which generator brushes, 12v conversion?

[jbclem]

I have a 1965 Bug, converted to 12v. The generator, as I recall, is from a bus, longer and thinner than the standard 12v generator. It has narrow generator brushes and I'd like to know if these would be standard 6v brushes. As far as I know there were only two types of generator brushes, 12v and 6v, but I'd like to confirm that.

The brushes in this car are about 4-5mm thick and 12-13mm wide. The generator fits on the original cradle and isn't tight on the carb like a standard 12v generator would be.

Any thoughts on this?

John

[glutamodo]

What is the part number for your generator? There were basically three styles of 12V generator - the 90mm diameter one that was an option in the early-mid 60s and used on the Porsche 912 and fits the same as the 6V generator - and uses the 6V generator brushes. That's the GR26X Then there was the normal 12V GR15X, and then there was the GR17X 38 amp version used on 69-71 Bus - this was not smaller than the normal Bug one, it was the same 105mm diameter, but it was longer.


I just stuck this big chart in the Gallery - it's something I've been working on occasionally for a long time. It's a large image, so click-to-enlarge. The bottom section lists a lot of generators and brushes are listed too.

[jbclem]

Sorry for the delay replying, Vanagon problems have taken all my free time.

That's a great chart, I bet it will help a lot of people. Alas, when I looked for the bosch part number on the generator I found instead a tag from a Brasilian company named WAPSA. It looks like the model is DW-V-12 and is 14v 25amps. The diameter is aprox 90mm. The generator brushes measure about 12mm wide and 5mm thick.

Do you know the measurements of 6v brushes...unless the brasilians are using an odd size brush, which would be surprising, the brushes are definitely not as wide as 12v brushes.

[jbclem]

Sorry for the delay replying, Vanagon problems have taken all my free time.

That's a great chart, I bet it will help a lot of people. Alas, when I looked for the bosch part number on the generator I found instead a tag from a Brasilian company named WAPSA. It looks like the model is DW-V-12 and is 14v 25amps. The diameter is aprox 90mm. The generator brushes measure about 12mm wide and 5mm thick.

Do you know the measurements of 6v brushes...unless the brasilians are using an odd size brush, which would be surprising, the brushes are definitely not as wide as 12v brushes.

[glutamodo]

Hmm, well I just dug up the old used brushes that were still kicking around my toolbox that came out of my old GR26X generator, I'm sure they were ones that I had installed in there, normal replacement 6V brushes... 14mm x 6mm

which matches what is shown here:

http://www.stmaryscarbon.com/images/automotive-bru...AltGen.pdf

[jbclem]

That's great, thanks for the photograph. If you look closely at the markings the brush is more like 13mm wide. If 6v brushes were slightly too large, it probably isn't too hard to grind/sand them down to size...is it?

It'll also be useful to have that Bosch pdf file with the dimensions for all the different brushes.

[glutamodo]

I think you're seeing a reflection of the shiny carbon of the brush. It's closer to 14mm.

Yes, you could sand a graphite brush down pretty easily.

[jbclem]

You're right, it was very easy to sand down to size. I had a pair of 12v brushes and they're working fine now in the older 12v Type 2 generator. I had to sand a little under 14mm width for them to go in easily, and they were too long so I sanded them length wise from about 22mm to 16-18mm. They look a little longer than stock but are working fine. And the wire connection isn't as close to the top as it was on the original 6v brush(es), so that might limit how much they can wear (the wire might keep the worn brush from moving as far down in the slot)

I used 60 grit sandpaper...a finer grit probably would have been more accurate but this worked.