Re-soldering DF wire inside of generator without removing gen?

[Cheburashka]

Outsmarted myself again. I thought "I should tighten down that post so it won't spin when I'm re-attaching the field terminal." And I spun it and the wire detached.

I can see the red wire, and I can see the solder on the post. I can touch the solder with a soldering gun, but it doesn't melt. Is there any way to re-solder this wire without pulling and disassembling the generator?

EDIT: Found a post where someone solved the problem by soldering a wire to the broken wire and running it outside of the alternator housing. I'm giving it a shot, and I think I may have it.

[Multi69s]

Hopefully you got it fixed, but the main reason that the solider didn't melt was that the gun / iron didn't have enough heat to melt the solider. The solider they use in the generator is not the low melting point type, like you would use on a printed circuit board, or for just regular soldiering.
_________________
69 road Bug 2110
73 Squareback - 2L, T4, Automatic W/ AC
Gone, but many fond memories 69 Baja Bug 2010 - 5 Rib Bus Transaxle
Gone but not forgotten 72 Baja Bug 2010
My builds
T4 into Squareback http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=458944&highlight=
Auto Trans Rebuild http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=516066&highlight=
AC in Squareback https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...highlight=

[Danwvw]

Yes, you need silver solder and if you can reach it then you can do it. Silver solder is strong enough to tack solder without a mechanical connection.

Example of a tack silver solder but on a Starter Solenoid: Before:

After:

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1960 Beetle And 1679cc DP W-100 & Dual Zeniths!

[Cheburashka]

I added a 4" wire, zip-tied it out of the way of the rotating parts, and heat-shrink insulated it it with several layers. It goes out the bottom hole in the generator and around to the terminal. Multimeter says it's got continuity, so I think I'm good.

The solder on that post is very hard to melt. I was using a red-hot screwdriver and flux, and it didn't change at all.

[Danwvw]

Yeah, that's the other thing is not sure what your soldering to but if it's a piece of steel like a brush holder or something it's almost impossible to get it hot enough to melt even regular solder. The problem is how strong is the joint more than the melting point. I think the field windings in a generator what do they do just hook up with a steel crimp. to the field coils. What one goes to D+ the other is the Field terminal right.

_________________
1960 Beetle And 1679cc DP W-100 & Dual Zeniths!

[Multi69s]

If its actually the field winding DF (green wire), you can probably get a few miles out of it, but I wouldn't take it out of town. If its the D+ red wire, You might barely make it around the block, especially at night.
_________________
69 road Bug 2110
73 Squareback - 2L, T4, Automatic W/ AC
Gone, but many fond memories 69 Baja Bug 2010 - 5 Rib Bus Transaxle
Gone but not forgotten 72 Baja Bug 2010
My builds
T4 into Squareback http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=458944&highlight=
Auto Trans Rebuild http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=516066&highlight=
AC in Squareback https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...highlight=

[Danwvw]

It is pretty ridiculous to try to solder to that stud like in this photo I found in the Samba Gallery:

_________________
1960 Beetle And 1679cc DP W-100 & Dual Zeniths!

[goober]

"Multimeter says it's got continuity, so I think I'm good."

I'd take it out for a long ride and turn on every current draw I had in my Bug. If it was still charging after a half hour I wouldn't worry about it.

[Multi69s]

Personally. I would. The field windings have a very low current load, but they tell the generator when to charge or not. It might last until hell freezes over, or the first chuck hole that you hit. I would never ever drive a car like this. But as the saying goes, you can be penny wise, and dollar foolish., and that's why I tell every potential VW buyer to beware of PO electrical hacks.
_________________
69 road Bug 2110
73 Squareback - 2L, T4, Automatic W/ AC
Gone, but many fond memories 69 Baja Bug 2010 - 5 Rib Bus Transaxle
Gone but not forgotten 72 Baja Bug 2010
My builds
T4 into Squareback http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=458944&highlight=
Auto Trans Rebuild http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=516066&highlight=
AC in Squareback https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...highlight=

[Cheburashka]

Help me understand this.

I used solid core insulated copper wire and soldered that to the end of the field winding which was originally soldered to the stud. I used hobby solder. I shrink-tubed that, and ran the new wire to outside the generator. There is clearly continuity, and I'd prefer not to buy another generator if this one can be made to work reliably with this "hack." Of course I would tell a potential buyer about it, and I would replace the generator if it were unsafe. My questions are:

1) What happens if the field terminal loses its connection? Does the car stop charging, or overcharge, or something different?

2) I soldered the wires side-by-side. Would a crimp be more reliable than the electrical hobby-grade solder that I used? Does this winding get hot enough to melt solder?

3) I know it's not "right" but is it somehow unsafe? Some of you seem to be implying that a kluge like this is dangerous, but I don't understand how.

I may end up going back in and crimping the wires, silver-soldering the crimp, then re-insulating. Or if someone can explain how to remove the stud and properly soldering on the field wire, I'd appreciate it.

[Danwvw]

It's Ok man just carry a spare generator, Yeah, The trick is getting a good hot solder joint. And next time use silver solder. It's probably not a good solder joint as that would be really hard to accomplish without a butane micro torch or something to heat the steel stud.
_________________
1960 Beetle And 1679cc DP W-100 & Dual Zeniths!

[mukluk]

[Cheburashka]

Got it.

For the record, the proper way to fix this appears to involve the removal of the pulley. I had no idea that there were large openings behind the pulley which give direct access to the stud. With the pulley off, removing the stud and heating it to the melting point of silver solder should be easy.