Dynamators Gear Wear & Reliability

[jonblob33]

Both gears on dynamater changed for Austin gears after timing gears destroyed. As for distributor gear - was fitted in good faith. Have had offer of cut price replacement  but worried same may happen again. Going to contact Tony after weekend. Upto current situation with electrical failure I was well pleased with dynamater. No worries re fitting replacement.

[Tony Press]

"Thanks for all the replies. I spoke to the person who rebuilt the distributor, who in turn spoke to one of our “ cherished” suppliers then rang me back to say”yes we have had lots of problems as the distributor end of the dynamater is out of line. Problems the same on our race car. It would appear to me that the gear is softer than it should be. I think 50yrs as an engineer qualifies me to make that judgment. If the end of the dynamater was wrongly machined damaged gears would be a big problem. "

Not sure that the later replies answer this - 

[Alan]

So we have an unsubstantiated statement that the distributor end of the dynamotor is out of line. Has anyone got any facts? These rumours do more harm than good.

[jonblob33]

No names but the man who made that statement suggested the same problem with the dynamater on their race car?? Plus others he had heard about. Strange that no one on here seems to have that problem

[Peter Naulls]

Jon,

I had a distributor gear wear down to nothing, on a rebuilt distributor, within a few hundred miles. The supplier blamed incorrect fitting /misalignment of the distributor. He supplied and fitted a replacement gear (chargeable) which failed similarly within 12 miles. A local engineer found the new gears to be soft (unhardened) steel. Fitting an original gear cured the problem. The supplier did tell me he'd never known another one fail.

Worth checking your cam lobe too as mine was found to be machined off-centre, making for some interesting points gaps!

Peter.

[jonblob33]

Hi all, more dynamater problems. After all the usual gear problems were sorted the original unit failed after 50 miles of use it failed electrically. Fair play to BB classics they replaced the unit. Fitted the new one and did 30 miles before it failed again. I rang them to be told they were happy to inspect it and exchange again if found to be faulty. Decided to cut my losses & go with Dynamo&Regulater conversions. The newly exchanged dynamater will be for sale. Thought it would have been a cost effective option but it turned out otherwise. Trouble is D&R conversions have a 10 week turnaround so no more severing this year. Also did a full rewire before fitting first unit so no faults there.

[Nigel Ricardo]

Also did a full rewire before fitting first unit so no faults there



So did I , look at the photos on Facebook of my wiring after the fire.

[johnpage]

Hello, 
I have an A& fitted with a Dynamater that was supplied to the previous owner if Feb 2019. Is it safe to assume that it was supplied gearless and so has A7 gears fitted or should I check it?
ALSO !
The headlight bulbs blow after a few hundred yards.
The bulbs are 6v halogen and I assumed it was because I had handled them whilst fitting them but did a careful meths clean and the same thing happened again.
The Dynamater website shows a simple wiring diagram and their response to me was that the voltage would have to be ever-so high to blow the bulbs BUT I wonder if there should be a regulator wired into the system.
Has anyone else had the same problem and if so how was it cured please?
Thanks
John Page

---

Oh dear!
That should read A7 !!

[jonblob33]

Are you sure the dynamater is 12v. They are supposed to have internal regulation. I had two which failed very quickly, also the first totally destroyed crank gear, cam gear & both dynamo & distributor gears then failed electrically. Personally touch& barge pole sum it up for me. Refusal to acknowledge badly machined gears also didn’t help. 
Quick cure- file under Bin, fit dynamo & electronic regulator.

Kevin.

[johnpage]

Thanks Kevin,
That starts to sound like the safest way forward!