Miller Blue Star 2E Dumpster Save

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I rescued this old girl literally out of a farmers scrap bin for a $20 bill. He was cleaning his yard up and this was peeking out from a pile of old auger flighting and other scrap right next to a weldanpower 225 with what I believe was a 2 cylinder wisconsin. The Lincoln was in much worse shape and my garage is already stacked to the gills so I let her go. I drained the oil and float bowl. Topped with fresh fluids and an air filter, she lit right off. No AC or DC power yet but Im going to start by cleaning up the slip rings (See Pic) and poking around with the meter. Any advice on breathing life back into this machine would be greatly appreciated. I've already poked around a bit and it seems that duaneb55 is the authority on these. I would love to get her back into fighting form to justify a full restoration. Attached Images
Reply:Considering you got the Techy running your better than half way there.
Reply:I had one exactly like this given to me some years ago.  It ran like a top.  it did not put out any power at all.  I took it to the only rewinding shop in this town and after about a month they called for me to pick it up. Bill 157dollers and they said they could not find anything wrong with it except it did not put out any power.
Reply:Originally Posted by Tool MakerI had one exactly like this given to me some years ago.  It ran like a top.  it did not put out any power at all.  I took it to the only rewinding shop in this town and after about a month they called for me to pick it up. Bill 157dollers and they said they could not find anything wrong with it except it did not put out any power.
Reply:Nice save!Judging from the condition of the slip rings I'd say you stand a pretty good chance of it waking up after you give them a good cleaning with some fine sandpaper or commutator stone.  If that doesn't do it we'll have to work from there.If you don't already have it, go here http://www.millerwelds.com/service/o...uals.php?model and type in the whole JA41???? SN, select Blue Star 2E and then click Search to take you to the unit manual.Too bad about the Lincoln.  The old Weldanpower 225's were good units.MM200 w/Spoolmatic 1Syncrowave 180SDBobcat 225G Plus - LP/NGMUTT Suitcase WirefeederWC-1S/Spoolmatic 1HF-251D-1PakMaster 100XL '68 Red Face Code #6633 projectStar Jet 21-110Save Second Base!
Reply:Thanks for the input thus far. I already have the manual printed out from miller. I'll start with the slip rings. I read elsewhere to use 320 grit sandpaper. Are we talking regular fine sand paper? Not sure where to find a commutator stone but I would entertain that also. Thanks again guys. I will post updates as I have time to tinker.
Reply:P.S. I do know the scrap guy the weldanpower went to. If someone else was interested in "adoption" I could see if he still has it and get some pics.
Reply:Originally Posted by Duramax 6011Thanks for the input thus far. I already have the manual printed out from miller. I'll start with the slip rings. I read elsewhere to use 320 grit sandpaper. Are we talking regular fine sand paper? Not sure where to find a commutator stone but I would entertain that also. Thanks again guys. I will post updates as I have time to tinker.
Reply:Ideal Industries have them:http://www.idealindustries.com/prodS...dSearchBtn.y=8
Reply:Duramax,I'd clean the rings with 320, then 400 (gently)See if she comes to life.As you may know,it's not uncommon for the stator to lose their magnetic charge after sitting for years.often you can kickstart it by plugging in a drill (if it's got a 120 recept), closing the chuck, and spinning it (drillchuck) with gloves on while the gen is running.the armature in the drill often has enough residual magnetism from running to excite the windingsthen you're off and running.some use a 9volt batt with leads to do the same thing (scares me)cool find
Reply:Originally Posted by greg409As you may know,it's not uncommon for the stator to lose their magnetic charge after sitting for years.often you can kickstart it by plugging in a drill (if it's got a 120 recept), closing the chuck, and spinning it (drillchuck) with gloves on while the gen is running.the armature in the drill often has enough residual magnetism from running to excite the windingsthen you're off and running.some use a 9volt batt with leads to do the same thing (scares me)
Reply:Originally Posted by duaneb55That's an accurate description of most generators but the Blue Star 2E has a flashing circuit that excites the field upon start-up.  If it doesn't wake up after cleaning the slip rings - which they need badly - then he'll have to inspect the flashing circuit for issues.