fv1609

If you fancy doing some cooking.

Jim, is it moving coil meter or a digital thing? I find digital things if they don't have something definitive to measure rather than be honest about it & display 0000000 they tend to gibber around trying to look as if they are doing something useful. I find a moving coil meter is more honest, particlarly as very precise readings are not needed here. I'd sooner have an approximate reading that I can trust than an erronous one to 6 decimal places! Digitals are good at adding uncertainties into areas where uncertainties exist already. I do use digitals for exacting measurements but when searching for ball park readings I like a thing with a needle that moves, otherwise my brain spends it's time trying to convert changing digital displays into a mental analogue display. Yes diodes & resistors can be replaced I have seen power diodes a few days ago for about £1.50. Yes I would have thought semiconductor diodes failing will usually convert to conductors quite easily. Yes welding can be a problem. I see you disconnected the plugs. Did you reconnect them all before running the engine as peak voltage produced are said to damage the diodes? Heat sinks are here

Jim, you said earlier you had a Mk 3 generator, in which case you should get no readings from P, R & T as the pins are not connected to anything! Are you absolutely certain it is Mk 3 generator? Assuming it a Mk3 then all I can think of to explain that is moisture, grime or corrosion around the plug pins. I assume you are measuring this directly on the generator not on the connecting cable. But if there is no connection it is curious that you get different readings from your previous & by reversing the prods different readings again. Are you happy that your battery in the multimeter is up to scratch on all resistance ranges? The readings with +ve lead on W should all be pretty high, so ok there. But the readings with -ve lead on W should all be in the 100 ohm region. So something very wrong there U-V & V-U should be identical either way round a bit high but not outrageous, although spindle position can cause variation. This is measuring the field winding resistance. So all I can visualise is either a problem in the multimeter or inside the generator itself burnt out diodes/wires or desoldered wires & some grot around the plug pins. This is hard to envisage as it was working ok recently & you would have said if there was smoke or the smell of overheating. Yes the batteries provide the power for the field winding & after regulation the winding draws about 0.5 amps. The alternative way to approach this is to use a bulb & battery. Get a prod with a lead & connect to a 24v 5w bulb & then the other side of the bulb to one terminal of a 24v battery. Connect a prod & lead to the other terminal of the battery. Connect +ve prod to W Scratch the paint off each of the 3 heatsinks & in turn touch the -ve prod onto the heatsinks. Bulb should light up. Reverse prods bulb should not light up. Connect +ve prod to X Scratch the paint off each of the 3 heatsinks & in turn touch the +ve prod onto the heatsinks. Bulb should light up. Reverse prods bulb should not light up. Those two tests are for the 6 main diodes. Connect the -ve prod to F Scratch the paint off each of the 3 heatsinks & in turn touch the +ve prod onto the heatsinks. Bulb should light up. Reverse prods bulb should not light up. That tests the 3 low power diodes that energise the battery relay. If it fails on those tests you need to go inside the gen & have a look around!

Yes , the main output does & the seperate 24v to operate the BCK relay to connect both batteries together & to the main output. But there is nothing coming out of the pins U & V on the generator that is the input. Pins U & V have 24v from the generator panel it is just this supply that comes from the voltage regulator, This supply goes into U & V on the gen that supplies the field winding that in turn alters the magnetism that in turn regulates the main output mirroring & 'amplifying' the changes from the voltage regulator.

Jim I'm surprised with the milliohms that you can read that low so accurately. I find I can easily gain an ohm if the test prods & plugs aren't tight, clean & me pressing hard with the probe. Well let's see what they are the other way round. As for the Gen Panel I think its established you don't have a Mk 4 (ie transistorised regulator) It is unlikely to be a Mk 1. So it is important to establish whether it is a Mk 2 or a Mk 3 as they differ significantly. Mk 2 has an additional relay to isolate the supply to the field winding on switch off. It has a normal relay for the battery isolating. Mk 3 has no field relay but has a CAV Type BCK relay to isolate the batteries from each other & the generator. This has a second 'bucking' winding in the opposite sense it is only operative if one or both of the batteries are connected the wrong way round. If this happens what was a blocking diode in each supply from the battery now conducts & reverses the magnetic field in the BCK causing it to open avoiding serious damage. So we need to establish which you have. Well the gen panel should provide 24v to pins U & V when the generator is running, with it disconnected if you push down on the BCK relay then it should give output to U & V. If you have the earlier Mk 2 you will need to press down on the battery relay & the smaller field isolating relay. This looks like the voltage regulator & is sat next to it. It is the one nearer the main socket.

U-V sounds much better The other readings, are you saying these are megohms? What are all other readings with the probes reversed? Don't despair. Logic will triumph, probably. Yes been on ACU 4 again today:-)

Jim I'll answer this first part here & then reply to the other in a minute as it is easy to get befuddled with all these readings going on. U-V is a bit high. This is your field winding which should be 15 ohms +/- 0.5 ohms. The brushes may be worn & its not making a good contact on the slip rings. Take 3 readings by rotating the shaft to 3 different positions & take the average. W-X should read much higher when you reverse the probes. If its the same it points to the main diodes. Pity you don't have a Mk 2 then P, T & R would allow some internal assessment of the diodes individually. Back in a minute.

SPAM still doing a good job! http://www.modoracle.com/news/Wham-Bam-Thank-You-Spam_19821.html?category=all

Well yes, she always looks nice & clean.

Just had a thought Jim, you didn't say which Mk of Generator you have. Those readings I quoted are only valid if you have a Mk A, Mk 1 or Mk 2. If you have a Mk 3 you will get no readings on pins P, T & R.

Tyre paint. It's black & rubber based. I did have some military rubber rejuvinator/preserver fluid. I think that was somewhat hazardous, it seemed to perk the tyres up nicely but it was short lived as I drove the Pig over the can & it all flowed away

Although the difference here is that there seems a willingness to listen & accomodate, this wasn't the case so much with the other organisation.

A number of people have suggested the formulation of a "standard letter" which on the face of it seems perfectly reasonable, but may be of minimal value. In the last couple of years there have been representations & protests made to a government sponsored authority near here. During this campaign there were large numbers of letters of protest many of which used a "standard letter". I am given to understand that no matter how many hundreds or even thousands of "standard letters" received they were only counted as ONE letter!

There are relatively few with 10mm head. But obviously going down in size there will be some sort of quality/capture area trade off. There are some that are 10mm across but that is the measurement of the flat side of a square box frame over the camera collar. So the diagonal is about 12mm. I asked if this box thing can be removed, but it can't.

Richard, yes the second clip was looking at the master cylinder on the Shorland that is boxed over by armour. Useful for reading serial numbers on engines or a chassis. I might carry it around to shows but suspect it might be as popular as the condenser testing service! It comes with three attachments, a hook for wires, magnet & a mirror for peering back. The LEDs in head are essentially & brightness is adjustable. The 3.5in monitor is best used detached. Its bad enough trying compensate if the top of the camera is not at the top of the screen, let along moving the monitor as the camera & cable are twisted around to get access. Some adverts warn that the seller takes no responsibility for any kind of illegal use, whatever that might mean!

Richard. I'm a bit disappointed that I couldn't get the camera right inside its about 1mm too wide. I did have an EOD kit that had tiny mirror that you could remotely tilt with a LES bulb. That would have gone in but it was rather short. This has a waterproof head so I've been looking at pond life to see whats going on out of sight! Works quite well but have been half expecting an octopus to creep across the screen. Quite colourful down there, not the muddy depths I expected. Just in case anyone is thinking about one this what I got. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Wireless-Inspection-Camera-3-5-Inch-Color-Monitor-DVR_W0QQitemZ290389664462QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CamerasPhoto_DigitalCameras_DigitalCameras_JN?hash=item439c92a2ce Reason for my choice is as follows. I saw just a camera head & stalk in a Maplin promo. The trouble was that the head was wide & you need a laptop or something to plug it into, not going to be convenient. On ebay you can get viewers with a 2.5 in screen for £99 from China or a bit more in the UK. But these do not capture pcs or video. To capture these you have to move up £30-£50. Most of these are in Hong Kong or China, very few in UK. One dealer I contacted in UK never replied. The one in the link did & indulged repeated queries from me & was prompt & helpful. The catch as I saw it was that although the company was UK based, the product would be shipped from China. I thought of saving about £10 & ordering directly for myself. All the companies had high feedback ratings, but they had a high number of sales so negative feedback gets diluted. In my top five possible sellers I looked at all the negative feedback & how it was handled. I know there are stupid & dishonest buyers but some sellers assumed all customers with a problem were in that category. I read responses like "I AM NO SPEAK YOU ANY MORE YOU SAY ME BAD THING SELLER NO YOU ARE BAD PERSON I AM NOT SPEAK YOU GO AWAY" ETC they've obviously not been on the customer relations course. Looking at my seller, his negative feedback was quite low but any problems were met with a restrained & polite answer with the offer of help. So given the help I received, the dignified response to feedback & being UK base I ordered from them. I ordered it late Wednesday afternoon, it arrived from China at 10.30am this Monday morning. So under 5 days quicker than many UK only transactions!

Yes Chris spot on (one for your 'Originality' thread!). When I first saw it 25 years ago I thought it looked the business as the owner intended us to think. Now it I find rather embarassing. First of all lets get this one out of the way, an owner can do what they like to their vehicle etc etc. But this thing was on public display giving the impression to everyone (& Heaven help some modeller if he copied this) that it is an accurate restoration. The owner went to considerable effort in working on this vehicle, it has had several changes of ownership. It has recently undergone a suberb restoration to a standard of finish that I could not achieve. It doesn't have all the 'stuff' on it but it is still portayed as an ambulance which it never was. You know something is up when you see a large Government Property 'Pheon' on the door, lots of marking & accessories everywhere make's one suspicious. The main points are: The ERM displayed is of an ambulance, but the ERM does not match the ERM of this vehicle which is a FV1611B not a FV1613. Suffix 'B' means it should have a winch, which it indeed does have. No ambulances had winches. There should be two rear steps this only has one. The doors on an ambulance open fully to allow easier stretcher access, this one has limit blocks as on a FV1611. The rear door should be marked with a large Red Cross. The interior has just bare metal sides, not the panels packed with insulating material that an ambulance has. The interior lockers & fittings were absent. Those are the main points, I know of only one genuine FV1613 Mk 1 that is in NI & owned by a forum member who's not been on for a while. Come on Wilson show us what a real Pig Ambulance should look like!

I hope its genuine, I saw that Ashchurch Vehicle Depot about 6 years ago.

Nope that's legit.

Nope the Samaritan is legitimate. This was at a RA event at Thorney Island a few years ago.

I got this thing to look for leaks inside the chimney, but of course it has automotive applications and many others besides that I won't go into! The shakiness is because the probe cable is just over 3ft long & bendy. The other problem is depending on the degree of twist, is that the top of the camera may not be at the top of the screen which makes orientation difficult. I know these things have been around for a while but the price seems to have come down quite a lot.

Yup. RUC. Underneath the canvas many were armoured in rear compartment to give seated officers some protection from being shot in the back.

Number plate is a clue:-)

To start the ball rolling. Oh and one of these never was an ambulance!

I was delighted to see this a few seasons ago, but the owner had no idea of its history. Shame about the Lightweight next door, each to his own I suppose.