[I'm copying to r.b.tech - seems appropriate.]
Jack Murphy said:Does anyone know if I can service my old Union bottom bracket generator?
This is a 20 year old unit, just getting back to being in active use the
past 2 years. Its pretty gritty and rough rolling, but I hesitate to open it
up or drop in any oil, knowing there's the electrical parts in there.Any suggestions (aside from getting that cool Son front hub dynamo)?
Jack Murphy
I've taken apart some old generators out of curiosity. Some can be
disassembled only with a hacksaw, but some are pretty easy. Since I
don't own a Union bottom bracket generator, I don't know about it
specifically.
I had no trouble taking apart Soubitez bottom bracket generators. There
was no a problem with "electrical parts." All I found was a rotating
multi-pole magnet, and a stationary set of electical coils. There
weren't even brushes; because of AC output and stationary coils, there's
no need for them. I assume the Union is the same.
BTW, disassembling a Sturmey-Archer Dynohub will ruin the magnet unless
done exactly right, with the proper sort of "keeper," but that doesn't
seem to be true of more modern generators with more modern magnet
materials. At least, I know the Soubitez I disassembled is generating
just fine.
As Guy says in another post, there are better generators available than
your Union. But still, you've got nothing to lose by trying. I did
take pains to sketch how the fiddly bits came out, so I could get them
back in the same way. I'm talking about things like bearing races,
adjustable cones, lock nuts, etc. But all in all, it was no harder than
taking apart a rear hub.
--
Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove rodent and vegetable dot com.
Substitute cc dot ysu dot
edu]