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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