My old Crypton Battery Charger ~ Risen like the Phoenix ...

[Abott10]

I had popped out when MarinaBrian called last week. He spotted my old battery charger in pieces out in the sunshine to dry after I had painted it to freshen up that half a century of fading paint. He mentioned this on the "WIDWM R75/ZT Today" thread.. :)

After fifty years of regular use, the slide switch from 6volts to 12volts had started to play up and the Charger would sometimes turn off before the charge was complete. Fiddling with the slide switch usually got it going again but not always reliably. When working well it is a superb battery charger and at least worth trying to restore to good health for that reason.

Removing the casing revealed the problem. The 12 volt wire to the slide switch had become detached and so contact was not always good. Old age simple as that. Imagine my delight when searching ebay that a near identical slide switch was available for a total of £1.47p posted ! Even all the dimensions were identical including the position of the mounting holes.

It arrived a couple of days ago and an hour with the soldering iron saw the various wires reconnected to the new switch. Before replacing the top cover, I decided to give a brief test to see if my work had been worth while. It had ~ see first image working perfectly.

I allowed the test to last for a while and it had not turned itself off. Now reassembled, ready for another half century of reliable use... ;)

I like little jobs like this. Get lots of pleasure from it. Getting things going again and in good health in this throw away world of today. Be they an old Battery Charger or an old Rover or MG most folks would throw away at the first sign of something wrong needing a few quid spent...

The second image shows the "before" state of the Charger. The third all back together after reassembly. Just need a nice pair of curved crocodile clips to replace the old worn out ones and the job's a good 'n..

[Gino]

Well done, it looks really good. I often find old tools are superior to the new versions.

[boater]

I too have a Crypton charger identical to yours (5A 6 or 12 volt) which must be around 50 years old and still works perfectly well.

I did treat myself to a CTEC smart charger around 5 years ago so I can leave it on indefinitely when it suits me and that is a great little unit which will no doubt see me out!

[Gemsathome]

A man after my own heart, I love fixing old stuff where possible, swmbo gets quite irritated by the amount of time I can spend tinkering :D

[HarryM1BYT]

Well done on getting it sorted, its a very satisfying thing to do - irrespective of the effort put into it.

I disposed of all of my uncontrolled chargers long ago, or converted them to controlled ones if they were worthy of the effort.

You can convert many of them with just a voltage comparator and a relay which trips open at a pre set voltage.

[hogweed]

I had popped out when MarinaBrian called last week.

Marinabrian was in Gloucester??? D’Oh! I could have had a spare key…

I like little jobs like this. Get lots of pleasure from it. Getting things going again and in good health in this throw away world of today.

Couldn't agree more. I’ll never forget when my Black & Decker jigsaw suddenly stopped working, just out of warranty. In fairness to B&D, I WAS using it to saw pallets up for my woodburner, which probably wasn’t its primary intended purpose.

Naturally, I took it to bits, and discovered that a pin on a cog wheel had sheared – all it needed was a new wheel/pin. I trotted off down to the B&D shop (they had their own, back then) in my shiny red Astra GSI 16V – how times, and I, have changed – and asked for one:

“Better to buy a refurbished unit, Sir. Year’s warranty and everything. Only £39.99”.

- Thank you SO much for your helpful suggestion, but I’d just like the cog please, as I really don’t believe in just chucking things away – do you supply them?

“Oh, yes Sir, we do”.

- Excellent! I’ll have one of those, please.

“Certainly Sir, That’ll be £39.99…”

Bit like the Monty Python Cheese Shop sketch…

[marinabrian]

Marinabrian was in Gloucester??? D’Oh! I could have had a spare key…





I was on holiday staying in a cottage in English Bicknor.....

Somehow I don't think Mrs Marinabrian would have been too happy if I was off gallivanting doing keys :eek::getmecoat:

Brian :D

[hogweed]

Somehow I don't think Mrs Marinabrian would have been too happy if I was off gallivanting doing keys :eek::getmecoat:


Yes, completely unreasonable, these women :getmecoat:

[COLVERT]

And there I was thinking my battery charger was REALLY old at 35 years.---:duh:

[hogweed]

I'm still using the socket set I bought in 1972 - some sort of anonymous brand everybody told me not to waste my money on at the time, as it was "cheap ****". A bit like my £16.50 rear parking sensor setup... 4 years and counting...

Oh sorry, I'm not allowed to say ****. Funny, the word has nothing to do with poo... it's from late Middle English for chaff/Middle Dutch "krappe", anything cut off or separated... not the most offensive thing in the world. Hey ho.

[mbrenn]

Well done John. Repaired my Dad's old charger a few times over the years replacing the bridge rectifier diodes with bigger ones. At least 40 years old. Hard to beat the old gear. Some new chargers won't charge if the voltage drops to less than 6V.

[hogweed]

I dated a lady from Leominster some years ago whose surname was Morris. She told me a charming story of her family having been toolmakers, once a big company called Morris of Leominster, or MOL, and that they had invented the Mole (MOL) Grip. Utter bolleaux it would seem! Actually she was a bit weird anyway.

Interestingly, I note from Wikipedia that “The first locking pliers, named Vise-Grips, were invented by William Petersen in De Witt, Nebraska in 1924”. In Northern Ireland, where I grew up, they were always called “vice grips” (Yanks please note correct spelling) – I never heard the term “mole grips” till I came here in 1982.

Agree totally about “Of course that sort of proudly displayed product origin would be considered un-pc today.”

Have a bit of pride, you English! At least we still have the little Union Jack on our Rovers…

[HarryM1BYT]

Is that lot to start a Saturn rocket :eek:

[ratchet]

Is that lot to start a Saturn rocket :eek:

Nah, he's building a hybrid :D

I recently picked up a Duco DBE 5 charger at a bootfair for a couple of quid. It looks like it had never been used, and proudly declares that it was made in Swindon.

Our local plod picked up a bloke yesterday who had been drinking battery acid and eating gunpowder.......... he didn't know whether to charge him or let him off

[COLVERT]

However I'm still using things that are 77 years old.---( And still in good condition. )--:eek::eek::eek:



Colvert.--:D:D:D

[HarryM1BYT]

..and yesterday, apart resetting the handbrake up and doing a pre-MOT, I fitted a new self re-winding airline I'd treated myself to. Works quite well, Aldi £20. You just pull on the end to extend it, pull more gently and it recoils itself out of the way. Quite pleased with it, better than I expected for the money.

I've a mains compressor in the garage, until now I've used a long extension line to reach the car, wheel barrow caravan tyres. Its a bit of a nuisance to get it out and put it away.

My first idea was mount the unit outside, above the middle of the big front door under the lip of the roof - in the weather. I just stopped myself in time and decided to mount it at ground level under one of the steel shelves, just inside the garage door. Its much longer than the 20' its supposed to be and much longer than my extension, making it easy to reach all of the tyres with the car out on the drive.

[COLVERT]

Glue a bit of wood inside the case to stop the con rod coming off.----;);)

[Abbadon]

I've got one of those black and Deckers, it was my grandads, I inherited it when he passed in 1994, as at the time I had nothing and my dad didnt need another drill and I've had it since, altho I have others too now, it's built to last and it's been used on porting, honing, etc.. on friends engines too :)

[COLVERT]

Reviving this thread with another "Back from the Dead" Tool Resurrection! Some of you may have read elsewhere about two electric Tools of mine which expired coming to a standstill with a shower of sparks out of the Motor's side vents.

By carefully filing and reassembling the carbon brushes, I was able to get an angle grinder back to good health. Used it several times.

However, taking apart my Rockworth Electric Hammer Drill revealed one Carbon Brush completely worn away leaving just the clip and spring! Like this :~

http://i65.tinypic.com/2sb5oxw.jpg

Extensive searches on the internet eventually convinced me that they were no longer available. I looked at many similar brushes but none had the same retaining clip design. I contacted a carbon-brush specialist on ebay who listed many brushes asking if he can suggest any similar brushes which I can adapt to fit. He could not do that but, if I sent the old worn ones, he'd fit new brushes of the correct size using the same retaining clips and springs. They arrived this morning... less than a tenner posted.

http://i64.tinypic.com/334i6p1.jpg

So John Boy, your mission should you accept, put this lot back together :~

http://i65.tinypic.com/2e2duhd.jpg

Got stuck in and soon realised I would need to trim 3mm off the Carbon to enable them to fit in their housing. Careful use of a Junior Hacksaw with the brushes in a miniature vice soon had them trimmed. Finished off with a fine rasp file. I also used some Grade 180 then Grade 1200 Wet and Dry used wet on the Commutator. Came up like new. Ran a sharp knife between each segment of the commutator to remove any carbon dust and metal from the wet and dry treatment. The Motor went back into the assembly quite easily but, I saw to my chagrin several of the numerous wires to-from the double switch and other parts of the motor has become dislocated from where they should be. Four in all. I had not been heavy handed. They simply just drifted out during careful handling. Two were grub screw secured whilst two others were micro-crimped ... and not very well. But, the problem. What wire went where. I used the memory bends in the wires to indicate approximately what went where after carefully positioning the small electric switch and components in one half of the handle. That gave me a clue although I was not 100% certain I got them right.

Anyway, by patiently routing the numerous wires where I thought they should go, I was able to fit the other half of the handle and fasten the complete handle with the seven self-tapping screws. So, it was all back together. Now for the acid test. Plugged it into the wall socket and holding only the plastic parts of the drill, pressed the trigger. The drill burst into Powerful Life! Another dry run just in case :~


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/MGJohn/Repairs/th_Rockworth%20Electric%20Hammer%20Drill_zps36yupg g4.mp4 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/MGJohn/Repairs/Rockworth%20Electric%20Hammer%20Drill_zps36yupgg4. mp4)

Looks like it is set for a few more years active service again. Good eh! On the manufacturer's plate there's a UK address. However, alongside are three letters PRC .... None of yer "Made in England" mullarkey ... :)

Finally, I must mention and give a thumbs up to ebay specialist seller "carbon-brush" who was able to fit new carbon pieces to my old Carbon Brush components. Very helpful for what is after all such a small order. Said it before and worth repeating. There is GOOD SERVICE out there. Trick is finding it. When you do spread the good word.

Mr MGjohn.

I do all the things you do to repair things and just hate this new throw away world.

Still got most of my tools from a 5 year stint as an apprenticed toolmaker. ( 1954--1959 )

Come in handy for a variety of jobs.

Started out life near to you in London too. Islington --1937.

Colvert.---:bowdown::bowdown::bowdown:

[kaiser]

Well done, it looks really good. I often find old tools are superior to the new versions.


That applies to cars too:getmecoat:

[kaiser]

[QUOTE=MGJohn;1983867]
My ears, eyes etc are all 73 years old and still going strong. My brain could do with a memory refresh ... :)


Try a battery re-set.;)

[bl52krz]

All things old:- Geodore socket set (1961) Ravenset battery charger (1962) Tools that my Father used assorted, including a Micrometer, vernier, many hand tools.Old wooden rule which works like a computer to work out the weight of wood. Yes really. these must be 70 years or more old. Many more but think that's enough for now.