So I we are working away trying to breath new life into a 1970 wide vision caboose. So far things have been gone better than I expected. However we've hit something that isn't coming back together as easy as the rest of it.

The electrical system (specifically the generator, charging control and drive gear box) have been manufactured by the "Safety Electric Company" of New Haven Ct. Of course we didn't expect it all to come flying back to life, but so far the TLC approach hasn't garnered results. Nor has a Google search to find any trace of the company

Is there any one out there familiar with the system?

The control panel does have form numbers on it telling you where to find all the test and inspection information, but with out a contact.....

Any body out there still using a system like this on an operating caboose?

Thanks for any help!

Ben True

DGVR

https://www.wabtec.com/business-units/v ... il-systems

They were bought out a number of times but are now WABTEC

Address
72 Arizona Ave,

Plattsburgh, NY 12903

(518) 561-0044

found during the search
"I currently am working for Vapor Stone Rail Systems Plattsburgh, NY. It is true that Wabtec bought out what was Saftey Electrical Equipment Corp. If we can be of any help, please contact us. 72 Arizona Ave. Plattsburgh, NY 12903 518 561 0044. my ext is 23 or ask for Jay, if I cannot help I will get you going in the right direction.

Benjamin,

I assume this is a DC "generator" as you stated. If so, you may need to re-magnetize the unit. Older generators rely on residual magnetism in the metal (steel/iron) parts to start the process of exciting the field windings. Once the generator is outputting current the field becomes "self exciting"

After time (years) without operating the residual magnetism wears out.

There is procedure where you apply 12 volts DC (from a regular car battery) to the windings to re-magnetize the metal parts.

I had to "flash" the windings on a DC generator from 1919 to get it put out any juice.

Easy to do, just research the correct terminal to connect to the battery, my first attempt I connected to the wrong terminal and melted a wire in the voltage regulator, whoops, time to dig out the soldering iron.

Here is one link that may or may not apply to your situation;

http://www.ehow.com/how_12135827_remagn ... rator.html

Maybe there is a good old fashioned alternator/generator/battery auto shop in your area with an "old timer" around to fix it for you ?

Oh, also, the commutator and brushes need to be clean and smooth. Any dust from the brushes can short out the pole sections in the commutator and sap your output.

Good luck.

Cheers, Kevin.

Thanks you both for your help.

So the actual rotating electrical equipment is stamped "generator" however it is brushless with 3 sets of windings. One winding "AC1" one winding "AC2" one winding with three leads for the one field. A total of 7 wires. It all leads back to a panel which I assume to be a voltage regulator and rectifier (it's blessed with several big diodes, 8 in fact).
So I think labeling it a generator was a bit of a mistake.

So far though exciting the smaller field with DC hasn't worked. From what old time trainmen have told me, the caboose had to have a charged battery before the generator would work. So I assume it's possible the garden tractor battery I am using for testing at the moment isn't putting out enough current. On the other hand it doesn't seem like the charging panel is trying to put out any current either.

Like I said, the panel is littered with part numbers for technical information. I just had to see if I could find something specific some where.

are you sure you are using enough voltage? The Caboose electrical I have seen have used 64 volt (32 cell) systems like a locomotive, so they can share some of the same parts (lights, radio, even an electric water cooler). Also if it tries to cram 64 volts into a small 12v battery it could rapidly overheat and explode.

If I could see it I could probably tell you more but such is the curse of the internet.

Benjamin, so it sounds like you have an "alternator" that outputs AC voltage followed by rectifiers that convert that to the final DC voltage output.

The correct terminology is loosely applied. I have a whole house backup "generator" that outputs 60 HZ 220 VAC in case the power goes out. It is actually an alternator.

The fixed (not rotating) windings (stator) are connected to a transfer switch that connects them to the circuit breaker panel in the house. Utility power goes out, "generator" control senses this and starts the engine (propane gas powered in my case). A 12v battery starts the engine and once the engine is running stable it sends a signal to the transfer switch to select the 220 VAC from the "generator" instead of from the utility.

This system energizes the field windings (which are rotating) with two
"slip rings". These look like a regular DC motor commutator but with no grooves around the ring.

The output wires are fairly hefty gauge (4 AWG) while the field wires are normal 14 gauge wires. The field current is fairly low.

This alternator does require residual magnetism in the metal parts to start exciting the field. The DC battery only powers the starter motor and the controller. The "generator" part of the machine is all 220 VAC rated parts.

So even though you have an AC alternator it may still need to be re-magnetized after many years of dis-use.

The controller probably adjusts the field voltage to maintain a constant output voltage as the load changes.

Old style voltage regulators used relays for this, they would sense a voltage rise which would close a relay and add some resistors into the field circuit. This caused the field current to drop and then the final output voltage would drop. You could watch the relays "pickup" and "dropout" every few seconds.

Cheers, Kevin.

If there are no slip rings, you should have an exciter stator and an exciter rotor. The exciter stator is powered by a DC voltage that varies from what whatever passes for a regulator outputs. The stator induces a voltage in the exciter rotor which is rectified by rotating diodes and feeds a DC voltage to the main field rotor, which induces a voltage into the main power stator, which is where the output comes from. Feeding a DC voltage to the exciter stator should produce an output in the power windings if the unit is rotating. It won't take much DC voltage to make this happen. Like I said, be cautious because if your system jumps to life and feeds 70+ volts into a 12vdc battery things could get very ugly.

Your system should need no field flash as the initial 'drive' will come from the battery pack. Also, I would gather somewhere in the system is a cutout so that when the caboose slows down to below useful speeds, the charging system will shut down-otherwise the system would full field and just waste amps.