I have a Dorfan 52 that has an amazingly good shell, all motor parts etc. When I put jumper wires to it, it draws so much current the breaker trips after a bit. I have not found a visible short, but the commutator has been rewound by someone. How can I test the windings? A great Dorfan casting just has to be put back in operable service.
thanks
Steve
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Each winding must have the same resistance to each other winding, but not to the axle.
I fixed an Ives that had been rewound, but would not run. The windings were connected to the wrong segments on the commutator. Fortunately I had another virgin motor to compare and saw that the windings needed to be connected to the commutator segment ahead of the winding, rather than the one just above it.
The commutator itself also needed to be clocked properly, as it was 10-20 degrees off.
If you have another armature, spotting the differences is easy. Have you got one that is similar?
Roy
My only other electric Dorfan only has the axles, the est of the motor guts are gone. I will eventually put a Marx motor in that one just to have a regular runner.
thanks
Steve
Hi Steve,
I made contact with a gentleman through TTRP. He specializes in rewinding prewar motors. He brought my 38 back to life at a reasonable price. If you want to keep your engine a Dorfan, he's worth the cost. Let me know your feelings. My email is in my profile.
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