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rebuilt regulators

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billd View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote billd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: rebuilt regulators
    Posted: Dec/08/2017 at 12:52pm
With continuing luck (and enough parts) I hope to have the circuits finalized to be able to "rebuid" or "reproduce"  Motorola regulators fairly soon.

IF I can find enough cores 
I will gut the original regulator and put a new regulator circuit inside and re-pot it. 

I am bread-boarding a couple of circuits now to test the basics for operation, stability, and so on. 
I will then move to producing the actual PC board that will fit into the housing and run further testing and if that works out, will pot the circuit and test further. 

This will HOPEFULLY mean I will be able to reproduce the regulators - however, I will need cores - regulators that I can salvage the housing and pigtail from. 



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote billd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/18/2017 at 12:41pm
More testing - this time with a calibrated Fluke and left it running for several minutes.
It stayed within .05v to .1v of what I wanted the entire time.
(the battery I am using is OLD, so that's rather amazing)
Using a semi-NOS alternator for the testing to ensure nothing is skewed by marginal alternator parts.
(semi-NOS as the pulley shows use where I've used it for testing, LOL - can't call it true NOS now, can I?)

The voltage is pretty much where I want it. Need to test for temperature stability - the shop was colder this AM so will warm things up and give the whole thing some heat.
I've ordered a few more components so if this proves successful, I'll build another prototype and a PB board for it.
Still working on a second version that regulates a bit differently but this closely matches originals and should be stronger than the after-market replacements of the time.
Calculations show I could use quarter watt parts but I opted for half watt. The transistor is over-kill and can handle 8 amps - well more than double even a worst-case situation. Normal is 2.0 to 3.0 amps depending on the alternator size.





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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pit crew Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/18/2017 at 1:24pm
Looks like one of my old high school science projects just before the magic smoke escaped..... LOL

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote billd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/18/2017 at 1:38pm
Then you know the TRUE secret of things electric. The heck with the "electron theory" - all electric items actually run on SMOKE. 
Once that smoke escapes, you can't put it back..........and the device stops working. 
That's been proven time after time - from computers to cars to stereos to your Christmas lights - once the smoke gets out, it can no longer function.
Whoever invents a method to replace the smoke, he'd be wealthy.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rizmo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/18/2017 at 4:27pm
Thats what we were taught when ECMs started hitting the streets back in 1981. The instructor, a young guy from Texas , told us to get rid of our analog voltmeters and only use the fluke digital multimeters because the low resistance of the analogs would tend to let the smoke out of the ECM's when testing circuits and once you let the smoke out , you can't get it back in!  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote george w Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/18/2017 at 7:19pm
Does or will the mock up have ambient temperature compensation ?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote billd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/18/2017 at 8:29pm
This version doesn't currently - however, I am working on another version that will. 
I may go ahead and add that to this one since I know this version works well otherwise. 

I need to go over my Motorola technical data to see exactly what sort of ramp they had figured in for what temp ranges. I have all that data from Motorola's documentation and literature......
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ohio AMX Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/18/2017 at 9:16pm
I have a few cores, message me your address and I'll get them to you.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote billd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/23/2017 at 6:45pm
I have a PC board sort of laid out and designed for the first revision....... since I'm using such a large transistor in this version I'm having to get creative.......... but this may not be the final version I go with. 
I got another bread board and am putting together another design with temperature compensation and a different transistor arrangement using darlington pair........... 
I'll try it out, test each types as much as possible and figure out which does best.
The boards are restrictive in size, about 2.5" x 1.675" so mounting the large transistor may have to be done with stand-offs to get everything to fit well. 
The third-party replacements used much smaller transistors and very small heat sinks so my build may be over-kill but Motorola did use some hefty components, too.
I dug out my old PC board bits - I wonder if the etch solution is still good after three decades? I know the old "resist pen" is all dried up HAHA. I pretty much got my goody out of it years ago anyway.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote george w Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Dec/23/2017 at 7:21pm
Never had a Motorola regulator apart. Did they use a TO-3 case device inside the housing ? And if so, how was it mounted in order to use the case as a heat sink ? I would think a TO-220 or 247 could work if you can find a suitable device.
Long time AMC fan. Ambassador 343, AMX 390, Hornet 360, Spirit 304 and Javelin 390. All but javelin bought new.
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