Technical Generator Widget

Dear Abbie,

So my new-to-me flathead had a generator from a later car strapped to the original bracket but attached to one of the leads was this coiled copper widget.

Is this some kind of King Kong voltage drop? Something else?

Thanks in advance!

Confused in California

 

Looks like a choke of some kind, I'm not an electronics guru though. Notice the trimmer adjustment screw. May be some kind of RFI or noise suppression? WAG guess though. Usually bypass capacitors were installed at the armature to ground, both at the generator and voltage regulator. This does a pretty good job of keeping the RFI down.

 

I'd guess a police or other type of big management need for 2 way radio. But it's a guess.

 

Early flux capacitor.

 

It almost looks like a thermal overload that may open a circuit when it draws too much current?

 

Ammeter shunt?

 

A low-value inductor (coil) in parallel with a trimmer capacitor. What does the terminal that it is connected to (on the generator) do? Normally this coil/capacitor is connected in series between a power source and a radio frequency receiver/transmitter for RFI suppression.

 

That's a vintage survivor "California Only" warbledinger. You can't get them kind in the other 49.

 

I think that's the Armature. I talked to some old school radio guys, and they seem to think it is to prevent noise on a CB or HF transmitter. They remember them being advertised. Due to the low number of turns in the coil, it wouldn't help in the AM frequency band.

 

In case someone is wondering what a trimmer capacitor is....it's a "condenser" that you can adjust the microfarad value (although they are usually picofarads, which is a very small capacitance, and is more suitable to filtering RF instead of audio frequencies)

I concur that it's probably a noise filter for a radio of some type that was added on to the car.

 

How about that, learned something new. I know what "trim" is, but not "trimmer", and they could't be more different.
I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Uh Butch, the "trimmer" usually gets the trim. Amirite?

Posted by a seasoned "trimmer" using no farad value whatsoever, as in yeah been known to make a lotta noise on these pages