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Re: MGA Regulator Cutout Sticking

To: Kevin Sullivan <kevins@khoral.com>
Subject: Re: MGA Regulator Cutout Sticking
From: Ross MacPherson <arm@bc.sympatico.ca>
Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 10:55:55 -0800 (PST)
At 06:32 AM 1/25/98 -0700, you wrote:
>
>Very annoying.  The regulator cutout has been sticking lately, but only
>after long drives.  Perhaps it heats up or something.  The moving part of
>the switch seems to be slightly magnetized.  Of course when this thing
>sticks, the ignition light is on when the key is off and vice versa.  And
>the battery dumps a lot of current into heating the generator.  The cutout
>points don't look bad and gaps are to spec.  The manual says to clean them
>with "glass paper" (what is that?) and warns against using anything else.
>Any suggestions?  And is there a way to demagnetize this thing?
>
>Kevin Sullivan

Kevin,

By "Glass paper" I believe the manual is refering to garnet-paper; a form of
sand paper. Use a very fine abrasive if you must. In the electrical trade we
use plain paper first. A match book cover drawn through closed contacts will
do a good job of removing dirt and mild corrosion from silvered contacts.
Use abrasive only on a severley pitted contact and then only enough to
remove high spots.  To demagnatize the armature you can run AC through it
for a minute or two. DO NOT EXCEED THE RATED VOLTAGE OF THE WINDING!
Constant DC through a winding can orient the domains in the armature and
create residual magnetism.  By running AC through the winding you
"re-scramble" the domains and destroy the residual magnetism.  

Hope this helps,
Ross


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