Can It Be Saved? Abandoned Vintage Mite-e-Lite Generator, Left Behind For The Trash

[@Philc231]

Funny how personable Darren is yet so private . Those of us that have been here for years remember the old shop ,and the personal talks he used to have . He seems more like a relative or good friend than a content creator.

[@AntonyThorburn]

I AGREE. BEAUTIFUL SOUL.

[@macinfloydvolk]

He has turned down MAJOR deals to keep doing exacly what he's doing. I cherish this channel. As soon as a youtuber sells out, I'm gone. Man yhave started out like Mustie1 then went all out comercial and sell out ... Sad ... Mustie has always been the same even as he's improved .... do miss the old garage though ....

[@Mouthy_Trucker]

i became a MUCH bigger fan when the 4:30 avacado time appeared on the cabinet... if you know you know 🧂

[@Hjerte_Verke]

@@Mouthy_Trucker A hint into his personal politics which sadly, some viewers disdain. I used to tune in at that time but I got tired of the profanity and his inability to get to the point, or belaboring the point.

[@JoriDiculous]

That's why i watch him in the first place. How he talk to like we're in the garage with him. No BS, no drama, just him, us and what ever we are wrenching on ☺

[@danw1955]

Darren, that's a McCulloch MAC-3000 Mite E Lite genset. They are a simple, 2 pole, permanent magnet alternator sold back in the late 1960's and 70's. McCulloch made several different versions of these, both horizontal, and vertical shaft. *This particular model did have issues with cooling,* and would smoke one or both windings if run under a heavy load for long periods of time. That's why it was so hard to pull.. with the shorted winding, they have what's called 'magnetic lock', where it seems like there is a constant load on it. I would venture to say, it was probably already dead when you got it. Once you did get it running, it just finished off the winding and turned it into a heating element!😂 It was an interesting and compact design, and they were very stable once you got to the correct rpm to make 60 hz., mainly because of the massive flywheel. They were self-exciting of course, because of the spinning magnetic field. Now you have a fairly decent go-kart engine!😄

[@David-yo5ws]

Those air intake vents on the generator cover looked small. If they got covered with dried dirt, animal hair etc, that would cause the coils to run hotter. I noticed some 'black' before Mustie1 got it running, so yeah, it become a heater. Very interesting concept though. Thanks for the information on the various models.

[@johnpurcell7728]

Agreed. The generator definitely had a short somewhere such that it created a load. So as the engine tried to speed up, that was more power going into the “load” therefore it fought the engine. Right up until the time the short was burned out and the engine was free to spin up to rated RPM (and then some). The engine won that tug-of-war battle!

[@bobski3333]

A lot of exercise machinery (stationary bikes and such) use the same principal to create drag. They have a flywheel with a thick copper ribbon around its perimeter, and a magnet attached to the frame with a user-operated screw that adjusts the clearance between the copper and magnet. When the wheel spins through the stationary magnetism, currents are induced in the copper which become waste heat due to electrical resistance. The closer the magnet is to the copper, the more magnetism passes through, resulting in more drag. The electrical short(s) in the generator winding turned it into a similar drag-inducing chunk of copper. The magnets are in the split flywheel (an "axial flux" rotor) with the magnetism focused in the gap between the halves.

[@danw1955]

@@bobski3333 Exactly!🙂

[@stevev3142]

I worked for a company called Porter Brothers in Shelby NC from 1973 until 1988. We were the largest Outdoor Power Tool Distributer in the US back in the 70's. I worked in the Turf Division (we sold Jacobson, Cushman, National Mowers, Etc.). We were the Distributor for McCulloch , Merry Tiller, Snapper, Weed Eater, Etc. I saw a lot of these come into the shop for repairs and a lot of them had burnt windings. Back then the guys in the shop would rebuild the larger McCulloch chain saws, we even had a boring bar machine that they used to bore out the cylinders. Then McCulloch started chroming the cylinders in the saws and you could only replace the complete cylinder after that. In a nut shell they became throw away 😀.

[@davidhardinge2310]

As you were steady pulling the cord, I felt myself leaning back in my chair and my arm cliched up.... Was fun to watch today. I love these types of tear downs. 😜

[@patprop74]

HAHAHAHAHA Me too.

[@Roadhardd]

Same. I also was applying some body english.

[@whitesapphire5865]

What I can tell you is that there were a lot of these things sold in the UK during the mid to late seventies - A true farmer's friend when you needed power in a remote location. Good enough for lights, drills and other equipment that didn't use synchronous motors. Being a split phase setup, you could run 120v/240v in the US, or 110v/220v in the UK. As for the actual Hz at the output, well, that was the unknown quantity! But they were popular, however, not to be used for domestic power, and especially not for anything electronic, or that needs a synchronous AC supply. It looks rather like this one has suffered a serious overload on one leg of the generator, and I'd almost bet that if you had tried your light on the other leg, it was probably still working, and potentially, could have been made to work with the faulty leg removed - You'd only have 120v but it might have doable. It's too late now because the chopped out lump of copper from the rotor Is part of the magnetic reluctance circuit that "regulates" the output voltage. As I recall, those coil cassettes were a replaceable item in the day, and even now, not beyond being rebuilt if you're an enthusiast for vintage generators. These were a simple (low price) generator with very few parts and very little technicality about them - You could abuse them until you burnt out a coil cassette, and then replace the cassette and be up and running again in half an hour or so. We still do sometimes find the occasional "Mite-E-Lite" at farm dispersal sales and at the collective auctions at the auction marts around these parts.

[@cliffpalermo]

Just what I read the comments for.

[@joesullivan-y9r]

Ditto@@cliffpalermo

[@David-yo5ws]

@@cliffpalermo Ditto. Like Mustie1 said, someone out there will know. (Thanks Whitesapphire for the history lesson. Very interesting.) If the piston bore was in better condition, it may have been worth a try to swap the coils over. Not worth it. Maybe the next one 😉

[@nzs316]

I’m kind of disappointed. I would’ve liked to have seen the challenge of repairing the burnt coil. We have seen videos all the time in places like Indian and Pakistan. Where they are rewinding generators and alternators and its second nature to them and over here we just throw it out. Thank you for your description I do recall those generators also.

[@Scodiddly]

Man, that's a lot of copper though. Probably too expensive for the penny-pinching future.

[@Fatterpilot]

That Karmann Ghia is shining like a jewel in the background. Brian did some nice work.

[@markbrown6236]

And so is the Orange Econoline.

[@libertyauto]

No kidding, I kept kept getting distracted by the reflective light show in that shine. Good job Brian.

[@Mprikiman]

Brian seems like the cool friend that always helps and is good to have around :).

[@tristanschaper281]

The great thing with that generator, is it looks like it was actually used, with all of the carbon build up. It sure doesn't owe anybody anything. Most old gens going to the scrap yard have no hours on them. This was an exception. With all of the carbon, I wonder if it spent most of it's life running with little to no load, or it's just a product of those Briggs carbs that were never very precise. Those engines were gas hogs. The fuel burn rate didn't seem to change much, based on load. At least from my experience. Awesome video!

[@LetsGetTechy]

Mustie- I’ve been on a binge of your videos for like the last 3 weeks. Bought my first used riding mower, and had to recondition a few things, so I started on your mower videos, and now I’m hooked. 😂

[@AnthonyRBlacker]

Deep thoughts and wisdom by Mustie.. "If we hook up a light bulb to it when it runs and it lights up, that means something's happening." Pretty smart!! : ) Love you man! Thanks SO much for sharing all the work you've shared all these years!! You're the best relaxation on a Sunday morning.. Really appreciate it Mustie!

[@chrishartley1210]

At 11:05, where you checked to see which parts rotate with the engine, you can already see one good winding and one damaged winding. The generator part was a no-go right from the start.

[@alexkay1874]

The coil was probably shorted causing load making it hard to pull over

[@ChurkLeung]

Looking a few seconds before 11:05, you can see there is no burn mark on the top. So even if it had issue before we started, it wasn't burnt like the end. I think there was a possibility that this generator could have been saved if we checked the electrical part before running the motor.

[@mistermacgray]

​@alexkay1874 the permanent magnet these have are very heavy and why it's hard to pull over, I have one and the coil is chewed up so it just sits but I dod have it running.

[@ehsnils]

A coil could be re-wound for anyone that's interested into having some therapy.

[@mistermacgray]

@ehsnils mine has a weird aluminum ribbon coil setup, two of them, and both are damaged. Not worth the money to have done.

[@micheltersarkissoff7536]

Hi Darren - I owned one of these in the 70's and it gave me fits with the windings that constantly needed repairs. Sparks were the first sign that a winding connection was failing. I was using the generator to power a radio receiver so the current demand was extremely low - lost a lot of money on the unit and finally replaced it with a Honda 400W that was outstanding in quality and reliability. Thanks for the interesting video and congratulations on the hard work you put in !

[@bobcooke6346]

It’s always an absolute pleasure watching whatever project Darren chooses to work on, and share with us, I’ve followed him for some years now and he never fails to entertain and enlighten us, always treats us as if we were buddies sharing time together wrenching for fun 👍🙂

[@davidhyde5536]

Mustie, What a giggle! That old girl was made in my home town, Wellsville ,NY. Long since closed and gone but many friends worked there. I never saw the insides of one personally but they were rumored to be rather short lived because the poor Briggs had to run it's insides out. A couple hundred hours maybe, but they were life savers during Hurricane Agnes in 1972. The plant itself was under water from the Genesee River during that flood but the gen sets they produced were one of western New York's life savers. It was sad to see the old girl DOA with you but it surely has stories to tell if it could. Love your videos keep them coming please.

[@theraptorsnest5891]

My Pops had one just like that when we were kids (I'm not a day over 29 lol) and that thing ran like a champ. We used it camping, on fishing trips and both during bad summer storms and winter blizzards. Being from Iowa we get all the extremes in weather. I can't say for sure but I think it was purchased at Montgomery and Ward's old retil stores. I don't know what happened to his little generator but just seeing one on your video brought back TONS of memories! Thanks Mustie!

[@lrrromicronpersei8294]

I think it had already broken loose and that’s what the drag was. Then when it finally started the windings were shorted out and then it just became a heater with the magnets spinning past what was basically a block of aluminium at that point Thanks for another great video

[@unclegreybeard3969]

If you go back to about 11:15, you can clearly see that the windings were already toasted, so I suspect a pre-existing condition. At least he got a half decent B&S engine out of it.

[@Ragnar8504]

Increasing the electrical load on a generator increases the power needed to turn it. A short-circuit is basically an infinitely big load, so it could (theoretically) stall out a generator completely. In reality the generator stops doing anything below a certain RPM and the effect disappears. The effect is used as regenerative braking in EVs, trains, etc..

[@lrrromicronpersei8294]

@@Ragnar8504 yes in a regular generator that is the case but this is not a regular generator it’s a pair of flywheels with alternating magnetic fields with a metal winding in between. So once it became shorted it was no different to putting a pan on an induction stove… I believe Codys lab did a video using a disc with alternating magnets to melt a penny. When the coil was pushed out the load on the briggs was reduced and so it started to speed up.. But that’s just my opinion / theory but i know there are much smarter people out there than me

[@Ragnar8504]

@@lrrromicronpersei8294 I'm not a physicist but I'd expect shorting the load side of any generator without massively increasing the load on the engine would violate basic laws of physics. More output current requires more input power.

[@Paul-FrancisB]

Good afternoon everyone watching from Lincolnshire UK 🇬🇧

[@tayro7265]

Good morning Lincolnshire from Dallas.

[@felinespirits]

Good morning Lincolnshire from Maryland. 😊

[@dimiturml]

Good day to you all from Bulgaria.

[@OllieGilbertson]

Dorset UK 🇬🇧 im from!

[@danieldudzik6470]

Looks like the coil was already dark and starting to push out. I worked for McCulloch in 1975 or so, until they closed the Lake Havasu Factory. I remember them load testing a similar designed unit at the LHC factory in the test cell. This was in the 1970s but I think at least the gen case design was a bit different. I even saw them activating the magnets with a big battery pack at the bar plant. As I remember, it was the engine governor that made them put out the proper power, they were designed without need for other regulation. This may be why they did not last all that long, at least compared to today's generators. it may be that the engine governor was adjusted for correct output in that test cell, I don't remember for sure, but they had a huge bank of load resistors on the wall with a fan blowing on them for cooling. Normally I was a Die Caster or Die Cast setup, but when things got slow once, I worked on fixing the chain saws going down the adjacent line through the test cell. All that stuff got tested before getting boxed up for shipping.

[@edwardwerick2420]

When you left the view frame to look for a light (or whatever) while it was running, it was throwing sparks. Shortly after, it started to run wild past the governor's setting and you shut it down to stop the fuel leak. Lucky there was no fire!

[@Tadzmobetta]

Thank for repeatedly showing how useful your magnetic light is; I bought one and it has proven already it is my most utilized tool!!

[@tinkeringwithelectronics]

I've watched tons of your videos. I've learned sooo much from you and fixed several of my small engines from your teaching. However.......I've never laughed so hard when the sparks and coil came out!

[@johnapel2856]

Now that's DEFINITELY a "Well there's yer problem." solution. As always, another interesting Mustie1 video. Thanks for taking us along for the ride!

[@timareno9017]

My guess is this generator was toast a long time ago by the amount of burned-out varnish of the coils. Someone got the best out of it a long time ago. Thanks for the video though, enjoyed it as always.

[@RMonkey]

Thanks for the heads up, I don't have two plus hours to waste.

[@miahsbrokengarage]

At 11:10 you can see the winding (on the right) that blew out is already blackened and sticking out a bit more than the winding on the left. The magic smoke is released right around 1:14:16 Fantastic video, I'm always learning something from you!

[@user-uz1yv2oc9v]

Mustie so religious with his uploads I can use them to set my watch by! This weeks sure looks interesting.

[@gerry-p9x]

Tru dat

[@twinkie27271]

That's why he posts on Sunday

[@joshuacomeau519]

Ive been trying to send a messwge thru here for everyone to get him to start up on the bobcat i wana see ya get that runnin boss lets see that thing chooch to life lmao tell mustie 1 guys 100,000 likes and maybe he will get back to it

[@jlucasound]

Religious is NOT synonymous with punctuality or regiment. Duly noted. 😉

[@Hjerte_Verke]

What time do they upload?

[@robertheinkel6225]

Many years ago my boss brought in his ten hp Cub Cadet riding mower, because it was low on power. When I pulled the head, the piston was laying in there sideways. The bottom skirt broke off the piston allowing it to lay in there at about a 45 degree angle. The cylinder wall was scored from the piston not running straight. Boring it ten over cleaned up the bore. Ran much better with an intact piston. It still amazed me it ran at all.

[@BenJandrell]

The alternator is known as a dual rotor axial flux design, air cored as used in many DIY wind turbines. It's a strange dual coil setup! - being air cored it should have near zero resistance (cogging) on engine start up. It must have been overloaded prior and burnt-out the windings.

[@SladesVWBeetle]

Wow!!! I can see the Ghia shining like a mirror back there.. Brian did a great job! I always learn something from your videos

[@samadamms3432]

As the engine was building rpm’s, the plane starting in “Flight of the Phoenix” came to mind.

[@TheMrShinagami]

Looking back to when you opened the back up you can see that winding is discoloured so I think the damaged was already done.

[@SkaterStimm]

I learn more from these videos than anything else. Love it.

[@brainiac_brian]

I went back to the beginning of your video and looked. Yes that coil is already cooked. Excellent video! Never seen anything like this one!

[@toddabbott781]

When I was a kid we had a wood chipper with that same engine. That thing was always a beast to start. The winding was not kicked out but it was already burnt. The adhesive was likely already damaged from the heat and then it shook loose.

[@wirenutt57]

Another cool video - this time pulling the head and lapping valves. All my friends watch you and every once in a while I hear you referenced in someone else's video. You're not selling sh*t, you're not a phony or attention wh*re, just a guy like me who likes to tinker with engines and gets jazzed when they fire or start. Keep up the excellent work! If you get a chance to grab an old Yamaha XS650, especially pre-1980 when they went to electronic ignition, do it. They are fun to tinker with, they are bulletproof, easy to get running, and can be worth some $$ if running well and in good shape. Sometimes you can find a old barn find for a couple hundred dollars. I've bought a half-dozen of them in the past 5 years and used 2 for parts (no titles), have 2 running and registered, and am working on a third I expect to finish next spring. Plus I can steer you to some great resources of info.

[@echobeefpv8530]

I think at some point in the past , someone overloaded it, and the glue let go due to overheating. Very dangerous design, never seen one like it, probably a good thing. Very cool to see , though, and thanks !!

[@randypullman1155]

Without doubt the best M1 video ever. I was in tears!😂

[@davidknoske6384]

I started watching your videos a while ago...I was hooked on watching you and friends working on old vws ...I own 2 ..a 65 and a 69 beetle...and yes I have learned and repaired a couple things thanks to you and your videos...they are great...you explain things so well ...about how things work..and point out how to go about fixing them...all good stuff...and it’s fun to laugh along with you when you get something up and going again...lol.!!!...

[@MichaelSteeves]

A larger diameter generator makes for a higher linear speed of the windings through the magnetic speed, making it more efficient. You'll notice that modern wind turbines have large diameter generators to avoid the problematic gearboxes that had a habit of catching fire.

[@Onewheelordeal]

That's a good point, maybe it's a factor of being cheaper to manufacturer that we get the longer ones with smaller diameter

[@jlucasound]

A gearbox fire is a really bad occurrence in a wind mill. Anywhere, actually.

[@franklamanna5209]

Hey Mustie, this definitely was a very interesting video. I like it when you dig into oddball stuff to see how it works. Great work

[@darrenbyrne4622]

I look forward to Darrens vids every week have been watching them for ages always enjoy them keep them coming Mustie cheers brother 27:14

[@DumahBrazorf]

That's unfortunate, it was nice little gen.

[@truckguy6666]

25 years ago I would have agreed with you. Today, I like my tiny, quiet, fuel sipping inverters. Chinese or not.

[@ritchiesokol1061]

I picked up a snapper push mower off the curb with broke pull string. It had spark; carb cleaned up. Low compression ( it would build up ) . Made no cents to me. Finally pulled a mustie & head came off with valves and lots of carbon. Put back together; ran . Compression just high enough barely to run. Good power after running. I believed it used a little 🛢️ with maybe lack of oil changes. I just can't part with it just yet. A few pulls 2-3 and the next pull it will go. Mowing ditch's and it wants to live. A hair of scoring in bore. Rich @ small airport in Iowa. Not a lot of grass but more weeds.

[@davidflamee]

The generator was already dragging against the engine when you got it. So it looks like it was cooked to begin with. There were some fireworks came from the cowling when you finished cleaning the bench after she started to run, I guess that was the coil coming free from its moorings. Exciting stuff!!

[@fester73666]

AWESOME video Mustie, very enjoyable to watch 👍👍

[@TerryLawrence001]

Even though I have seen you do these Brigs revivals, it is always fun to see you do them even repeating a valve job is interesting all over again!

[@LAP1050]

At least we learned what was stalling the engine👍 Always fun watching 👍

[@TgWags69]

Some of those old briggs just won't go unless they get a whiff of ether. Btw if you use a socket adapter with a 16 point socket on an electric drill, you can spin it on the square shank of the rewind clutch.

[@nemesismcc]

I am an old school biker, I use to ride old English motorbikes, the kind that you had to fix and repair regularly, that's not to say they were never good bikes, because they were when you got them fettled, common issues were gasket leaks on the crankcase faces, head gaskets that failed, the most common fix was a piece of plate glass, glue, and emery paper and lots of oil and elbow grease, on the crankcaseings and all so called flat surfaces ( bad casting and milling was to blame), In fact one old BSA 250 is still on the road today, it's got to be at least 55/65 years old, as I am 66 and I had it in my early 20s and it was about 15 year old then lol, I'd love to see mucty working on some classic motrobikes, and bringing them back to life, the sound of a 650/750 paralle engine on free flow exhausts is just something else, and yet again another great video from the grand master of the spanner

[@1999Valkyrie]

Darren NEVER disappoints us. He'll labor for hours, using skills and talents we will never enjoy. You GO, Mustie!!

[@maxwellthemalinois3996]

I love watching these videos. Relaxing and informative yet entertaining.

[@KAPTKipper]

1:14:19 - Big Sparks - Probably when the coil glue let go

[@sonovoxx]

...just at the point he left it to go looking for a light!

[@allenjcarter]

Yeah, I was thinking this was about to get very interesting or very disappointing. Sad in the end.

[@steveaustin4118]

When he took the front cover off at 11 minutes you can already see that side sticking out and burnt I think it was dead before Mustie touched it

[@sonovoxx]

Actually, it's more likely when the short circuit in the coil burned through! It's one coil for 110, and both for 220. The 110 one was obviously short circuited, hence he was trying to start the engine under full load each time. As soon as the coil couldn't take it any longer, the motor was finally free of the load and went to full rpm.

[@Justicesdad]

57:20 already toast

[@spudzmacco]

Thank you for showing us something that I didn’t know existed. Very interesting stuff.

[@tayro7265]

The first new chainsaw I owned was a Light Weight McCulloch. As recommended by Jerry Clower.

[@ndafarachaitezvi1139]

Awesome content as always.Thanks for sharing and taking us along

[@perrymattes4285]

We had a dealer for these years ago. I remember seeing them on the show room shelf. I remember a sticker saying the generator was self excited. Thats probably why they don’t want you to change the voltage while running

[@David-yo5ws]

Yep, switching that switch while it was running, would get it over-excited 😁 I worked for a computer company that decided to go into home computers. One of their mistakes 'obvious to me anyhow' was that on the back of the computer power supply, was a bright red sliding switch. In a home environment, you know what inquisitive kids are going to do. ⚡

[@MARKE911]

So nice I had to watch this video twice, what a funky generator

[@flick22601]

When he was having so much trouble pulling the starter, I tried to tell him to take the damn flywheel off but, OH NO, Mustie had to do it his way. Well, me being right in this case makes me feel good because every other time I try to tell him what to do, I'm wrong. Darren 1,027 Me 1. Love this content.

[@jimlove4541]

I am in pain just watching.. It brings back every Briggs lawn mower memory along with the starter rope not returning..

[@cynturner906]

Mustie1 I believe it already had an issue before you started it. All the blue crimps made me think someone had already been trying to figure it out. At least you have a descent gas engine to use later. Great video. Thanks

[@williamson8078]

that engine looks just like an ole drag cart i built 25 years ago 18 hp water pump pull start it was awsome thx for the vid:)

[@benjamincresswell3713]

Well Musti, another entertaining video. I wonder if the output coil was shorted befor you even got it. I saw sparks coming out of the area early on. As a mechanic for 56yrs, dating back to the early 60's, I "cut my teeth" on small Briggs & Stratton, REO*, Clinton, Tecumseh and the like engines. I learned from my blue collar neighbors who fixed everything and never hired anything out. One in particular, was a gas station manager, and he really knew his way around all prime movers. From Car engines to outboards and everything in between. So I learned early about starting engines that had issues. If I may, I would like to offer a few points that may be of interest to you from all of my years of experience. First, I always use starting fluid, it has more oomph. The older guys told me I might blow a head gasket but I have never done that, ever. Everything older, especially if it's been sitting, is usually way down on compression, so there's never much power developed during initial startups. That's why I use it. Starting fluid by it's nature has a more powerful explosion factor that results in higher combustion pressure which helps overcome frictional issues and low compression resulting from prolonged non-use. And it dries out quicker than carb cleaner brake clean and gasoline so I spend less time "clearing out" a flooded inlet system. Befor brake clean came out I used to use starting fluid for drying distributer caps and cleaning points of oily residue. Another thing is compression. Any piston engine will run with almost ZERO compression if you spin it fast enough. My experience has been to use an electric motor with belt and pulleys or a drill motor to take the engine up to 600 or more rpm while adjusting A/F ratio (in my case between shots of starting fluid). With very little or literally no measurable compression pressure I have started engines that eventually built up quite a lot of compression. I have never even once tested a "salvage" engine for compression pressure. Until I get it running, to me it's pointless. Also, I would never disassemble a carburetor until I filled it with fresh gasoline and tried it. Most of the time they only need a float bowl filled with Gumout brand carb cleaner and let it sit then run it. After that a little mixed into the fuel takes care of remaining subtle deposits. Only as a last resort or if I see evidence of rust or dirt that might be present causing float needle and seat flooding or lean running (needs choking) do I start disassembly of a carb. On points ignition, I have resorted to using an automobile engine ignition coil and a 12v battery to provide spark if the spark seemed weak or intermittent. And there is nothing wrong with opening up a valve lash beyond mfr specs unless you are in competition or looking for absolute maximum efficiency. I have also "opened up" the point gap to advance the ign timing until I get things sorted out. And lastly, you made me happy when you tightened the head back down without a torque wrench. "Feeling" how tight a bolt is, is something that seems to be lost these days. I never even owned a torque wrench until I bought a "wish-bone" torque wrench, when I was about 20. Like Taryl Dactyl says: " This is a lawnmower, not the space-shuttle." In the business of taking a thrown away piece of equipment to a level where it can be assessed for value, close counts immeasurably. Thank you for the entertainment. *(Ransom E. Olds, the guy who Oldsmobile was named for) ben/ michigan

[@twt000]

Starting fluid has higher octane thus gives more compression. Agree it compensates for older low comp. engines.

[@baldmaggots]

Thanks Darren, came for the carb cleaning stayed for the carnage. Great video.

[@paint52]

Mite-E-Lite had another type with a vertical shaft Briggs sitting on the alternator. Some had a wheel kit like the one I had

[@paint52]

Mine was pre-McCulloch and it was normal for it to pull hard from the mass of the winding.

[@RADIOACTIVEMASCULINITY]

This was pretty neat. I love the old stuff you come across

[@oldschool1993]

Lap your valves first, then check clearance and grind your stems. You lost compression when you cleaned the carbon from the piston. Check your generator- it may be trying to generate current- Pull the fuses out. Also, it would seem logical that the voltage selector switch would be an ON-OFF-ON style so there would be no generating in the center position.

[@AnthonyRBlacker]

1:08:45 Oh man I'd get right into that cylinder all with a hone.. F it.. it's already super weak on power, I'd probably dingle ball it for a good minute and clean out that ridge.. who knows the ring may be springy enough to fill it but that gouge is pretty deep.. let's see how you do it Mustie.. great one this week!! edit: Oh AWESOME!! I heard it starting to run better and faster as you were away looking for something, we saw the big BIG spark come from the back, then it really sped up and you saw the plate, well.. catastrophize! hahaha oh man what an awesome treat this week!! Wonderful!!!!

[@Hjerte_Verke]

Rarely see a 6 H.P. It's worth a hone and new rings maybe but the engine got that way because of neglect. De-carbonize the cylinder head, valve area and top of piston every 100-150 hours and it'll last forever. Keep up with oil changes and use a quality oil, but it didn't get much love in its life.

[@enginecrzy]

What a Bugger! & half a Mcculloch too😖😆I dig the shielded sparkplug tho. I have a vidio of one I restored on my channel & the easy start cam threw me for a loop when I was trying to adjust the valves too "I dont believe it had a decompression throw weight on the cam gear, the cam just holds a valve slightly open during the compression stroke... check it out😁. When I was rebuliding it, I used a manual hand crank ring gap grinder tool from goodson that also has a groove milled in it to hold valve stems that was very handy.✌👍

[@TheHouser21]

I agree. Cement head 😅. Can’t believe you got that running with such a heavy load. Very cool!

[@mebcool]

Hey Mustie 1 I haven't been watching for awhile, in the past 12 years I have sub'd to way too many video channels. Ain't KZbin awesome. Great to see you guy. I love to listen to you explain things and share your vast knowledge of life and small engines. I haven't had a shop for a year now, my shop is in storage. Watching this on full screen I can just smell the gas dripping out of the carb as well as the rest of the shop... man I miss my shop :( I would have used a brass wire wheel instead of steel as the steel removes steel. Ooooooo RPM'S ! Oh no ! Oh no shit ! You can be a riot buddy. Hey, those blue 14-16 ga. connectors on the wires aren't factory. That thing's been rewired at some point in the past 30 years wouldn't you say ? Ultimate issue with the engine would be the compression then right That head and gasket didn't look good, leaking between the cylinder and exhaust port. That generator was definitely toast though. Thanks for the video buddy, and God Bless you and your family.

[@dennisbailey4296]

Mustie your a good Tec in my book!! But realize that things don't SUCK they are Drawn in To a void or space. Not Sucked in! It sounds petty but it describes the event so much better!! Thanks soooo much for your friendly demeanor and welcoming way you included us the audience as if we are there!!! All the best from Surrey BC Canada

[@Phiyedough]

I kept willing you to take the generator off before trying to get the engine going! That way you would have seen if parts were burnt or whatever. I suspect it was quite a low output unit, perhaps for some specialised application where a conventional shape generator wouldn't fit the space available.

[@gabehartman6832]

This is my favorite upload so far, very interesting and informative.

[@davekauffman8727]

That engine is a small bore 8 hp block, I've wrenched on several of those. There was never a decompression set up on any of the engines like that I've had apart, but I did see a few Tecumseh engines with decompression weights on the cam gear that held the exhaust valve open a hair at very low RPM.

[@1951Roy]

Would make a good static display for a Generator collector, worth something. Thanks for sharing.

[@twocvbloke]

That pancake generator unit reminds me of that "spaceship" generator you did a few years back, though it was arranged with the engine up top and the generator on the bottom, but utilised a flat generator too... :)

[@Onewheelordeal]

When I saw this style generator my first thought was that it would be a good design to run under a lawn mower engine bc its already shaped similar

[@phillipdavis4507]

don't you just love it when everything comes together as planed? 😂😂In the past when I've run across one that was hard to start I take a torch and heat to spark plug just a little bit and put it in there and it work, try it😊

[@shad0wrealms116]

Mustie how is it you don't have over a million subscribers. I am not lying when I say everything I know about engines small and large I learned from watching you. You are hands down one of the best people on KZbin for learning about mechanics. Thanks for all the great vids and I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say thank you for teaching novices like me something new almost every time.

[@vettekid3326]

Back in the early 1980's I worked part time in a small engine repair shop. Those "cool bore" all aluminum Briggs engines were only good for about 150 hours run time because they didn't have bronze valve guides or cast iron cylinder liners. We would ream out the valve guides and install bronze guides and also could over bore the aluminum bore and press in a cast iron bore liner but the cost was almost the same as buying another throw away all aluminum engine. All the carbon around the valves shows the oil leaking past the guides.

[@ronniepirtlejr2606]

Instead of using wire on the windings they used a thick copper. I like the compact design.

[@mrplowjrezv]

I had an old black and decker similar setup with a k series 8hp.. the flywheel was so heavy when it ran out of gas it continues to spin for so long you can almost go out side and re-fill it before the lights go out.

[@Hjerte_Verke]

20:27 De-carboning the cylinder head and valve area is a prescribed maintenance procedure per Briggs and Stratton. You were expected to do it every 100 hours or so and doing it is easy enough. That engine has several layers of carbon cake buildup, so it is showing a lot of neglect.

[@buckfortyfive]

Darren, this is my thoughts on generator. First, I think the 2 wraps of aluminum behind the wheel of magnets were set up in two different windings. 1 for 110, the other , when switched would be for 220, so no regulator. That's why you couldn't engage the switch while running. When the wheel would spin with magnets in front of the two windings it would create a electric field charging the windings causing the electrical charge in the each but what ever the location of the switch was in only one would discharge or could not even take a charge. Looking at the insulation plates the were separated in a way to keep the two windings separate from each other plus when you discovered the small white wires they were separate from each other. I feel do to age and consent use of 110 only and the lack of use of the 220, when unit ran for long periods of time the glue became so hot that after setting for 50 +years the glue became degraded causing it to let go of the insulation board. It was a poor design but maybe for the 70s it was futuristic maybe? But I also saw in editing your video you saw the big bright set of sparks due to your back was turned just before it really let go. From the angle I saw as the RPMs were going up you could see several sets of sparks then the big spark. It was one of the most exciting videos you made, especially towards the end. I hope maybe some of my ramblings was insightful, maybe not. Any it was enjoyable just the same and I got some ideas and interesting information. 😊

[@PabloDamon]

I have one just like it, runs great and puts out some current.

[@renkemam]

Does it also drags when you try to start it? Would the dragging here be a warning? Solve that first and then go on?

[@edhoran1709]

@@renkemam My Vol. FD had one of these. Miserable to start, but once the cylinder fired, it would come up to speed. It did like to "dance around" wherever it was set up. It worked the best bolted down on a sliding tray. IIRC it could produce around 3500 watts, so anything other than lights would stress it out. Yes, we did overload it and had it rebuilt. It was replaced by bigger units later on.

[@m-bookbinder5722]

When I was about 16 years old we had a lawn mower that wouldn't start easy. I took the head off and saw that the intake valve opened just like we saw here. I thought "there is your problem". I ground down the stem until I had play through the whole compression stroke. When I tried to start it, it painfully ripped the pull cord out of my hand. After a couple tries I realized what the reason for the lifting of the intake valve was and had to use a welder to build the valveste up again. Lesson learned (-:

[@madisonhadley7906]

Love the old mcculloch rebranded items. They really made/branded so many things

[@MarvinHowell-k4u]

This one wild. Enjoyed this. You certainly have patience.😊

[@kbakeritsallaboutnobody.5761]

I've disabled the decompression by wrapping wire around it to hold it closed and the engine ran just fine after. Just FYI. Awesome video BTW.

[@staninjapan07]

Wow, it had been a while since had seen one of your videos, but thankfully YT brought me back around and I got to spend an hour and a half imagining that I, too, was an actual mechanic. The more I watch videos made by people who understand there is no mystery to engines (though this one seemed to stump you a bit), the more I realize that I, too, with some work, could strip an engine down with confidence and a good chance of making it work better than when I got it. Except that the only engines I ever do even basic routine maintenance on are my bike engines and I maintain those from new so it's nowhere near as exciting or suspenseful as seeing you bringing something back from the dead. Anyway, thanks, your videos always keep me hooked... even the ones in which you rebuild old Snap-On tool cabinets!

[@michaels3288]

It's an axial flux alternator. Used a lot in DIY design wind and water generator designs.

[@darylnicklen3685]

Thanks Mustie another unusual type of machine Can't wait for the teased item coming up. Be safe Be Well.

[@tompat9166]

Great video, would have been interesting to see the compression after it running a while.

[@OlszkoolCustoms]

You are a patient man. I would have pulled out the Cosby sauce after the first pull. Love your videos!

[@Robb403]

I seem to remember those being carried on rescue and utility vehicles for lighting and blowers. They were compact although not well regulated. But, they didn't need to be.

[@mistermacgray]

McCulloch Mite-E-Lite. I have the manual for this. It's a permanent magnet generator and why it's such a small setup. The permanent magent is heavy and why it's so hard to pull over.

[@sjoerdriberi9268]

anyone else saw the spark flying at 1:14:20, just when mustie walked away to get the lightbulb

[@evanchapmanfanman]

The decompression part of earlier briggs engines was actually done by leaving a couple thousandths of extra material on the intake lobe of the cam rather than a mechanical weight. This holds the intake valve open the tiniest bit until around 30 degrees btdc. This was known as “easy spin” by Briggs and Stratton. The compression loss was small enough that once the engine was running, the slight bit of leakage on the intake valve didn’t rob any power. Pretty clever if you ask me, no weighted levers to move out of the way. Only downside was if the engine had significant wear, the engine would be really hard to start due to lack of compression.

[@marcuswilson7194]

it was marketed as easy spin

[@evanchapmanfanman]

@@marcuswilson7194 “marketing” that’s the word I was looking for, thank you. I knew what I typed didn’t sound right.

[@sonovoxx]

Woohoo! ...finds spark, wonders if it's going to be that easy... I see 1h30m of video ahead, so no, it won't be that easy! 😂

[@chrisingle5839]

Ive got 2 mite-e-lites. They are 120v only though. One had a burned coil just like yours. The other works great though. Worth the $20 at aucton for both.

[@dolvaran]

I think it had a short and was trying to run under full load from the offset - hence why it was so difficult to start. Once you fixed the engine enough to run, it then burnt out completely.

[@sonovoxx]

100% correct diagnosis. Short probably happened by the coil overheating some time in the past, and melting the insulation between windings. Very interesting design. I'd also hazard one coil for 110v (the one that was shorted), and both coils for 220. If we had known one of the coils was shorted before he started, it could easily have been rewired to make it a 110v only gen set using the other coil.

[@eDoc2020]

The damaged coil was definitely out of place before Darren started working. In 110v mode both coils would be in parallel. I'm wondering if it was possible the coil wasn't internally shorted; if when one winding is out of place it would be generating a different voltage and when paralleled with the other winding the voltage difference would cause a load. If he kept it on 220v there might be a chance of having more luck.

[@eDoc2020]

@@sonovoxx I agree it probably overheated. But I'm not sure about the insulation melting between layers. It's also possible the glue loosened first and the end wire scraped across the sides of the windings. Either way if we had known beforehand we certainly could have removed the bad winding and had a 120v-only unit with half the current capability. I'm also curious about what size fuse was installed. It wouldn't surprise me if somebody installed too big of a fuse and this was responsible for the overheating.

[@sonovoxx]

@@eDoc2020 I'd say you're probably right about an incorrect fuse, but if too high a load was placed on the circuit for long enough, the coil will get incredibly hot - I've dealt with dozens of mains transformers blowing in old tube amps when the current was too high for too long, so I can only extend the same logic to the demise of that 110v coil. We're both in agreement about WHAT happened, but I'd love to know for sure how it all came about. 👍

[@andrewgrace4410]

That was wild, especially that large spark when you left to fetch the light😮

[@ldhare]

You mentioned that you are going to have a few ODDBALL machines in some upcoming videos. I have a FLYMO, hover type lawn mower machine that I bought from a gentleman that worked for the Swedish Embassy. I believe that they were banned in the USA, but it would certainly qualify as an ODDBALL Hopefully, this is one of the ODDBALL machines that you alluded to. PS; Love your videos and it has become one of my Sunday routines of late. Thanks.

[@ricke573]

No, they were not banned, they just never caught on in the USA -- sales were poor. I've seen a few over the years, they work well on level lawns.

[@mooshaker]

Cool teardown. The spark while you were away from the unit made me think it was going to go up in flame at any minute.