Muller Dynamo

[Scorch]

Ok; so I thought I would go ahead and attempt to assemble one end of this machine while I am still waiting for a reply regarding the incomplete machine work on the aluminum nuts.
Only to discover that both bearing plates have incomplete machine work as well. . .
The outer bolt holes, for the 10-32 cap screws are not tapped all the way through.

And I now have the impression that the machine shop ( www.partdaddy.com ) is really doing a disservice to this product.
In fact I have yet to hear back from this third party regarding the missing shims discovered nearly two months ago which have not be delivered yet.
Nor have I heard back regarding the issue, with the nuts, discovered yesterday.

On another note; I see the bearings are installed on the inside which must rely on the rotor hubs to keep bearings in place without any shaft collars.
This may be an issue because my home made shims, and spacers, are causing the magnet cups to 'bulge' just a little bit and these clearances are going to be very close.

In my opinion; the bearings should be mounted on the outside of the bearing support plate.
With shims, and shaft collars, which can easily be adjusted from the outside and would leave a lot more option to adjust things in, or out, as needed.
Which is how I am building my mini dynamo.

As it is; there really is no 'adjustment'. It has to be assembled so that bearing plates are close enough to the rotor hubs, to eliminate end play and keep bearings in place.
And this places the rotor magnet cups pretty close to the coils.
So if there is any discrepancy with magnet cups bulging, or loose, or stator plate wiring sticking up, or coils bulging out, there could be a clearance problem.
At which point, I would, STILL, be waiting for the proper shims to help eliminate any issues with assembling rotor using my own, makeshift, shims already installed at my own, out of pocket, expense.

And I still have no idea why they used magnet retainer cups, and shims, versus merely machining 'magnet pockets' directly into the rotor clam shell.

}:>

[Scorch]

Ok, I went ahead and tapped all 18 of the outer holes on the bearing plates and was able to assemble one end of this machine.
And have determined that there should not be any clearance issues even though some of magnet cups do have a little bit of a 'bulge' due to my makeshift, rubber band, spacers.

I did discover even more machining issues.
The support posts have drilled, and tapped, holes so they can be 'stacked' together or finished off with cap screws.

What is weird is that the 3/8" - 16 aluminum post, on one end of the support post threads into the next end of the next support post without any problem.
BUT, the 3/8" -16 black steel caps screws do NOT thread in very easily.
In fact they only thread in about one turn then become VERY tight, requiring a wrench, and are picking up aluminum deposits when I back them out.
So I am concerned these black steel screws are going to seize in the aluminum holes.
Don't know why this is but it does appear the threads are not tapped very well in the aluminum holes.
This was confirmed by using a new, 3/8" - 16, tap which is cutting more aluminum out and leaving a much better looking set of threads and the cap screw now threads right in without having to using a wrench.

One thing I do find curious; pretty much everything in this machine is non-ferrous EXCEPT these cap screws.
Which are a common, black steel, alloy. Don't know why they provided these magnetic cap screws instead of aluminum, or stainless steel, like everything else is. . .

This thing is finally starting to take shape.
And, as near as I can tell, the threads for the adjusting nuts are 3/4" - 20 and I have ordered a new tap ($22.72 delivered) so I can fix the threads on those.

On another note, I did discover that the bearings are not a tight fit in the acrylic bearing plates.
The bearings actually slide right in and one even fell right, back, out when I turned the plate over.
I have now built many acrylic, bearing, plates and I always try to make it a much tighter, 'interference', fit.
I hope these bearings don't start spinning inside the plastic.
They really should be a lot tighter than this.  .  . Especially if this system is to be used for an extended period of experimental testing.

That is all for now. Still need to finish wiring the alternator stators and still need to order some parts that didn't come with the kit including diodes and a terminal block.

}:>

[Thestone]

Ok, I went ahead and tapped all 18 of the outer holes on the bearing plates and was able to assemble one end of this machine.
And have determined that there should not be any clearance issues even though some of magnet cups do have a little bit of a 'bulge' due to my makeshift, rubber band, spacers.

I did discover even more machining issues.
The support posts have drilled, and tapped, holes so they can be 'stacked' together or finished off with cap screws.

What is weird is that the 3/8" - 16 aluminum post, on one end of the support post threads into the next end of the next support post without any problem.
BUT, the 3/8" -16 black steel caps screws do NOT thread in very easily.
In fact they only thread in about one turn then become VERY tight, requiring a wrench, and are picking up aluminum deposits when I back them out.
So I am concerned these black steel screws are going to seize in the aluminum holes.
Don't know why this is but it does appear the threads are not tapped very well in the aluminum holes.
This was confirmed by using a new, 3/8" - 16, tap which is cutting more aluminum out and leaving a much better looking set of threads and the cap screw now threads right in without having to using a wrench.

One thing I do find curious; pretty much everything in this machine is non-ferrous EXCEPT these cap screws.
Which are a common, black steel, alloy. Don't know why they provided these magnetic cap screws instead of aluminum, or stainless steel, like everything else is. . .

This thing is finally starting to take shape.
And, as near as I can tell, the threads for the adjusting nuts are 3/4" - 20 and I have ordered a new tap ($22.72 delivered) so I can fix the threads on those.

On another note, I did discover that the bearings are not a tight fit in the acrylic bearing plates.
The bearings actually slide right in and one even fell right, back, out when I turned the plate over.
I have now built many acrylic, bearing, plates and I always try to make it a much tighter, 'interference', fit.
I hope these bearings don't start spinning inside the plastic.
They really should be a lot tighter than this.  .  . Especially if this system is to be used for an extended period of experimental testing.

That is all for now. Still need to finish wiring the alternator stators and still need to order some parts that didn't come with the kit including diodes and a terminal block.

}:>

I can see you are having a lot more issues than me putting this thing together... Like I said before for the money is not worth it.... very irresponsible from these people to charge so much money and to get something with so many issues...

[Scorch]

I am not taking any position, on this, as of yet and the build is still moving forward.
I just mounted the pulse motor rectifier/relay panel last night and intend to complete a lot of the wiring today.

This is a totally experimental device, people do make mistakes, and I am very forgiving.
Any new product will tend to have 'bugs' and part vendors, or machine shops, may have their own issues such as not discovering a tap is very worn out or an employee who fails to chase threads or the engineering specifications only specified 4 shims per rotor when it should have been 12. . .
These are merely quality control issues that will improve, over time, as production increases and improvements are implemented.

My profession is major appliance repair.
And, every year, manufacturers try something new.
Then, every year, manufactures have to clean up their mess. 
Like back in the mid 80's when GE refrigerators had compressor issues.
The company had to replace almost ALL the compressors under warranty which nearly put the company out of business.
Same goes for cars. There always seems to be a recall of some type for some issue or other.

The question is:
Will the company fix their problems, handle customer complaints, and back their products?
I have no problem with companies making mistakes. But a failure to communicate can be a big issue.
The question is: Will they answer to complaints and correct their errors including reimbursement, for customer damages, when the customer incurs out of pocket expenses fixing their (the company) errors.
So far; I am up to about $30, for a tap and makeshift shims, but I get to keep the tap (which I may never use again) so not sure what the actual damages are.
And this is forgiven, anyway, because these are merely incidentals for building a totally experimental device.

But there does appear to be some communications issues between www.quantamagnetics.com and www.partdaddy.com
For example: The guy at quanta magnetics keeps forwarding customer email to partdaddy but there is little, or no, follow up.
Plus I sent two more messages, recently, regarding the adjusting nuts; but have yet to receive any follow up for that either. (communications issues)
I did, finally, try calling part daddy on the phone but the outgoing message said something about being on the road for a manufacturer's fair or convention.

So, for the remainder of this holiday weekend, I give them the benefit of the doubt.
But, if it starts to become clear this company is NOT communicating, backing up their products, or correcting errors then, yes, I will take the position this is the case.
Until then; I just want to build stuff. And, yes, I think it IS a little expensive, for what it is, and I could probably build it cheaper including taking shortcuts such as mounting coils on same plate as bearings, using off-the shelf hardware in lieu of custom machined hardware, two piece rotors that don't need magnet retainers, etc. It wouldn't look as pretty, and might be a little harder to service, but would, still, be the same functionality for less expense.

But, then again, it is a brand new, custom, product which typically IS expensive until mass production ramps up and designs are streamlined.
My first, four function, LED pocket calculator cost over $120, in 1970's money and ate lots of batteries, while these days promotional, credit card sized, calculators are now free. . . .

So; are manufacturers 'irresponsible' or is it merely 'growing pains'?

}:>

I can see you are having a lot more issues than me putting this thing together... Like I said before for the money is not worth it.... very irresponsible from these people to charge so much money and to get something with so many issues...

[marcx41]

Good morning Thestone and Scorch........Q3 is born. I am working on my replication of Q2, that take a lot of time, I am late .....step by step.....