Generating Set Questions

[Rod Salter]

Now the Generating set is made in Australia in 1945 by Westinghouse and Rosebery
Model E3 and is rated at 3 kva. Weight 1090 lbs.
A huge heavy unit considering the small power output
There are conflicting voltages indicated on the plates, therefore I won't actually know what it generates until I have it running.

m1.jpg

It was seemingly stuck. I tipped a half a cup of diesel down each of the plug holes for the night
Next morning, a pry bar easily had it moving, actually I surmise the mice and mud hornets in the main generator was the cause of it being stuck, not the engine.

I have spent a day on it, firstly removing the petrol tank, this will need some serious cleaning out, with rust and dried green petrol gunk inside!
Then I serviced the starter motor, also the water pump before turning it over with the starter using an old semi flat 12 volt battery

I removed and freed up the 3 control cables, coating them with graphite/moly grease before pushing them back into the outers

The push/pull ignition switch had been replaced at some time and now was also stuck, I managed to wreck it in trying to get it free

I went into the switch collection for a replacement and found it needing a clean and the tin rivets replacing

Now here is the strangest thing, most perplexing, 5 draws and a number of clip containers of small bolts and nuts are not here!
Am I going nuts? I have lost all my nuts!
To carry 5 draws, that frequently flip upside down and scatter the contents, well I would never take them all at once like that, and then there needs to be a flat surface to put them on, and there aren’t any of those here
What about all the other containers too?
I'll chalk it to my getting shorter - short term memory and maybe they will turn up someday

The switch was eventually repaired and wired in, taking over 2 hours mostly looking for the vanished draws ect,

Rhetorically, Why would the original wires be disconnected and replacement plastic coated wires run in parallel?

Anyway I connected all the originals back


The little 6 volt engine generator was stalling the fan belt so I took it off to service it

This generator is a replacement, as the original was wired differently according to the wiring plate's diagram

These are the 3 brush type, fixed output, requiring no regulator, only a cut out

Upon disassembly I could see the armature was “polling”, in fact it was almost a tight fit in the field coils. Why? Maybe from a different generator??

After some thought, I put it in the lathe and shaved about 20 thou off, then after greasing the bearing and bush and reassembly, it now turns freely, although I suspect the shaft is bent between the bearing and the windings.
Again, how would a thick shaft be bent between so short of a length? We will never know

The original generator had a 2nd terminal for the fields to an external resistor and switch for the provision of providing a “LOW” charge if the unit was run for extended periods.

I installed an insulated new terminal to enable all the original wiring to be reconnected.

The carburettor will require a clean, and the air cleaner is missing too!

So, It turns over, it has spark. When I get a 6 volt battery I'll give it a run


Finally the questions

What is this little engine in here with the distributor upright beside the head?

m2.jpg

m3.jpg

Has anyone got a manual that I could arrange to get a copy of?
I cannot find any other information on the internet of this square cornered Australian generator set
Has anyone any other information?

Any information or pics of the correct air-cleaner would be nice and of course a complete air-cleaner I could buy?

Cheers rod