Delco Light Plant 32 volt DC

Here's my Delco light plant. They were built from the 1920's up until about 1947. They were used in rural housing that didn't have distributed electricity available to them yet. It is a 32 volt DC generator that was used to charge a bank of glass batteries and was typically located in the basement of the house. It features electric start by backfeeding the generator and also automatic shutdown. I just got this one running but it still has some ignition problems I need to work out, and yeah there are still 32 volt light bulbs available.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• delco
• light
• plant
• 32
• volt
• dc
• generator

[DRNEGOLICIS]

can u show a close up of the carb? my frined has one and were restoreing it im trying to figure out how the carb works its got a choke it says start and run and numbers inbetween but theres not throttle control valve or fuel mixture adjustments

[andrewsengineering]

On this light plant the carb has a fixed jet. No adjustment. No throttle. You have to have the batteries connected. The charging load is what keeps the engine from running off. I had batteries connected to mine I just didn't show them in the video. Be careful, running with no load can allow the engine to take off and the armature of the generator can swell up from the centrifigul force and seize up. Some of the smaller light plants did have a governor and throttle.

[snoopyflyer05]

you're missing the original coil, there is no condenser in the ignition box on a delco, it was a cardboard covered piece in a coil that looked like a small mail box mounted between the control board and the cylinder.

[andrewsengineering]

It has the original coil, if you look real close you can see it....

[amfan12]

Whats up with what appears to be sparks coming out of that cover on the side. Breaker points?

[andrewsengineering]

It has some ignition problems, i'm going to have to do some research on this, there's no condenser and the points look real bad, it appears it had previously been run without one for a long time.

[mainecor]

You might be advised to make sure you have it hooked up to a 32 volt battery (or a combination adding up to 32 volts) or you can burn it out.

[4freespeech]

Don't grab ahold that sucker in bare feet-

it will melt your friggin bobby pins.

[Hallaran]

I see some sparks I think...

[briggs5sboy]

wtf is that round white thing sparking? lol

[DRNEGOLICIS]

thanks for the help i guess i have to fabricate new brushes before i start the enigne or ill just run it rich with the choke to keep it from running away judgeing by the stroke i would think not to go over 1200RPM id consider 2000 as a red line

thanks

the Doktor

[snoopyflyer05]

yep i sure do, most of the time the condenser is bad in those coils, if you're careful you can pull the cover off, pull out the old condenser, and solder a small automotive condenser in its place, 12v will do just fine. was the strap between the spark plug and the top of the coil in good shape on yours? most ive seen are eaten up on the ends even if the engine looks like new, still a mystery to me.