Charging Magneto

[lmitch]

I'm new to Model Ts. This was my Uncle's ('23-'24?) Runabout that I rode in as a kid. The magnets are very weak and need to be recharged. All the material I've read has put me on the road to charging in the vehicle with a battery charger. Two questions. Will a 200 amp battery be sufficient or is a 300 amp needed? With the Hog's Head off, where exactly does the Hot Lead need to be connected? Here is a photo of the '25 engine/trans.
[image][/image]

[lmitch]

I meant to say a 200 amp battery charger.

[Scott_Conger]

You will be buying a new battery charger if you attempt to do what you're suggesting. Your research has uncovered INDIVIDUAL MAGNET recharging with a battery charger (still hard on the charger), not an in-car recharge of all magnets at once.

Regarding where to attach a power source, do a GOOGLE search for "mtfca in car recharge" and you will come up with a lot of helpful and a few not helpful tips.

[lmitch]

Uncovered several videos of people using a charger to recharge all magnets at once. Here is one. https://youtu.be/zzQJLGtJV9o
As said, I'm new to this so it is difficult to weed my way through the information available.
The threads found on this forum ( http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/118802/159978.html ) show how to use 6 volt batteries for the charge but I don't have 6 of them.
( http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/118802/159978.html )
Would 3 12 volt batteries work?

[Scott_Conger]

It is one thing to lay the coil ring directly atop the magnets and quite another to have it assembled in the car with an air gap. You really want and need the voltage and amperage available from the batteries, and yes, 3 12VDC batteries are a substitute for the 6 6VDC batteries you have seen in the old illustration. Refer to this: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/506218/528397.html, in particular, Tom Carnegie's remarks and instructions for doing it in the car.

[Philip]

i used a dc welder to recharge mine and it worked perfect. do a search and you will find instructions on how to set the welders
polarity this is super important read until you understand it before you bump the mag. all you are doing is using the stater coils
as magnet chargers. philip

[John kuehn]

Hello and welcome to the Model T world!
I’m kind of like you in that I inherited my Grandfathers 24 Coupe and rode in it when I was a kid.
By the looks of your chassis pic you either cleaned up the engine and chassis or rebuilt the engine.
It looks like the engine still has the original mag ring (not sure).
I don’t know if you had your engine apart to rebuild it but from experience I learned I should have installed a rebuilt mag ring when I first rebuilt the engine years ago.
I also had what seemed a weak mag which turned out to be a short in the original mag ring.
After that experience I completely went through the entire engine, replaced the mag ring and charged the magnets individually when I had the engine apart. Glad I did that! I should have done it the first time.
Thanks to the forum I gained some knowledge about T’s that wasent readily available years ago before the net.

[dykker5502]

You will need the 36 volt and the amperage that the lead-acid batteries can give.

Then position the flywheel and the magnets right in relation to the coils is important.

Here i did it with a compas. You may imagine how to do it without the hogshead, but you will have the better view of the magnets to make sure they are positioned perfect out of the coils.
I gave it 3 flashes in the top terminal and without the hogshead it is the large blank metallic spot on the top of the coilring.
After the operation, that took 10 minuttes or so I meassured the output:

It may not give same performance as individually charged magnets, but it is so easy to do, so it's no worry. Just do it!

[lmitch]

Thanks to all for the replies.
I will be using the setup with 3 12 volt batteries. I believe it will be a lot easier to line up the magnets and coils with the hogshead off. I want to charge the magnets as they originally were charged. Based on things I've read using a magnet to determine the polarity of the magnets and coils is the easiest. So, the plan is, check polarity, line up coils with magnets, hook positive to top terminal of coil assembly, and zap the negative on the pan.

I did clean up the engine and chassis but did not rebuild the engine. Rebuilding everything else including starter, generator, and carburetor. That along with new split rims, tires, header, exhaust, body work, paint etc...has put a hurtin on my budget. The engine rebuild will have to wait. I hope it waits, the car was running when it was parked. My uncle, and whomever he purchased it from, had ignored transmission maintenance and I would be surprised if the brakes or clutch was working when it was parked 47 years ago.

Thanks again.
Lee

[Mark Gregush]

Ford dealers were doing in car recharge back in the day. With the plugs out, even if you are off a little the field will pull the magnets into alignment. The magneto coil ring does not have to be in contact with the magnets. It is the field that is built up in the coil ring when current is applied that would be doing the charging. Not much different then using insulated wire wrapped around the magnets. While "one at a time charging" may be best, this would be the next best in this situation. If it did not work Ford dealers would not have had such units as the KRWilson re-charges among outer's in the shop, nor would the procedures be shown in the service book.