300w Charging Set Problems

[James D Teel II]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

James.

I just discovered an oddity in my Chorehorse manuals.

In one OMC publication the Start Procedure with battery advised turning the Rheostat Output Control full Left and adjusting the choke before pressing the Start Button. The other OMC manual states the Rheostat Output Control must be turned full Right. No date codes I can see on either manual to know which instruction is newer and no ‘Errata’ red flags either. Might not hurt to try the procedure both ways.

Also, I found a reference that the four coils should test close to 6 Ohms average, in series, if that helps in your trouble shooting.


David

This is from a 1961 manual that I found online. It mentions turning the rheostat to high when starting from a battery.

[James D Teel II]

So. I’m at a complete loss. Everything seems to check out okay. All the connections are clean. I’ve removed the brushes and have sanded them to where they make total contact with the commutator. I then reinstalled them. When I took the ammeter out the other day, it actually fell apart, so I ordered a replacement that’s a very good facsimile. I installed that this evening and put everything back together. It won’t start on the battery. The only thing I can think of that to me makes sense is that I’ve put the control box together wrong.

I need an exploded parts diagram or a few, good, detailed photos so I can make sure I have this thing right.

[Mike K]

Originally Posted by James D Teel II

So. I’m at a complete loss. Everything seems to check out okay. All the connections are clean. I’ve removed the brushes and have sanded them to where they make total contact with the commutator. I then reinstalled them. When I took the ammeter out the other day, it actually fell apart, so I ordered a replacement that’s a very good facsimile. I installed that this evening and put everything back together. It won’t start on the battery. The only thing I can think of that to me makes sense is that I’ve put the control box together wrong.

I need an exploded parts diagram or a few, good, detailed photos so I can make sure I have this thing right.

Seems like something is not wired up correctly or a component is U/S. If all else fails I would try to by-pass the ammeter and the cut out . I mean: try to connect your + battery lead directly to the + side of the circuit , you may have to remove the control box cover to try this.

You could have a dud rheostat. Does it check out OK with your multimeter ?

[James D Teel II]

The rheostat is rated at 10 ohms. It tests out at 11 ohms with no breaks anywhere in the circuit.

[James D Teel II]

Okay. It’s repaired. I told you it would be something simple. Take a look at these two photos. In the second photo. See the Bakelite piece going up instead of hanging down in the first photo? That, combined with not putting the rheostat in the full on position with the battery caused it to not start.

Thank you all for your help in working me through this. That Bakelite piece caused the start button to ground out just enough against the case that it couldn’t overcome the resistance, especially if the rheostat was in the wrong position.

[Mike K]

That was a difficult fault to track down.

I had trouble with the shielded ignition lead on my chorehorse. The in-line suppressor resistor in the lead caused a weak spark. That resistor problem took me a long time to to find.

[David Dunlop]

Congratulations, James.


David

[James D Teel II]

Correct. It was indeed difficult. It’s amazing how simple it was to mess it up, and then once I actually found it, I just had to loosen it a bit, rotate it up, and tighten it.

Here’s a YouTube link to a movie I made of it starting and then stopping this evening.
https://youtu.be/WyMxPa06QQM