I can't shake the feeling that some day this nation will once again need these "obsolete" tools and the knowledge to use them. I really enjoyed this video. Thanks, Mr. Pete!

One has to wonder about a teacher who throws out equipment because he doesn't recognize it, when said equipment has a label saying "ARMATURE TESTER" in big letters.

Always stay for extra credit🙋. The car guys I hung out with back in the 60s and 70s used these growlers, but the hot setup was the distributor machine.. Essential in any speed shop

I am a 53 yr old Electrical Engineer in Sabah, Malaysia. I learnt how to use the Growler (Thanks, Pete! I only know this name today!) when I was working part-time after my Secondary School (High School??? in the US schooling system???), while waiting for my application to enter university. Yes, armatures ARE still being repaired/rewound in this part of the world daily. Thanks, Mr Pete, for keeping the knowledge alive..... The modern throw-away-and-replace attitude is wasteful......

I’ve operated both of those machines back in the 1970’s. I’ve also turned down commutators, undercut the mica in generators, adjusted voltage regulators and flashed the fields. Other Sun machines I’ve used were the VAT-28 and oscilloscope. Good find! Thank you for preserving them.

We live in a throw away society, it's so sad that people just toss something like this tool. I'm retired maintenance mechanic- electrician. I worked for a large nursing home it was non profit so the more I could repair ( everything from hospital beds to large boiler circulator motors, industrial kitchen equipment and our plow trucks and tractors). Now since us old repair men has retired, everything is replace. It's run by a corporation now instead of the church, the amount of money used to keep with this new practice of tossing things is staggering. Glad you kept it from filling a spot in a landfill! Maybe someday things will turn around.

That really takes me back in time. I trained on a growler when I was a student for my FAA Airframe and Engine Mechanic license in 1960-62 at the Institute of Aviation, University of Illinois. I never was employed as a mechanic (I was a pilot) but this schooling was invaluable to learning aircraft systems of the many propeller and jet aircraft I flew during a 31 year career. After graduation and four years in the Air Force (in weapons), I went back to the Univ. of Ill. and got my BS degree in Education (Industrial Arts) and then began my flying career. Teaching kids wasn't for me but I did lots of in-house training for our pilots. I've always had a high aptitude and interest for mechanical things and find your videos so interesting, educational and entertaining.

In my dealership days, I was the tune up/electrical technician. This was in the 80s until 2002. It wasn't economical to bench repair worn out starters or generators, but for warranty repairs we had to replace internal parts. The last starter I ever took apart was a 1984 Oldsmobile which had a gear reduction starter. The brush holder had come apart and was mangled beyond recognition. I put the service manual on the bench and carefully installed a new holder and wired the brushes in place. When I reinstalled the starter, it worked fine except it was running backwards and the starter drive clutch was overrunning. I pulled it back out and again carefully compared the brush wring to the diagram. I stood there trying to see what I had done wrong when a breeze turned the page to section on the regular starter, without gear reduction. The same brush diagram was used on both pages. This was about the time we quit doing internal repairs on generators(GM never used the term alternator). The diodes, voltage regulator, and brushes of early generators used screws, so diagnosis and repair was fairly simple. By this time, power output was getting over 100 amps, so in later generators the connection between the stator windings and the diodes was a spot weld that couldn't be duplicated in a shop.

The teacher did not know what a Growler is. Distributer testers, Growlers, Valve grinding equipment, Brake relining riveting tools etc etc I learned to use in high school, sure came in handy during my mechanical career. Love this stuff Mr Pete so keep on making these old content videos.

"The growler hums and growls, and hence its name." LOL. I love your commentaries, always cracks me up. Your language and your Jimmy Stewart-esk smooth voice, makes it perfect. Great video on the growler and the testing of armature. Good stuff Tubalcain.

This equipment belongs to a time we did not trown away our stuffs we fix them when they did not work anymore, thank you Mr. Pete I loved to know the growler.

Awesome. Every once in awhile you run a cross a growler. Great in the marine mechanics shop as lots of motors on boats.

Very good demo Lyle. To bad you did not have a several bad armatures. I linked this video to my motor repair playlist. Thanks for the demo.

Really enjoyed this was very interesting. Lot of old tools and equipment being lost forever with our throw away society and all the skills involved too are lost.

In HS auto shop I used both the armature tester and the distributor machine. To use the valve grinding equipment you had to have had very good math grades by the auto shop teachers standards. I used that equipment also. 👍

They are still in use in my local motor repair shop.I repair one for them last year . It must have been made in the 50s , in a wooden box . The gardest part was making it safe to modern standard without ruining the aged look .

G'day Mr. Pete. You brought many memories from my trade training in the early 80's with that growler. I remember using a similar one from 40 years ago. Thanks for sharing. Aaron.

I taught myself how to rewind motors from an Army Field Manual (TM5-764) that I got from our local public library. The only "exotic" material needed was Red Glyptal, a semi-hardening enamel (which you can still get from Amazon - they have everything) to stabilize the windings. I rewound a single 1/2 horse motor (which I still have and still works well) and never tried it again. I think the only time I would ever do it again would be for some motor with a proprietary case that was not available any more. It *is* tedious, but so are a lot of the things we do.

Used to use growler while repairing power tools at a rental place in the '90's. Great diagnostic tool.

Mr. Pete, I watched your videos way back when you wouldn't show your face. You have gotten better and better over the years like an old bottle of good wine, and this video is the clear evidence of that. Only after my Dad was my shop teacher Kent Knaus (1966 -1969) a hero to me. Today at 70 you are my shop teacher, and my hero. You are truly an American hero. I have actually used a growler before but never understood it like I do now. The world is a better place with you in it, please don't ever leave us. I recently heard a man say, "Every time an old man dies a library is burned". We are so fortunate you are making this video library for us, the English speaking human race. Thank you ever so much for ALL that you do. Art

In some cases, the component repair is still performed, but the work has moved from the mechanic's shop to specialized remanufacturing facilities

I recall a device with a small cutter wheel that would carve out the insulation between commutator segments. Seems to me it was part of the Growler in Automotive school. Thanks for the refresher.

In the 60 years of being an automobile mechanic I must say I have never used one, but as you say it’s usually pretty obvious if an armature is defective by the thrown solder or the burned varnish, but for production work the grower is faster and more accurate.

Thank you Mr Pete. That is something that I have never had any experience with but it was interesting.

I used a growler for many years in the school bus garage in NC. It cost very little to repair alternators and starters and we cut cost by 75%. I trained one of my men just for this, and the repairs were easy to do. We cut our commulator on a south bend 9" lathe and south bend had a mica cutter attachment to cut the mica away from the brass. We also ran a ground from the alternator to frame as a extra ground and cut alternator problems by 50%. Love the video's, this one brings back old memories.

Every truck shop I have worked in had the growler. Those big truck starters were expensive so we rebuilt many of them until the mid nineties. I think I remember testing alternator armatures on it too. Thank you for the memories.

Thanks - I'm very pleased to have seen that video. Here's a bunch of comments: 1. "A.S.R." cam to mind instantly - my local alternator/Starter Repair shop - I've a feeling they'll do rewinds, but not sure, never used them :) 2. We don't need one - an ohm meter (part of a multimeter) can perform those tests - with much less growling and heat ! 3. What did your dad do in the war - common enough question. Before the war he was a general dogsbody in a hotel (Grandma was a cook there - and bought dad an 0-1 10ths mic for his 21st b'day (1945) - still have it.) Also before the war he was motorbike mad - and oddly, this is relevant ! 17 year old with a m/c........resulted in a quick trip to the hospital in an ambulance to get his broken arm fixed. 1941 ! As the war developed, of course he was called up - and instantly medically written off due to the recent broken arm and the fact it healed such that he could neither get it dead straight nor bend the elbow more than 90°. Tinkering with motorbikes - he ended up fitting balance weights to aero engines (possibly Cheetah 9 (ix) as he mentioned those enough for me to remember!). After the war, 'in his element' he went into the auto maintenance trade (for the rest of his life). First job, first company - straight onto a lathe to true up a com on a starter - and that's the point of this story ! By the early 1970s, he'd got his own lathe (ML7) (kept at the mother in law's (cellar)) and 10-12 years later upgraded to a Colchester Student, after we'd moved - still here and nearly usable! (a bit low on headstock oil).

I was aware of this instrument for testing starter motors but I have never seen one used. Those distributor test machines go for a small fortune now. I used to have a Dykes book that was full of pictures of Growlers but it was something quite different. Thank you for sharing

Nice to see a demo like that. I started in the auto electric rebuilding business right out of high school. A parts counter out front and a 4 man rebuilding shop in the back. Our testing /rebuilding equipment was much more heavy duty. The business was driven by rebuilding starters, generators, magnetos, regulators and such for large fleet accounts. A shop of 4 men rebuilding 8 hours a day 6 days a week is a lot of product being done. We had growlers but much larger and taller. One of our customers was US Steel, Fairless Hills, PA mill. Their yard locomotives 32 and 36 volt. A 15 pound armature needed a serious growler. I worked at that trade for more than 35 years. A third of that time I owned the company. It finally went the way of the buggy whip. No body needed us anymore. Now a days if you need something just get it from China!!!

A shame they threw out that Distributor machine. Definitely not obsolete in our thriving air cooled VW community.

Your videos are awesome. Thank you for posting !

There are motor repair men [people] or were that sold motors for money and often had 3 phase for low bucks. Not much market. He used an electric (house) Oven to burn out the varnish and then strip out the copper for scrap. Then used a jig to make the loops to install. Nice guy some years ago in Arlington, TX.

Thank you Mr. Pete, once again I learned something new from your awesome video. Cheers! Dave in RI

I have one sitting in one of my cabnets, thanks for the demo

IIRC, the thin metal strip has to be lengthwise to the armature when checking for shorts.

If every school had teachers like you it would advance the evolution of man by leaps and bounds. GB ✌️❤️💡 Thank you for all your content!

I always wondered how those things worked. It seems that we live in a disposable economy nowadays but I wish that everything was still made to be repairable and that parts were still available.

Wow that brings back memories, I have not used one in years.

I haven't seen one of these in years. Thanks for sharing this.

Regarding your comment about when we quit using automotive generators, if my memory serves the US automotive industry moved to alternators in 1964.

Watching from Australia, this is an excellent video on the use of Growlers, thorough, nicely presented.

My machinist friend who runs an old time shop. He has a gen tester sitting on the top shelf. I am sure he can use it occasionally on an old generator/ starter

I always feel a great fascination with these old tools and always I get the question "how do I use it" in my head when I see them. Many thank to you Mr. Pete for showing this and satisfying my curiosity! 👍

Used one many a time, back in the day. Lol enough to recognize the Ford tractor armature, anyway

Thank's for the video takes me back to my auto electrical years repairing all types 12 & 24 volt starters & generators / dynamo's wiper, blower motors also repairing voltage regulators

Thanks Mr Pete, I enjoyed watching this.

This is great info Mr. Pete! A few years ago I bought a growler and an armature late. The growler needs new leads, the wires look like your line cord did. Your growler is higher end then mine. The lathe needs a general cleaning and service. It's sad we are so disposable as a nation. Too much waste an no one cares.

Thanks for an interesting video. When I was a teen I worked in about 3 different service stations and one had a growler that I used a few times. It was state of the art at the time.

Great stuff Mr. Pete. I remember taking my starters, generators, and even alternators to a small shop in San Antonio for repair. Wonder if it's still there? Lost technologies, part of the disassembling of America. Then again, November 22nd just passed. I was one of only 3 people at work that remembered that day in 1963.

That was a very good instructional video. Thanks. Extra thanks for retrieving the growler and distributor tester. I'm glad you could appreciate their real value. Shameful that such fine useful equipment was tossed in the first place.

Thank you Mr Pete

HEY! I have a growler that was my father in laws.IT is the just growler magnet with a cord in a wooden box base.It was not made with any gauges or test leads. The cord and insulation is very rotten too.

Very interesting Mr Pete. I’ll be watching for the follow up on magnitizing tools John

Really appreciate this informative video and you passing your knowledge along to the next generation. Thank you.

Another great video that explains something I knew nothing about. It doesn't matter to me that it is an obsolete piece of equipment. A curious mind is easily entertained by information such as this. Thank you Mr. Pete for such a well made video and thorough explanation. I could certainly pass a test on the subject, well at least right this moment. No promises a week from now, my old age is its own test, grin....

Very interesting and nostalgic. They still manufacture these type of testing machines in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Their electromotive industry is huge and mainly based on older technology and most their products are manufactured by small workshops.

When I was a kid, back in the ‘60s, my uncle had one of those on a bench in the barn where he kept all his tractors. He played a sneaky trick on me when he had it set up to test something. When he flipped it on and it made that noise he yelled “RUN, it’s gonna blow”! Like a flash of light, I was gone and he stood there proud that he fooled a 6 year old kid.

This was great thanks Lyle

Now I know how to run the one in my shop at work. Thanks, maybe I’ll have to try it out for the fun of it.

Very interesting thanks Mr Pete.

i have NOT watched the vidi yet but this is a tool / test on my bucket list .. thank you

Very interesting video,mrpete.Thank you.

Thank you for this! Has helped greatly for study!

Great stuff Mr Pete it kinda makes me feel my years

Excellent video, thanks. 👍🏻

I’ve been looking forward to this one! My dog is a growler.

It pains me to think of the Sun distributor machine in a dumpster. Thanks again for your videos!

My go to guy for motor repair has one of these, but he doesn't use it very often. He works on a lot of older stuff, so he has this on his shelf.

Good job, sir . Thanks for sharing

Very good video ! I used 1 yrs ago but in my age ive for got so thank u for video !!!

Thank you for sharing. Enjoyed.

We had both the Sun growler and the distributor machine in auto mechanics in the late ‘80s.

We called this am external growler back in our 1967 go tech electric shop. Had an internal growler to test field winding. In my 50 years as an electrician never saw one in the field. Very rarely see a DC motor in factories. An AC motor feed from a VFD replaced the DC motors. Most battery operated tools are brushless so it lasts longer , has longer battery run time and lighter.

Thank you, Mr. Pete. I was just a kid the last time I saw a growler in use; that motor shop is long gone, sadly.

Paul Harvey was a great commutator. Sure miss his words of wisdom.

I worked for G&J auto in Gallipolis ohio in the late sixtys Back when we rebuild things I miss those days.

Tested many starter and generator armatures on growlers, back in the day.

Auto diagnosis is now performed by accessing and unwinding cascading diagnostic codes. That's it. Unfortunately, useful diagnostic tools like the growler, the analog VOM, the tach/dwell meter, and many other useful tools have disappeared, . I recently used an old halide torch I own to find an R12 leak on my younger brother's old car (it was a loose connection near the receiver/dryer). He was astonished to find that such a thing even existed, let alone worked.

have the same one and and mica undercutter and armature turning chuck for lathe,use them once in a while when when i restore old tractors in my not so golden years

My extent of generator repair was (with the engine running) ground the F or field wire, if the generator charged fully you had a bad regulator. If the generator didn't charge after grounding the F wire you cleaned the commutator and/or replaced the brushes . If still no worky you took the generator to Johnson's Starter and Generator in town. Mr Johnson would test the generator with the growler, then pick a sepia colored armature box from a stack and install in the generator. Saw growlers used in my youth (66 now) but never had one explained.

Cool!

thank you

Great video, I love the old tools of the trade and it’s a little sad that shops are mainly remove and replace, rather then actually fix anything anymore

Cool! I have two of them.

I remember using a machine like that in high school autoshop !

My typical generator test involved running power to the posts and seeing how it motored.

How cool we never used that in automotive technology when I was there all 4 years I think no one knew how to use it

Is a growler better than a barker ? [dog joke] Interested in this vid - so given a thumbs up prem-armaturely.

I would imagine that the places that rebuild starter motors use one of these today. It's a very specialist item though, since rebuilds are outsourced to companies with the equipment to do it efficiently, who then resell the rebuilt starters.

I remember that many service stations had growlers in their shops and many auto parts stores had growlers set up for public use. I guess that I'm kind of a dinosaur though as I worked in service stations as both a high school and college student as in those days there were businesses called "service stations" that not only sold gasoline and soda pop but did automobile repairs and maintenance too.

wow good video thx Ed Loretto Ontario Canada

Wow I often wondered how to do this. My wiper motor on 2011 Ford E350 has a bad spot. I was kidding my mechanic that I needed a coil growled. His answer was "Not too many people would know what your talking about!" My uncle owned a Sun distributor tester and a pair of Sun headlight aimers.

Please forgive me Mr. Pete!!! I watched this video at 1.5X! I normally watch all your videos at 1X and will try not to ever do it again! Can you find it in your heart to forgive me??? Thanks for ALL of your great videos!!!

What is an internal growler used for??? I bought a big box of growlers recently at an auction and one of them is an internal growler. Great video :)

Nice. I always wondered how a growler worked.

How are you today? Lovely to see you and explain how to use and make

👍The ol’ Growler! Good find! I like that DELCO REMY book. Bygone era, when men were men & acted as such!

Sorry this is not related but I want to buy a DRO for my lathe and mill and wondering your recommendation. I see you have an acu-rite. I'm a beginner but don't want to spend a whole lot and would like to go magnetic. Thanks for your help. Jimmy

Thank you for the good video Mr. Pete , What happened to Motors Manuals ?

When auto electricians use to overhaul motors and generators. It is a pity you do not have the Sun tune up machine, where you attached cables to the coil and spark plugs that measured the dwell angle of the points, how big the spark plug gap was and with the strobe light the timing.