dynamator

[Tony Betts]

If the new distribs are the same as there 009 distribs. They have steel shims between the gear and body.

We're as I beleive Austins original distribs had a fibre shim / washer?

The only danger of the steel shims, is if they wear the same as bronze against steel. So the steel wears more than the bronze. Or in this case aluminium.

If So the steel shims could wear and brake out, it's only a theory. But perhaps Worth keeping an eye on.

Or the shims could be replaced with a fibre shim.

Tony.

[Tony Press]

I would suggest that the greying of the grease is down to aluminium, most likely from the thrust face between gear and body, provided this is not wearing too quickly there won't be a problem. Obviously the original body's were steel so wear would have been negligible, just keep an eye on end float in the shaft.

Looks like graphite grease.
 
I thought the distributor in question was an original Lucas with steel shaft housing, but having re read the post I see the grease problem is with the Accuspark distributor. 

Never having seen one I didn't realise the new Accuspark distributor has an all aluminium body and shaft housing?

Tony.

[GK5268]

No, it is not graphite grease, just a standard Castrol general purpose grease, a substantially different colour!

I have run my fingers through the grease that I removed, it is full of metallic particles, quite gritty, this is not right, something is grinding away, the original Lucas distributor gear mesh with the dynamo did not contaminate the grease, so wear is taking place.

I will report to Accuspark and obviously will now monitor the position.

[jonblob33]

        Hi,just checked the drive gear on my 12v dynamiters. It’s really bad after about only 50 miles or so. Have fitted the original from my dynamo but now have a clattering noise from the gears. Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks. 
Kevin.

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Forgot to ask- does anyone do new gears, or should I replace cam gear also at same time.
Kevin.

[Ruairidh Dunford]

I chose to replace the camshaft gear along with a suitable crankshaft gear.  

Very quiet and no signs of wear after about 300 miles now.

I think Dave Dye (Austin In the shed) is making new gears.

[GerryW]

Hi

Like other people I upgraded my Ruby with a Dynamator and a distrubuter from Accuspark. After about 10 miles I stated to get a lot of noises from the Dynamator (Camshaft gear end) and I opened up the Front viewing panel and the Cam gear teeth are wrecked i.e. reduced width of teeth by about 20%.
Listening to  other posts it sounds a simillar problem to other posts. I have a matched pair of Crank and Cam gears and will change them in the next few days. I will also move my Dynam gear to the Dynamator.

I called Accuspark and reported the problem and all they could say was send the Dynamator back and they will look at it.

Seems to me that Dynamo gear and the Dynamator gear are have different teeth profiles and Accuspark should get an Austin 7 failing engine and investigate the meshing of the gears on both  Dynamo and and Dynamator.

We all have spent a lot of time and money on this problem already and I may get worse in the future.

Does anyone agree with this??

[Nigel was in Brittany]

Yes I agree with you Gerry , I have billed Accuspark for the repairs, transporting the car for repairs and oil and materials. In an email to me the MD of Accuspark said "We are absolutely not accepting liability " , maybe they are not but seem to be adopting a hard luck attitude, but i know of 11 failures to date and am sure many more will show up. Interestingly the pre sale test one had to have the timing wheels replaced a week before mine.I think the alternator itself is a brilliant piece of kit , its just the drive gear letting it down, but Accuspark are removing the gear now before delivery but still deny there is a problem with the gear even ,I quote "We have had initial discussions with two engineers, their initial reports are the gear has been produced correctly", which I presume means its round and got teeth.

[John Mason]

I am still with my original set up and happy with it. However I am not running my Ruby in races or hill climb s etc. When this new Dynomator came along how members raved about it and sang its praises. The same people are now just the opposite. Fickle is the word that comes to mind. This is the sort of attitude in my opinion will stop companies like auto spark developing new ideas and products

John Maso

[Ruairidh Dunford]

If it makes you feel any better there are a number of us who have been personally affected by the issues and share your point of view John.

It is very annoying to have to change timing years but I have done so and that is life, in my opinion. As stated previously, I have lost count of the number of newly produced A7 items that were faulty when first put on the market. As an early adopter of most things I have probably had more than my fair share of issues because of this. In every instance I worked with the manufacturer/supplier to ensure the product was improved, I have taken this approach with the Dynamator also, my long term view is that it will benefit all to be like this.

I will continue to share my experiences of using it and other new-to-market products.

[Nigel was in Brittany]

I notice from Acusparks website they do not have any 12 volt Dynamators available for sale, last week they had 49 available, they must be selling fast.