36 replies to this topic

[havlicek]

I got one of these in today and, while I have taken them apart to clean and tidy-up, this is my first (I think) rewind. Unusual motor in several regards, and not *just* because of those crazy thin magnets. I'll have some pictures and thoughts tomorrow, but the motor presented several difficulties I wasn't expecting. No deal-breakers, but it was a bit tougher than I thought it would be.

 

-john

[SlotStox#53]

Will be interesting to see the guts of these GE motors.   Never seen one together in the flesh, let alone actually peered inside...

 

Happy winding, John. 

[bluecars]

Isn't that the motor that was made for NASA to run the gyro for a guidance system?

[havlicek]

Hi Robert,

 

Maybe so... the motor clearly wasn't designed for slot cars, but I think that's the case with many motors. Slotters early on were always rummaging through whatever they could find to stick in a car.  Later, retailers were also jumping on board with existing motors and giving them names that sounded cool.  

 

This motor (had it been developed even a little more for the purpose) probably could have been the bee's knees, at least for a while. In the end, it's still a relatively large (roughly 36D size) motor and mounted in a chassis will make for a high CoG. The stock wind also apparently presented gearing issues.

 

On the plus side, it's a very well-engineered piece made from quality parts and not particularly heavy for its size. It's an oddball though, and for several reasons, that presents some challenges for the rewinder.

 

-john

[Michael Rigsby]

Robert,

 

You may be thinking of the old Globe motor. Was it made for gyro operation, or for controlling the missiles fins? Always confused me on that part. 

 

The old Globe was the "it" motor just before the Mabuchis took over.

[bluecars]

Thanks, Michael. Don't they look pretty close? Which one did they call the Screamer?

[JohnnySlotcar]

John,

 

I have a Car Model article on rewinding and modifying the GE motor. I can make a copy for you if wanted!

[SlotStox#53]

Robert,

 

You're thinking of the "Wilson Screamer" from the Wilson range of motors, also fully round like the Globe.

[Pablo]

I rewound a GE that was in a Dynamic RTR back in the '60s. The kid won an oval race with it and it cooked in practice a few minutes after. 

[havlicek]

Got her done, and it was a learning experience (as it almost always is anyway).

 

Upon disassembly, I found a very short stack arm that seemed to be "36D" size. I also noted that there was a LOT of what seemed like a pretty heavy gauge magnet wire on there. The owner emailed me a copy of an old article on rewinding these, and the article stated this motor had 70 turns of #27 wire. I told him that must be a mistake, but it wasn't far off. Measuring the wire, it was a little thinner than #28, but not as thin as #29. It's either a metric size or the insulation was really thin or thick or both.      The stock wind was 70t of the mystery wire done as a "hemi", and came in at something like .64 ohms.

 

So, I had planned to make up a new arm since I "figgered" that a shortened 36D stack would work. One wasted stack later, I discovered that the stock arm is a bit wider than 36D...***which made clamping this thing a nightmare. I had wanted to press on a new shaft also, because the stock one was a little tweaked. I then discovered that the stock shaft is a little thicker than the 36D shaft. I keep some slightly oversized shafts here for when a 36D's bushings are worn... and the GE shaft was even a bit over that size.. .GAK! The stock magnets are ridiculously thin and measure fairly strong... a solid jump up from say FT36D stock magnets.  

Not knowing what they are, I didn't try and zap them for fear of doing damage.

 

 

Anyway, plan B was to just use the stock arm and balance it as best as I could. The new wind was one wire size fatter and 60t of #27 (I also did a hemi)... measuring like .340 ohms... a healthy upgrade. The stock lams are bizarre, having a very thick winding leg and a super thin crown/outer curved face that hooks back on the inside, making those last few turns of wire a real "thrill" every time you head towards the outside of the stack.    Took a heckuva lot of drilling to get the arm close to balance, and it's still not "there" but fairly close.

 

 

 

Originally, the arm had a lot of end play and no spacers on either end. I took care of all that by adding spacers to center the arm (which worked out well). I also polished the shaft a bit to get rid of some corrosion and crud and finished it off with a fresh comm cut. The inside and outside of the can and "endbell" were cleaned until no more black junk came out, and it was time to put it all back together.

 

 

 

So... time to fire her up. The motor sings a mighty sweet song after all this, and has a unique (for lack of a better word) "powerful" sound. It seems to have plenty of torque AND revs, but only draws 1 amp (no load at 6VDC)! It stays fairly cool as well so, after figuring out how the heck to gear the thing, I don't doubt at all that it will be a strong runner!  

 

Anyway, like I said, this was a "learning experience" and I'll be better prepared next time!

 

-john

[Pablo]

I knew these GEs had the beans, that's why I mentioned it. That thing is going to be awesome on the track, I just know it.

 

Glad you did one, John.    Very cool. 

[havlicek]

Thanks, Pablo. I would have liked to do a new stack and shaft, but it wasn't meant to be!  

 

-john

[SlotStox#53]

Certainly a unique motor! 

 

Great job, John. 

[boxerdog]

Very cool!! 

[Peter Horvath]

You rewound one of my GE motors a few years ago. It still runs like crazy...

[havlicek]

Geez, Peter, I've forgotten... so many motors have crossed my desk. 

 

-john

[Horsepower]

Here:

http://www.vsrnonlin...08/GEMotor.html

http://www.vsrnonlin.../CMV6N2_p42.jpg

http://www.vsrnonlin.../CMV6N2_p41.jpg

http://www.vsrnonlin.../CMV6N2_p40.jpg

and finally.....http://www.vsrnonlin...08.html#Letters

[havlicek]

Great stuff, Gary!

 

-john

[Tim Wilkins]

Update:  Master chassis builder Dennis Samson gave this Dynamic GE motor a home, adding pans and converting the axles to 3/32" to an existing Dynamic chassis. I asked Dennis to complete the car with modern parts including the tires to get the best performance possible out of this "beast". The Jupiter body and the Retro Lola T70 Coupe body were purchased from Billy Watson. 

 

Next stop -  Full throttle down the straightaway on the King track at Buena Park Raceway! 

 

Special thanks to John, Dennis, and Billy. Finally, special thanks to Jeff Bell who donated the Dynamic "Silver Hornet" inline chassis to me to get this project started.

 

 

 

 

[Pablo]

Awesome!!

[SlotStox#53]

Beautiful car, just love the look of those wide brass pans!

[Gator Bob]

Nice, Tim!!!

 

Dennis is amazing.

 

Love the color of the wheel inserts... who makes them?

[havlicek]

Dennis sure does do beautiful work, and that's a neat and unique car!

 

-john

[Samiam]

Very nice vintage car build. Is the tongue OEM or Rick's?

[Tim Wilkins]

Very nice vintage car build. Is the tongue OEM or Rick's?

 

I bought the tongue from Professor Motor before Rick starting producing his version. I have used Rick's body mount brackets for Dynamic chassis and they work out well.