<VV> Starter woes

[Tony]

At 1307 02/25/2004 -0500, UltraMonzaWest@aol.com wrote:
>       How about measuring the current (amps) drain on the battery when the 
>starter is activated?  You can use one of those cheap meters that clamps on 


I once upon a time borrowed my buddys induction-powered ammeter, went to
500 amps in three steps, used by him for his job as an electrician for
Norfolk-Southern Railroad (he works on diesel-electric locomotives).   


>simply snaps on) the cable from the battery.  And, at the same time, put a 
>voltmeter on the battery posts (not the cable ends) to see how much the 
>battery 
>supply voltage drops when you energize the starter.  I would expect to see 
>about 150 amps flowing and the battery voltage to drop to not less than 10 
>volts.

I measured the cranking current on my Corsa ragtop, which was at the time
wearing 95hp heads with the accompanying lower compression so I expected a
lower cranking current.   I got less than 70 amps with a battery voltage of
around 11 volts, not a very big battery... type 51 out of one of the
earlies as I recall.     



>***************************************************************************
>
>Thanks..did just that ...180  amps.....11.6 vdc...steady......both at the 
>posts and solinoid terminals! 

180 amps sounds a bit high... in fact damned high for cranking a Vair
engine.   Seems to me something is wrong somewhere... either a semi-shorted
winding someplace or the starter is binding up and dragging and drawing
extra current.     


>My BIG question:  why....when 24vdc was applied ..did it not spin faster?

Likely the pole windings are already saturating as-is, and higher voltage
simply increased current through the windings without increasing the
magnetic field because it was already doing all it could do.   Vair starter
pole windings don't contain a lot of wire and the actual pole pieces they
magnetize aren't very large... it wouldn't take much to saturate the pole
pieces and then no higher voltage or current flow would increase the
starter cranking power before burning it up.  


>The "most likely" reasoning so far.....since this starter is "adapted" to
the 
>VW  starter mount..via an adapter "setscrewed" to the remains of the Vair 
>"Snout"....might be crooked...
>
>guess who knew this???  ggg



Uh...   I give up...   ;)   


tony..