Alternator dismantling as case needs painting

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I forgot about the alternator casing needing a repaint - the centre section seems to be held in place by a wiring connection with the outer windings by three self tappers.

I remember when I removed the alternator case / cover the insides seemed loose & floaty.
I'm guessing the three JIS headed screws will be rusty tight - I can see that one has been mangled previously as there is what looks like a chisel mark on it.

Do folk here fully dismantle it before painting or polishing any tips for getting the screws out?

.alternator by Macabe Thiele, on Flickr

[Johnny4428]

My choice would be self grips if you have the room Ted.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

My choice would be self grips if you have the room Ted.

Is that Mole grips by another name - the two good looking JIS heads my cordless impact driver should sort out - pesently soaking with some releasing oil.

[Johnny4428]

Yes Ted possibly or “vice grips” if your accross the pond.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Thanks Oddjob that explains a lot - after a couple of hours soak in releasing spray tonight all three JIS screws have come out a treat with my cordless impact tool. The outer coils needed a bit of levering through the screw holes for them to come free of the casing. I hadn't realised that behind the outer Honda name plate were 3 screws attached to the inner coils part.

[paul G]

I would also replace all the barrel connectors whilst it is off, as they always get corroded and overheat 

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I would also replace all the barrel connectors whilst it is off, as they always get corroded and overheat 

Sorry not sure what you mean by the barrel connections is that the block connectors?

[Bryanj]

If you follow the lead down from the block connector you will find some bullet connectors and its those he is on about

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I would also replace all the barrel connectors whilst it is off, as they always get corroded and overheat 

Mine are well corroded now I've looked at them closely - might replace the mini loom between the connector block & the push in terminals - then clean up the remaining side connections individually.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I've just fitted the alternator coils into the housing with some nice new screws from DS - I decided on a new mini loom so am just left with cleaning up the male & female bullet connectors at the end of the coil lead.

The male ends are pretty easy to clean up but the females are inside the sleeve so it will probably be just a case of some clean wet & dry wrapped around the end if a small screwdriver. It's a pitty you can't just dip them into a magic solution like silverdip cleans silver!!

Is there some easy way to test how good the connections are?

I have an AVO meter but tbh it's decades since I did anything other than use it as a volt meter.
Might be a learning module on U-tube to learn about measuring resistance as I have forgotten completely about resistance / impedence etc?
Any tips welcome.

[Laverdaroo]

Ted,

I had the same issue with the coil connectors on my old thing too. In the end I used a tiny bit of weak acid (Hydrochoric) or muriatic whichever side of the pond you're from. About a 30% mix.

just dipped them in for a minute and then rinsed in clean warm water and they came up like new with no tarnish on them. With wiring this old you have to do all you can so when pushed together for belt and braces they get a squirt of electrical contact cleaner as well. If I'm fitting new connections I'll always tin the wire and so on. Leave no errors then you dont have to revise your Anglo Saxon vocab whilst you're trying to find a bad connection as they simply dont appear..................(touch wood )

There's a fair bit about it on the net which is where I got my recipe from. Some use lemon juice or vinegar as the acid but i didnt have much luck and the terminals went tarnished quite soon afterwards. The muriatic was brilliant. If you cant find any go to the builders yard and get a bottle of drain cleaner, (£5) it should have a percentage concentration that you can adapt with distilled water or just council pop, its only for cleaning so as long as there's enough 'umph' in the acid, it should do what you want. Incidentally, if you need to do an acid etch or simply get all the paint off anything, give it a dunkj in that and watch oit fizz away, really satisfying!

Just do it somewhere ventilated as the bi product is Hydrogen gas and not only will it rust anything in the workshop thats bare metal, it knackers yer chest also and will make you cough like a donkey if you get a lung full so always do it outside and cover your eyes and hands, its nasty stuff................Just dead useful

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Ted,

I had the same issue with the coil connectors on my old thing too. In the end I used a tiny bit of weak acid (Hydrochoric) or muriatic whichever side of the pond you're from. About a 30% mix.

just dipped them in for a minute and then rinsed in clean warm water and they came up like new with no tarnish on them. With wiring this old you have to do all you can so when pushed together for belt and braces they get a squirt of electrical contact cleaner as well. If I'm fitting new connections I'll always tin the wire and so on. Leave no errors then you dont have to revise your Anglo Saxon vocab whilst you're trying to find a bad connection as they simply dont appear..................(touch wood )

There's a fair bit about it on the net which is where I got my recipe from. Some use lemon juice or vinegar as the acid but i didnt have much luck and the terminals went tarnished quite soon afterwards. The muriatic was brilliant. If you cant find any go to the builders yard and get a bottle of drain cleaner, (£5) it should have a percentage concentration that you can adapt with distilled water or just council pop, its only for cleaning so as long as there's enough 'umph' in the acid, it should do what you want. Incidentally, if you need to do an acid etch or simply get all the paint off anything, give it a dunkj in that and watch oit fizz away, really satisfying!

Just do it somewhere ventilated as the bi product is Hydrogen gas and not only will it rust anything in the workshop thats bare metal, it knackers yer chest also and will make you cough like a donkey if you get a lung full so always do it outside and cover your eyes and hands, its nasty stuff................Just dead useful

Interesting use of the Brick Acid - I'm going to try white vinegar first & see how it looks before I try HCl.
I use white vinegar to descale our kettle - it works a treat in around 10-15  mins. Going back to the old days you could clean an old penny in ordinary vinegar but it took a couple of days.

[Nurse Julie]

Dip in Cillit Bang limescale remover or Rubbing Alcohol. Push cotton bud down inside to remove the crud once softened

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Dip in Cillit Bang limescale remover or Rubbing Alcohol. Push cotton bud down inside to remove the crud once softened

That Cillit Bang is good even around the house - worth a try plus cotton buds are just the right size.

[Laverdaroo]

No, not brick acid, thats not bad for cleaning stuff and prep on parts for plating but the percentage isn't there to do much.  Drain cleaner as its Hydrochloric, soon as you dip steel in it it fizzes like buggery and strips everything. I get a litre for about £8 at the builders merchants. Its only battery acid and a few other bits n bobs to thin it out, works a treat on stubborn anything. There's plenty on you tube on its uses, quite interesting.

Like Julie said, 'cilit boing's' rather nasty too so that works. Citric acid, anything like that. I only use this as I have some in a bath for getting 40 years of farm muck off bike hubs and bigger bits of bike on strip down etc.