hummm...i will take another look at the connections...and upgrade
my cable to at least a 6 gauge...any reason not to jump to the
next bigger gauge...say 8?...
richard / colorado
----- Original Message -----
From: "Vic Whitmore" <vicwhit@home.com>
To: "Nolan Penney" <npenney@mde.state.md.us>
Cc: <spitfires@autox.team.net>; <richard@bonilla.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2001 9:14 AM
Subject: Re: 79 spit starter meltdown..?
> I have my doubts that the there is a real problem here with Spitfire
starters in
> general.
>
> Could it be that a loose or partially corroded terminal (internal or
external)
> resulted in an ohmic contact?. With the very high current load of starting
> passing through this small resistance, significant heat will build up.
> Components that would not normally melt with clean connections may melt
even
> after a short 15 to 30 second cranking. Hence as "good" starter can be
abused at
> times without any damage but a "poor" starter with ohmic connections will
> self-destruct earlier than expected.
>
> Vic Whitmore
> 76 Spitfire
> Thornhill, Ontario
>
> Nolan Penney wrote:
> >
> > 10 seconds on, but how long off? It should be 15-30 minutes to allow
> > a good cooling down. Now of course, none of us actually do that.
> > We crank and crank and crank, hoping that the motor will act enough
> > like a heat sink to allow us to get away with it. Often times you can,
> > sometimes you cannot. Most starter motors will allow you to
> > get away with upwards of a solid minute of cranking before
> > self destructing in a terminal manner. But this does not mean
> > that all starter motors will do this.
> >
> > I will say that my Spitfire has tolerated upwards of 30 seconds
> > solid cranking time, with burst after that giving nearly a minute
> > of cranking time. Nothing has melted down in the process,
> > but I do understand I'm breaking down insulation in the process
> > and cutting my motors life short doing this.
> >
> > To actually melt the plastic housing the hot post sits in, I'd
> > speculate that you were cranking...shall we say enthusiastically
> > and excessively? :-)
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