Hello and Thank you for allowing me to join! I recently purchased a Schramm Fordair 60 Air compressor, and for those who are unfamiliar, it is a 1942-ish 239ci ford flathead V8 where 2 cylinders on each bank make air, and two run the engine. It makes 60cfm of air at 100psi, and it runs quite well! The generator is not hooked up. I am trying to fix that, but i'm not sure how to wire it up. It LOOKS like it has a 2 wire voltage regulator mounted on top of the genny. After searching several of these forums and not finding anything on 2 wire regulators, i'm staring to think the 'regulator' is actually a cut out. This genny IS a 3 brush genny. It also says Ford C1 on the body. I noticed the three brushes when I took the genny apart to replace a wire coming out of the body. While I had it apart, I cleaned up the rotor and stator. Speaking of that wire, It really looks like there was only one wire coming out of the genny, but it was ripped off at the body, as you can see in the pictures where I'm pointing. So my thinking is that this one single wire coming out of the genny goes into one side of the box (regulator or cutout? I don't know!) on top and the other end of the box goes to the negative side of the ammeter. But which side does that wire coming out of the genny go to or does it matter? I guess my other questions would be....Is there actually only one wire coming out of the genny? Is that really normal? Where does it go? If that box on top of the genny is a cut out...is there not supposed to be a voltage regulator somewhere? The Yellow Wire in the photo is connected to the negative side of the ammeter, but I don't know where the other end is supposed to go. As this is my first post, i'm not sure if I can post pics yet, so please bear with me! And thanks again for letting me join and for all the helpful tips on the other message threads so far!
I have a '40 221CI Ford V8 flathead air compressor 4 cyl air, 4 cyl gas. Same gen setup but that is a cutout, not a regulator. Mine is a cutout but is the early round type but same idea. 3 brush gen, 3rd brush regulates the voltage. Mine runs well or at least it did last time I ran it but it still turns over fine. As far as wiring it? Sorry to so I don't remember. Dave PS, I'll try to look tomorrow when it's light out to see how it is wired if no one else replies.
Very simple setup. The cutout does not use a voltage regulator. It just breaks the circuit to the generator when not in use or when it's not charging. The circuit from the cutout goes to the ignition switch, then through the ammeter as described. From there goes the juice to make everything operate. The only purpose for the cutout is to disconnect the juice from the battery and keep it from back feeding through the generator when the engine is shut off. Have your generator checked out. It's likely damaged if run without a load on it. If you run this particular unit without a load it will go nuts and burn out. Always ground the output wire before running under no load conditions. Voltage is adjusted via the 3rd brush. Amps are low on these things and 10 to 15 amps on the ammeter is considered good.. I had the same compressor but with a 221 cubic inch V8 engine. I used it for a while in my blasting operations to run a rock drill. If you find you need a generator, I have one with a new cutout. Leave me a private message and we'll talk.
Thanks! After searching this site and doing some more googling, I found that same diagram and was able to finish up the wiring. I think my ammeter is shot, luckily I have another, so I’ll be swapping it out. After finishing up the wiring and starting up the compressor, while running, the battery shows 12.5 to 12.7V so I think it’s charging! Slowly, but charging!
Thanks for coming back and telling 'the rest of the story'. Since the only draw is going to be ignition and there is no regulator, I'd expect a low charge rate. Just enough to keep the battery up for starting.
The way to increase/decrease the voltage output, is to rotate the third brush. That involves removing the brush cover. and in most instances, just push the brush holder with a screwdriver one direction or the other. It is mounted on a ring base on the end cap of the brush end of the generator. This allows it to be rotated.
The Jalopy Journal
