaft.

 

This thing that rides against the contacts on the driveshaft must be picking up the electrical signal for the tach. Wonder if I did something to it while cleaning the contact rings?

 

Still futzing around. Added fresh wheel bearing grease to the two upper grease reservoirs. Removed as much of the old grease as possible before adding the new stuff. I think the top one was low. I guess the premise is to stuff as much grease as you can into the stationary tube, then pack the cap and then thread the cap on forcing the grease down the tube towards the shaft bearings. Sounds a bit more quieter now. Will tackle the lower two reservoirs tomorrow.
Now, the Allen tach reads 400 rpm on lowest speed dial setting, so something is happening. lol!
It seems to me that there is still a “gob” of grease on the upper contact for the tach meter drive. Not sure how to get it off. Really don’t want to remove that thing. Will try to use some toothpicks and cotton swabs to clean it up. Also, can now get a max speed (Optical tach) of 2,475 rpm, so within 1% of 2,500. Seems this thing just needs a bit of cleaning, grease, and some actual use. Fingers crossed.

 

Schematic from one of the manuals for the tach circuit. I see two caps in the circuit, and I believe folks typically replace caps on these machines as well as any vintage electronic equipment like receivers, etc due to age. So, wonder if they are still good?

 

Does the ignition coil in your machine connect to the neon bulb?

 

Yep. Confirmed with my buddy as well when I spoke with him a couple days ago.

 

Well, back at. Hoping I can finish it up today. Have to get on with other things. The grease removed from the two upper grease reservoirs.

 

Removed the two lower grease reservoirs. The very bottom one was a pain. 1/6th of a turn at a time. The biggest problem is HTH am I supposed the get it back in? My hands/fingers are too big to reach down on between base of the solenoid arm that moves the driveshaft in/out against the motor drive wheel. Maybe my kiddo can reach, but she’s still asleep.
Good thing I removed, cleaned , and te-greased though. Not pretty.

 

By some miracle, my kiddo managed to get them both installed. Thank God!

 

More head scratching. Definitely has more of a wooble when running than before. I removed the distributor and adapter and reinstalled them in same position. Used my dial indicator to measure runout on the adapter shaft. It varied depending on the position of the chuck keys. At first attempt to measure I got 0.010” in only one direction. After relocating the chuck jaws on the shaft, I got +/- 0.007”. So, not sure if this type of thing is “normal”?

7. Decided to continue with the steps in the manual to do the “Breaker Spring Tension Test”. (Steps 11 - 13). Noticed that at about 1,325 rpm, speed would actually slow down as I increased the speed dial knob. This would happen for a turn or two, then speed would start to pick up very rapidly. Wondering if I got some grease on the drive wheel. Continued with test up to about 1,600 rpm using the optical tach. Checked to see as per the instructions in the manual if there was a “thin faint flash of light preceding the regular flash of light as the speed of rotation is increased”. Didn’t see anything like that, although the lights seem dim to me.

 

Thanks for mentioning that the ignition coil was used for the neon or xenon light tubes. That kind of lighting usually requires some kind of high voltage transformer.

Grease cups similar to yours were commonly seen on distributors from the 40s in to the 60s. You filled the cup and cap with grease and at every tune-up were supposed to give the cap something like a 1/2 turn to push fresh grease into the distributor housing. I'm guessing that Allen probably had a maintenance schedule for doing this, maybe every few months or so depending on usage.

One of your earlier photos showed 3 brushes riding on 3 contact rings. Were these on the motor drive shaft or the driven shaft to the chuck? Check that the brushes are in good shape. This looks like a good place to spray down and clean with DeOxit D5. Give it a couple of treatments. Also spray some DeOxit into any of the mechanical switches on the control panel that you can access. Spray some into any openings in the back of the switches and cycle the switch several times. Do this a couple times also.

I'm no expert on capacitors. But if these are cylindrical surface mounted caps look to see if the ends are bulged out, or if there is any signs of corrosion on the contacts. If so they're trashed. They may also be bad even if they don't show any physical signs. Older caps don't age well. Be careful when working around charged capacitors, especially the bigger ones. Check online to learn how to safely drain them if necessary.

 

The contact ring(s), for the tach pickup are under the chuck. My buddy mentioned cleaning them with some alcohol. He also wants me to check the caps, but to do so, I have to tear apart the upper cabinet.

 

Pic of contact rings relative chuck. Just lower power to the house. Damn! Backup battery for router only lasts about 20 mins even though it’s supposed to be like 6-8 hrs.

 

Another manual I have has tgg he r info for the two caps. C1 & C2.