Belco Generator Updates and a Repair

I spent the day today making stuff for the generator. The first project was a muffler. I used a small section of exhaust pipe for the main body of the muffler that I'd previously cut from the '96 F250 tailpipe when I installed a turn-down tip. I had a very large washer that I used for the backside of the muffler and I used a piece of sheet metal for the front cover that would eventually get holes drilled into it.

The Belco Generator Lives!!

Knowing nothing about the condition of this engine and generator head, I decided to just dive in and start fixing things, with the magneto being first on the list, as usually the magneto is the most trouble-prone component on these old engines. This Wico Type C magneto has a unique cap that is missing its metal cover and I can't find a replacement online. I may have to resort to making one.

Yes.... Yet Another Long-Neglected Generator Needing Help. Belco - Bellingham Manufacturing Co.

I've come to realize I regularly need something new to tinker with. My needs are simple and are usually met while perusing the local Craigslist listings for engine-driven contraptions. This latest find seems to be a rather rare item, as the vast Internet has very little information on the company that manufactured my latest acquisition. The manufacturer's name is Belco (Bellingham Manufacturing Co). The tag says the generator is rated at 2 KVA (kilovolt-amperes, i.e. 2 kilowatts), and it is powered by a Wisconsin model AK gasoline engine.

Craftsman 109 Lathe Turning Aluminum

I made a short video of my Craftsman lathe carving up a hunk of aluminum. Below are a couple of still shot of the work being done, then a video at the bottom.

Craftsman 109 Lathe Dead Centers

I thought I'd try my hand at making one or two dead centers for this Craftsman 109 micro-mini lathe. The headstock spindle and tailstock ram are supposedly a Morse Taper 0 (MT0). I took a lot of time to get the compound set to the right angle, 0.026 inches of taper per side per inch of travel. I got the number from the internet, which the taper for MT0 was .0521 inches of taper per inch (included angle). I then carved out a taper from a piece of 3/8" steel and for whatever reason, the taper was wrong. I fiddled with the compound angle a number of times until I got a finished taper that fit the tailstock ram. I tried that dead center in the headstock spindle but it didn't fit right. Hmm. I then set the compound angle to about 0.020 inches per inch and made another center. That one fit the headstock, and strangely, it fit fairly well in the tailstock too. Hmm again. Maybe I just messed up the first center. In any event, I now have two dead centers for the Craftsman lathe. Don't look too closely at them, as they aren't the best quality. I might try to make one more just to see if it turns out better than the first one I did.

Craftsman 109 Lathe Tool Post

The cobbled-up tool post I've been using for the lathe is sorely lacking. It's time to bite the bullet and make something. I used this page (link: Deans Tool Post) as inspiration. I didn't bother using measurements from his page but just got out the dial calipers and jotted down some dimensions.

This first photo is of the main body being cut from some scrap steel.

Craftsman 109 Lathe Ads 1940s

While rummaging around the vast internet a number of years ago, I ran across a site (christmas.musetechnical.com) that had a large selection of Sears Spring/Summer, Fall/Winter, and Christmas catalogs. Today I was hoping I'd find my little Craftsman 109.20630 lathe in one of their online catalogs so I could get an approximate date of manufacture. I didn't see on their site that the content was copyrighted, so I'm going to post a few images.

I guessed my Craftsman lathe to be about 1940 vintage, but it appears that Sears was selling this lathe under the name Dunlap, not Craftsman, in the early 1940s. The Dunlap lathe was very similar to mine, and I found a catalog advertisement for the Dunlap from 1942, shown below. The Dunlap lathe had a 6 inch swing and 18 inches between centers.

Craftsman 109 Lathe Mounting Base

I dug around in the wood pile in the basement and found a piece of 3/4" plywood that I was able to cut a section from to make a base for the lathe and motor. I mounted the motor on a hinge so it was adjustable for the different pulley diameters.

Craftsman 109 Lathe Chuck Backing Plate Fabrication

It was a bit of a bummer that this new-to-me lathe didn't come with a chuck (or motor/tool post/gears), but I happened to remember I had a small 3" chuck (Union Mfg. Co. No. 153 Class S) that had come into my possession almost 40 years ago. So of course a new backing plate is now needed. I rummaged around and came up with two pieces of steel that I could cobble into what I needed. The large donut shaped piece already had a large hole through the center so I just bored it out to clean it up, then turned a smaller piece of round stock to fit the hole. I then cut a short disk of steel from the smaller chunk and welded it to the large donut.

Craftsman 109 Lathe Cross Slide Handle Repair

This isn't so much a repair but more a fabrication. The cross slide has half of a handle remaining on it. It looks like someone tried drilling a hole to add a handle to the stub, so I just ran with that and completed it. Here's the handle stub that I drilled a better hole in, and the start of a new handle chucked up in the lathe.

Craftsman (Sears) 109.20630 Metal Lathe Rescue

While at an old tractor/engine show this past Friday, there were also the usual vendors selling just about anything you could think of. My wife and I perused the $1 DVD collection a fellow had and found some videos we liked. He also had an old Craftsman lathe laying forlornly on the ground at the outskirts of his vendor kingdom. I didn't need another project so I didn't even ask a price when I went to pay for the DVDs. My wife then asked me if I'd asked about the lathe. I said no. She then persuaded me to go ask. Big mistake. The guy said he'd take twenty bucks for it. (!) That was even too cheap for me to pass up, so I came home with another project. Friday was a good day to go to the show, if for nothing else but to get the good lathe deal, as it was a pretty quiet day for visitors.

Lincoln MKC New 3D-Printed Cargo Net Hook

 It was bound to happen. A plastic hook in the cargo area of our 2015 Lincoln MKC somehow broke. There are two of these hooks that are used to support a cargo net. I looked online and it appears the only way to get a new hook is to get a whole new cargo area side panel. That's not going to happen anytime soon. So... what options do I have? I could glue on a piece of plastic to the the remaining flat part of the hook but it probably wouldn't hold up too well and not look too appealing. The second option is to try and design a new hook and print it out on the 3D printer. The first photo below shows the hook that is not (yet) broken.

GMC S15 Windshield Washer Nozzle Repair

 This squirter nozzle is out of a 1984 GMC S15, and has been broken for many years. While cleaning out the cowl area of needles, I decided to tackle fixing the nozzle, as new ones are not available.

Grip Repair

 I have an old pistol from the 1920's that has a small piece missing from the left grip panel. It wouldn't be much of a big deal except for the fact that the small piece that is missing has the job of holding a pin in place that is the pivot point for an internal spring toggle. Here's the beginnings of the repair. I glued a chunk of Mahogany onto the Walnut grip. Maybe not the smartest choice of wood but it was what I had on hand.

1880's Tranter Patent Pistol Repair

 I've had this odd pistol floating around for many years, not knowing what it was, as there are no legible markings on it other than a small string of letters and a partial serial number. The rear sight was missing, as was something mounted to the rear of the break-open barrel, but I didn't know what that something might be without seeing a similar gun. So, a few days ago I decided to see if I could find out anything at all from the vast interweb on this jewel.

Pfaff 1212 Sewing Machine Thread Spool Pin Bracket Reconstruction

The Pfaff 1212 I picked up a little over a year ago (link: Pfaff 1212) had an issue with the thread spool pin bracket. The plastic piece that supported the metal spool pins was broken into several pieces. I could have purchased a new bracket for $13 on eBay but decided to try my hand at whittling one from a piece of surplus cutting board plastic. After all, where's the fun in buying something when you can make it? And besides, buying the bracket would have more than doubled the investment I would have in this sewing machine...

Brown & Sharpe No. 21 Machinists Vise

 This Brown & Sharpe vise came with the South Bend 11" lathe (click here) I recently acquired. The vise is more suited to milling machine work but somehow it ended up hitching a ride with the lathe. The saying, "It has seen better days" is an understatement.

1929 South Bend 11-Inch Lathe With Quick Change Gearbox

What do we have here in the back of the pickup, a lathe? Yup. Not just any lathe though. This one was acquired by my wife's dad Jon 50 or 60 years ago.

1946 John Deere Model LA Tractor Gets New Transmission Bearings - Part 5 of 5

The brake lining material finally came in, so it's time to refurbish the one brake band that had lost most of its lining. The brake "drum" in the final drive had been wearing quite a bit on the metal brake band.

1946 John Deere Model LA Tractor Gets New Transmission Bearings - Part 4 of 5

With the rear cover plate on the differential, the transmission/differential assembly is ready to reinstall in the tractor and it's time to look at the few other details I need to work on. The first order of business was to free up the brake rods and adjusting yokes that are in the final drives. Well, while trying to free the first yoke with heat and penetrating oil, it snapped the brake rod. I found a bolt that had the same 5/16-24 thread pitch, cut the head off, then ground tapers on the bolt and rod to prepare for welding.

1946 John Deere Model LA Tractor Gets New Transmission Bearings - Part 3 of 5

 New bearings have arrived!

1946 John Deere Model LA Tractor Gets New Transmission Bearings - Part 2 of 5

This next set of photos shows more of the greasy mess inside the differential. See that green stuff on the left side? That's a glob of grease that was plugging a through-hole between the transmission and differential.

1946 John Deere Model LA Tractor Gets New Transmission Bearings - Part 1 of 5

 Here is my recent acquisition, a 1946 John Deere model LA tractor.

Singer 111W155 Gets A New Servo Motor And Needle Positioner

It's about time. I bit the dust and purchased a servo motor for my industrial Singer 111W155 sewing machine. I had hemmed and hawed for several years whether or not I should buy one. On the one hand I'm old school and like things the way they were built way back when, clutch motor and all. On the other hand, a servo motor would make a much more desirable experience when using the ol' beast. So practicality won out in the end. This photo shows the old clutch motor next to the new servo motor and controller. Now I just need to find space to store the old clutch motor as I won't be getting rid of it.

Gas Trimmer Problems

I worked on a friend's gas trimmer today. What I thought would be a short tune-up turned into a five-hour job. Not knowing what issues there might be, I started with the fuel tank on the machine. I pulled off the cap and looked inside. Hmm, that might be the problem:

Hydronic Heating System Zone Valve Repair - Micro Switch

Last week I realized a Caleffi  Z-One zone control valve for our main in-floor hot water heat wasn't functioning correctly, so I'd pulled the valve control box off the valve and when I tested its internal micro switch, I found that it wasn't working reliably. The micro switch is responsible for turning on the recirculating pump on the heating system after the zone valve opens. Without the pump coming on, there would be no heated water flowing through the pipes to heat this zone. I ordered a new switch online (takes a week to get it).

Gibson Model D Muffler Relocation

The muffler location, rather, the output direction of the muffler, is not ideal on the Petter AC1Z diesel engine on my Gibson D. Exhaust seems to blow back to the operator (me) fairly regularly. The muffler, as seen in the photo below, is forward of the air cleaner and shoots the exhaust out to the left and back a bit, so some exhaust drifts straight back.

Gibson Model D New Paint

I thought I'd throw a quick coat of paint on the new Gibson. It came to me with a coating of primer. It came from the factory in gray with red wheels, so I was going to stick to factory colors as much as possible. Here's a before shot:

Gibson Model D Remote Run/Stop and Throttle Controls

I'm guessing the person who installed the Petter AC1Z diesel engine on this Gibson tractor just hadn't gotten around to installing engine controls where the operator could reach them from the driver's seat, as both the throttle and stop lever were only on the engine. This photo below shows the Run/Stop lever, and under it is the throttle control, in which the threaded knob is turned out to slow the engine down and turned in to speed up the engine. You can kind of see a string on the stop lever, which was a less-than-ideal method of shutting the engine down from the driver's seat.

1948 Gibson Model D - Clutch Remedy

Hmm, a couple days ago I had a Gibson tractor in the garage. Now I have two. Was my Super D2 pregnant when I bought it? Apparently, because now I have two Gibson tractors in the garage, the Super D2 and now a D.

The D is older than the SuD2 by a couple years. It was also quite a bit more of a bare-bones offering by the Gibson company. Whereas my SuD2 has a proper steering wheel, hood, fenders, dash, and hydraulics, the D is absent all those "luxury" features. So, how do you steer, you ask, if there is no steering wheel? Tiller, of course. While it isn't very visible in this photo, it is there near the engine air cleaner. Pull the tiller to the rear to go right, push forward to go left.

Gibson Super D2 Tractor T96 Shifter Repair

When I bought this tractor, I knew either the shifter or transmission needed help, as it was sometimes almost impossible to shift between gears, and on a couple of occasions got stuck in two gears at once. I've had the shift tower off the transmission several times, greasing and oiling to no avail, and finally the last time I had it off (always the last time, right), I realized what was going on. The shift lever was twisting sideways and causing the square bottom end of the shift lever to bind between the two shift forks when in gear (red arrow below).

Gibson Super D2 Tractor Hydraulic Valve Repairs

I recently purchased this 1950 Gibson Super D2 tractor and have been slowly fixing the issues it came with. I've wanted another Gibson for some time as I'd owned one a number of years ago that I bought from my brother. Here is the Super D2 in all its glory a couple days after I got it home:

Onan 5KW CCK Generator Current Transformer Mod

I wanted to add a pair of Volt/Amp/Hertz displays to my 1973 Onan CCK generator so I knew how much load I could safely pull from it without damaging anything. I bought two small digital Voltage-Current-Hertz meters on Amazon and mounted them in a plastic box I also purchased from Amazon.

The Green Disease - Onan Generator

I've been looking for a 5 to 6 kilowatt 120/240 generator for a while now. You know, as a backup to the backup to the main generator. I finally found one that was close by and priced less than $200. Mind you, I wasn't looking for just any ol' run of the mill 5kw, but an Onan, and preferably the cast iron engine 1800 RPM CCK variety. Yes, I have the well-known and often diagnosed Onan green disease. As I've mentioned in the past, I have a 1950s Onan AJ 2500 watt 3600 RPM generator that my dad bought at a phone company auction back in the early 70's. Then in 2011 I picked up an Onan LK 2500 watt 1800 RPM generator out of a motorhome for thirty five bucks. Then in August 2019 the Onan CCK 3500 watt 1800 RPM generator fell into my lap free from Craigslist. All three of those are 120 volts only though, thus the desire to get a 120/240 unit. You know, as a backup....

1960 Onan 305 CCK Quit Running - Hmm

So my fairly-new-to-me propane-fueled 3.5kw Onan CCK was purring along nicely last week when I was test running it for fun. All of a sudden it just up and died after about 20 minutes of run time. I pulled the spark plugs, which revealed there was no spark. Where do I start looking?

1953 Kohler L600 Propane Powered 3.5KW Generator - Various Projects

I've been working on my new-to-me Kohler L600-powered 3.5Kw generator. It is both hand-crank start and electric start. I much prefer hand cranking because it is just that much more satisfying to me to hand-crank an old engine to life. Only problem was, I couldn't get it to start by hand on propane unless I used a starting aid. That wouldn't do. Nope, not at all.

Fortunately I ran across a photo of a propane mixer on a guy's generator that is the same as mine. Well, almost the same. These next two photos are of a piece from his propane mixer and the same piece out of my mixer:

How Many Generators Is Too Many..... Oh, Wait.

I guess I already titled a blog post with those "How Many" words. But wait, there's more, as the TV commercial says. Yes, since that posting, I've acquired two, yes two, more generators. Another green Onan and a blue Kohler.

1969 Cub Cadet Model 105 Hydrostatic Drive Garden Tractor - Part 2

Grab a warm cup of cocoa, sit down in your favorite chair, pull a warm blanket over yourself, and get comfortable. This may take a while.

I had no idea it would be so difficult to get a small engine crankshaft reground. I took my crankshaft to the local NAPA machine shop, the only place locally that does this sort of thing, and left in their capable hands.....

Current Transformers In Parallel - Lister Generator

My Lister/Lima generator has the two usual 120-volt legs to create its 240 volts. The power meter I bought came with one current transformer, so I could only read one leg through the meter. Here is a photo of the meter:

Old Hobbies Die Hard - Pfaff 1212 Garage Sale Find

I thought I was doing pretty well in keeping my sewing machine purchases pretty much non-existent lately, now that I'd cleaned out the basement of 100-something sewing machines. Alas, a garage sale did me in. The sticky note on the sewing machine said, "Needs Service $15." I'm a sucker for a good deal, and even more of a sucker for a good deal that needs some tinkering.

 

1969 Cub Cadet Model 105 Hydrostatic Drive Garden Tractor - Part 1

I purchased this 1969 Cub Cadet garden tractor in 2011 from a good friend who had purchased it used in 1972. They put it to good use up until the time I got it. It was garage-kept throughout their ownership, so it was in fairly good overall condition, including original paint on the hood and most of the body/frame. The seat also looks like it is original to the tractor. A rear-mounted Model 1 rototiller came with the package. The seller was in her late 60's when she finally decided to part with her baby.

How Many Generators Is Too Many?

When I bought my big diesel generator last month (click here), I had no idea what it would start. I have a Generac 5000 watt generator that I'd use during power outages, as it was 120/240 volt, but I also had buried in the depths of my garage two ancient Onan generators of the 120 volt variety. These old generators worked but they weren't powerful enough to run the things in the house, thus the Generac (and more recently, the diesel Lister). Once I started tinkering with the Lister, it got me thinking more about the old Onans, so a few days ago I un-buried them, dragged them out of their cozy hole, and hoped they still ran. Both generators are rated at 2500 watts.

Here's one:

Lister Generator Fuel Dipstick

The fuel tank on my Lister generator has a fuel gauge sender but no gauge is present on the generator. Turning to that age-old standby, the dipstick, I decided I'd make one out of a steel rod. A rusty steel rod to be more precise.

Lister Generator - Making A Camshaft Extension Safety Guard and Repairing The Air Cleaner Stud

The old Lister workshop manual I found online showed a guard for the camshaft extension that pokes out the front of the engine. I thought that was a very good piece of gear to be at the top of my list of things to do to this generator. Here's the finished product:

Lister Generator - New Electrics

When I got this old Lister generator, it was wired for 3-phase, and it didn't have much in the way of overload protection. The previous owner said the generator came off a boat, and I'm thinking it was a commercial vessel of some sort, as the generator is quite loud. The outlets on it were also on the sketchy side.

Lister Generator Hand-Start Crank Handle

It didn't take long for me to decide to attempt to make a starting handle for my new generator. I looked online and saw that the handles are still being sold in the UK, where Lister engines were originally manufactured. It would probably be $60 or $70 to have one shipped to my door so I figured it wouldn't be too terribly difficult to make a handle. And, bingo, here's a photo of the finished product:

Lister ST3A Diesel Generator

I picked up a new toy. Most folks probably wouldn't consider it a toy, but to me it's something to play with. Ok, maybe "tinker with" is more accurate than "play with". The new acquisition is a 15KVA/12KW 3-phase diesel generator. The engine is a Lister 3-cylinder air-cooled direct-injected diesel of about 21 horsepower at 1800 RPM.