Hi All
My starter is working very slowly it barely turns the motor over and definitely not enough to start it. I have a fully charged big deep cycle battery so it is not that. It has always been a bit slow but after a period of inactivity (a year maybe more) it is very very slow indeed.
Any Ideas?
Sam
Sloooow Starter
Re: Sloooow Starter
Hi Sam,
Start at the beginning!
Make sure the battery is good - have you had it tested? Batteries can appear to be good as far a charger goes, but fail to provide enough current when asked to. If Battery is OK, next would be to check the wiring.
Make sure the Negative earth cable makes a good electrical contact with the bodywork.
Make sure the Positive cable goes to the Starter solenoid and make a good electrical contact there.
Make sure the Starter solenoid actually works! It is basically an electromagnet that pulls a copper bar down across the high current contacts. It is possible that the bar moves (i.e. you hear the sound of the bar moving), but that the arcing which occurs inside has made a high resistance electrical path which means the Dynatart does not get enough current to provide the torque it needs to turn the engine over. The solenoids can be taken apart and cleaned if needed.
You can check if the Starter solenoid needs cleaning / replacing by dong a quick electrical bypass of the unit by using a suitable bit of heavy guage wire to "bridge" the two high current terminals on the top of the solenoid.
The Dynastart itself could need new brushes. The manual gives minimum length for the brushes.
One of the brushes could be stuck in its holder and therefore not making proper contact with the commutator.
The commutator could be "out of round".
There may be an excessive amount of carbon dust build up which could affect the electrical path through the Dynastart.
The commutator could need cleaning as the engine tends to stop in the same place every time you switch off, therefore the commutator and brushes tend to be in the same place each time you start the engine. Each time you start the engine, there will be arcing between the brushes and the commutator which leads to wear and carbon build up leading to high resistance contact points, which in turn promote more arcing. As you can guess, this is a self perpetuating issue. One of the reasons an electric motor gets slower and loses power over time unless serviced!
It is also possible that some of the insulation in the windings of either / or / both the rotor and the field coils has broken down due to over heating, producing a short circuit. Which would therefore not provide the original resistance / length of wire route for the electricity to flow along and generate the original specified motive power.
The bearings at either end could be worn out or dry.
For those who have read this far, but who think their Dynastart is working perfectly well at present, Do you have to "shake" your Haflinger when you try and start it in order to get the Dynastart to spin? If so, now is the time to take it off and check the brushes and generally clean the commutator and brush area.
Shaking the Haflinger, moves the Dynastart a small amount and allows the brushes to make better contact with the commutator as per the statement above regarding the high resistance contact which is a result of arcing between the brushes and the commutator.
John
Start at the beginning!
Make sure the battery is good - have you had it tested? Batteries can appear to be good as far a charger goes, but fail to provide enough current when asked to. If Battery is OK, next would be to check the wiring.
Make sure the Negative earth cable makes a good electrical contact with the bodywork.
Make sure the Positive cable goes to the Starter solenoid and make a good electrical contact there.
Make sure the Starter solenoid actually works! It is basically an electromagnet that pulls a copper bar down across the high current contacts. It is possible that the bar moves (i.e. you hear the sound of the bar moving), but that the arcing which occurs inside has made a high resistance electrical path which means the Dynatart does not get enough current to provide the torque it needs to turn the engine over. The solenoids can be taken apart and cleaned if needed.
You can check if the Starter solenoid needs cleaning / replacing by dong a quick electrical bypass of the unit by using a suitable bit of heavy guage wire to "bridge" the two high current terminals on the top of the solenoid.
The Dynastart itself could need new brushes. The manual gives minimum length for the brushes.
One of the brushes could be stuck in its holder and therefore not making proper contact with the commutator.
The commutator could be "out of round".
There may be an excessive amount of carbon dust build up which could affect the electrical path through the Dynastart.
The commutator could need cleaning as the engine tends to stop in the same place every time you switch off, therefore the commutator and brushes tend to be in the same place each time you start the engine. Each time you start the engine, there will be arcing between the brushes and the commutator which leads to wear and carbon build up leading to high resistance contact points, which in turn promote more arcing. As you can guess, this is a self perpetuating issue. One of the reasons an electric motor gets slower and loses power over time unless serviced!
It is also possible that some of the insulation in the windings of either / or / both the rotor and the field coils has broken down due to over heating, producing a short circuit. Which would therefore not provide the original resistance / length of wire route for the electricity to flow along and generate the original specified motive power.
The bearings at either end could be worn out or dry.
For those who have read this far, but who think their Dynastart is working perfectly well at present, Do you have to "shake" your Haflinger when you try and start it in order to get the Dynastart to spin? If so, now is the time to take it off and check the brushes and generally clean the commutator and brush area.
Shaking the Haflinger, moves the Dynastart a small amount and allows the brushes to make better contact with the commutator as per the statement above regarding the high resistance contact which is a result of arcing between the brushes and the commutator.
John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !
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safari-haf
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Re: Sloooow Starter
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a deep cycle battery meant for running peripherals (fridges etc) not necessarily for high current cranking. I believe a normal battery is better for powering starters. Perhaps try hooking up a normal battery and see if that makes a difference.
Sent from my LG-H870DS using Tapatalk
Sent from my LG-H870DS using Tapatalk
'64 Haflinger 703AP LWB
'67 Haflinger 703AP LWB
'66 Haflinger 700AP SWB (in pieces)
'67 Haflinger 703AP LWB
'66 Haflinger 700AP SWB (in pieces)
Re: Sloooow Starter
Hello Guys
I tried a non deep cycle battery and it was a lot different. Also John the earth strap from the dynastarter was not the best so I cleaned it up and it made a big difference. Both these things have helped a lot.
Thank you both
Sam
I tried a non deep cycle battery and it was a lot different. Also John the earth strap from the dynastarter was not the best so I cleaned it up and it made a big difference. Both these things have helped a lot.
Thank you both
Sam