Old Lucas regulators

[ianmack]

Wanting a regulator for another vehicle I had a hunt around in the garage and came up with three Lucas RB106 regulators as fitted to the Minor. I tested them on my Minor and not one of them worked although when I reconnected the car’s own one everything was fine.

I can’t believe that I have carefully stored three completely useless regulators all these years so do they deteriorate with age if not used?

If so is it possible to revive them? (I’ve tried cleaning points and a squirt of wd40.)

[myoldjalopy]

I can’t believe that I have carefully stored three completely useless regulators all these years

Its quite possible.....were they known to be working by you when you got them? I can't think why a good one would deteriorate if it were in good condition and kept perfectly dry. A friend gave me two old regulators once that were in his garage. Neither of them worked, even after doing what you did.

[ianmack]

At least one worked, I started and ran the car before I dismantled it about fifteen years ago. I can’t remember where the other two came from but I’m certainly not in the habit of storing unusable bits.

[shoebone]

Corroded points ??

[myoldjalopy]

Well, the OP says he cleaned the points.......but if they are too badly corroded, its impossible to get them back to a useable state.
Two of the three are of unknown provenance - maybe 'ianmack' was given them by someone who 'thought' they were OK.......I once got a replacement engine from someone who 'thought' it was OK - it wasn't. But he didn't quibble bout giving me my money back so i don't think he was trying to gyp me!

[alanworland]

I still have my original fitment regulator which has a burnt out inner coil!
I had ideas about putting the coils from my new replacement in it to retain the original appearance - what was I thinking!

Alan

[Sleeper]

I don't think a squirt of WD40 would be sufficient , maybe a fine points file,finishing off with a little burnishing...

John ;-)

[sparesman]

I have found that even new old stock boxed ones that have been sitting on the shelf since the 1950s often do not work. Is there anyone out there in the club who knows how to overhaul regulators or has the means of testing them?

[ianmack]

Thank you sparesman, it seems that my suspicions are confirmed and elderly regulators can expire in storage. The only way I know of testing them is to connect them to the wiring of a car where the rest of the charging system is known to be good.

Unless we can find a way to fix them we are left with buying new. There are so many reports of poor quality new electrical components. Are the new voltage regulators reliable?

[alanworland]

Got mine from esm, bargain price I thought and it works well enough, it's just not built like the original - far lighter in construction and not as neat.
Perhaps I shouldn't worry or be concerned about this but having an engineering background I appreciate the advantages of a well built item.

Alan

[ianmack]

Alan, in an earlier post you mentioned putting modern innards in your old regulator. Some cars of the 1920s had a cut out but no regulator and if these cutouts fail they can be replaced with a diode which is cheap and readily available. If some solid state device can be found to replace the regulator winding and contact it might be possible to convert old regs to solid state which should be more reliable.

Sadly it will need someone better versed in electronics than I am to figure this out but it might be worth trying.

[myoldjalopy]

Alan's comments about the structural deficiencies of the new control boxes is reflected in the fact that they just don't last as long as they should. I would also be interested as to why the NOS control boxes 'sitting on the shelf' mentioned by 'sparesman' have failed......you would think that, as long as they are kept perfectly dry, they would be OK. The original ones often worked on the cars for decades!

[ianmack]

According to a 1988 article the diode type 1N2129 can replace the cutout, although as this is rated up to 100 volts and 60 amps a lesser one might suit our purposes.

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

On my car the charging system was working but the voltage regulator would not adjust - it was charging full whack. I took a punt on a second hand unit from an autojumble, but the cut-out was inoperative. It is important to remember the regulator and cut-out can be treated separately but work together in these two-bobbin units. It was a simple matter to dismantle them and make a good one out of the two, which has not given any further trouble. I dismantled the remainder of the other keeping things like nuts, the cover and the terminal screws which often get chewed up by people using the wrong size screwdriver.