Tiny Tiger Generator Model 400

[factory 487]

A slightly more unusual Tiny Tiger generator arrived a couple of weeks ago, it's a Model 400 from Gadco Electra.
It doesn't use the permanent magnet rotor found in the Model 300, instead it uses a wound armature & carbon brushes, same as you would find in older generators & motors.
The output is 115V DC 400 watts only, there is also no low voltage output provided.

 

Has anyone else on the forum got one of these or any pictures of a complete one, as mine is missing a few bits?

 

 

 

 

I did find a article featuring both the Tiny Tiger 400 generator and a Safe-T-Products brush cutter that also appears to use the O & R engine, in the December 1962 edition of Desert magazine pages 6 & 7, a pdf is available from the swdeserts.com archive here;
http://www.swdeserts.com/index_htm_files/196212-DesertMagazine-1962-December.pdf

 

 

David

[Wallfish 698]

A VERY nice find as those are much more rare! So far only the second one I've ever seen on the net.

[factory 487]

They are definitely a lot rarer, I certainly couldn't find pictures of any others on the web, although there were some on the old forum but I never saved a copy of them.

 

Here is the only other information I could find, from magazines scanned by google;

 

 

 

 

David

[san diego mike 0]

I recently got a generator like this but it also has 12v dc and 120v dc

 

[factory 487]

9 hours ago, san diego mike said:

I recently got a generator like this but it also has 12v dc and 120v dc

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Are you sure the 120V output is DC? Or is it a Champ generator, as they have 12VDC, 115VAC & 115VDC outputs.

 

http://myoldmachine.com/topic/1386-amp-champ-generator/

 

The model 400 featured in this thread doesn't have a low voltage output.

Have a look at the pdf I posted in this thread if it is a Tiny Tiger, although it doesn't list a 120VDC version.

 

http://myoldmachine.com/topic/2968-tiny-tiger-arrives/#comment-33893

 

David

 

[factory 487]

Here are some more pictures of my model 400 DC generator, which I'm currently working on.

 

 

Both the commutator & carbon brushes show little wear, there is some corrosion the steel laminations on the armature, hopefully it will clean up OK.

 

 

There is still some magnetism left in the field coils, some filings/swarf can be seen on the ends of the coil blocks.

 

 

Not sure how I can easily flatten the card on this one as it won't fit past the fan, it may have to be done in situ.

 

 

David

[factory 487]

Here are some more pictures of the progress on restoring this generator.

 

Engine stripped & parts cleaned. The governor vane & exhaust were missing & the original carb (not shown) was damaged, many thanks to Webhead for the replacements. A spares engine provided the missing air filter.

 

 

Both the main crankshaft bearings on the flywheel side were found to have cracked plastic retaining rings for the bearing rollers, the spares engine provided a couple of replacements. I also found out why the spares engine had excessive play in the con-rod big end, someone had already taken the bearings. The bearings were changed to have steel retaining rings on later engines.

 

 

Replacement bearings fitted and engine part reassembled.

 

 

 

The other bearings were OK, they were cleaned, greased and refitted, new paper gaskets were made.

 

 

New gaskets were made for the cylinder & exhaust and the exhaust collector ring was also replaced as it was found to be damaged.

 

 

 

The perished rubber wires from the magneto coil were sleeved with heat-shrink sleeving, be careful when using a heat-gun to avoid damaging the insulation on these early coils. A new terminal was also fitted for the spark-plug lead.

 

 

David

[factory 487]

On 8/17/2016 at 9:04 PM, factory said:

Has anyone else on the forum got one of these or any pictures of a complete one, as mine is missing a few bits?

 

Was doing a bit a web searching last night and found a tiny picture of another Tiny Tiger Model 400, a bit of further searching and I found out it was from a recently sold ePay listing (as the seller misspelt Ohlsson & Rice I never saw it).

Here are some pictures of it that I have saved;

 

 

I'm not sure if the handle on the generator is original as the screws on mine aren't long enough to add one & the original advert/articles from the 1960's don't show one. Also it's hard to tell if the generator has been repainted from the pictures.

 

David

[factory 487]

The engine rebuild has mostly been completed.

 

New diaphragm, gasket & check valve fitted to the carb.

 

 

 

Starter repaired with new rope and missing wooden pull taken from the spares engine.

 

 

 

 

 

David

[factory 487]

As the base was missing I needed to make a new one, I had already found out the base was the same as the standard Tiny Tiger so I borrowed one from another in my collection to make a copy from. The original was aluminium, but I found a nice off-cut of stainless steel sheet almost the right width for the base, on one of the stalls at a vintage rally a few weeks ago.

 

 

After cutting to size and a lot of filing the new base was polished on one side & some temporary feet fitted (I think I may have found a UK source for some feet that look similar to the original ones, but need to confirm the size with the supplier).

 

 

 

David

[Webhead 95]

You get a gold star, David.

[factory 487]

A bit more progress on the Tiny Tiger 400, I had to source or make the fixings for attaching the engine to the new base.

 

Here is a picture of the original fixings on the other Tiny Tiger I restored.

 

 

The screws are #10-32 and I found some with smaller heads locally. The acorn Pal-nuts are still made, but I couldn't find a supplier for the correct size, so I ended up ordering some modern ones, I will change them if I ever find a source of the correct ones.

 

 

The Tufnol/Paxalin tubes had to made using the one pictured above as a template. These were made from some Tufnol/Paxalin rod a couple at a time, using the nearest sized metric drill for the hole, then turned down to final size and finally parted off.

 

 

 

Cleaned up with edges with a file & sandpaper and gave them a coat of varnish. Two of the extra ones will find their way onto my Tiny Tor generator.

 

 

 

David