# RARE Aurora T-Jet Arm ???



## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

Hey guys, first off I want to say that I'm still a fairly New-bie when it comes to Collecting Aurora, and my collecting mainly pertains to collecting Arms and Magnets that I get in cheap scores of T-Jet parts lots or complete cars themselves.
OK- now for my question. I just noted in my collection of top plates with Arms, that I have a (what appears to be) older top plate, as it's marked Pat. Appl., and the arm itself has a combo of colors I haven't seen before- but my hunch is that it may fall into the Christmas Tree Arm category ? It's a double lam arm with grey tips, but two of the pole windings use(dark) Green wire, while the remaining pole winding used Red wire. I did not ohm the poles, but did install the top plate in a chassis with just Black & Black w/white stripe magnets, and the motor ran really pretty strong- about as fast as stock Wild One !
So what's the scoop, it this just merely a X-Mas Arm variant ? Or....?


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

yes, it is a regular t-jet armature that probably OHMs around 16-18. folks have reported that some of them run well.


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

Thanks Al :thumbsup:


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

I thought the older arms were single lam, I have one, its been in the arm collection forever, keep thinking someday I will build a chassis with it just for kicks. Occasionally I have seen them for sale on ebay as well. 

Boosted


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## ajd350 (Sep 18, 2005)

Just considering that these armatures were being cranked out at a furious rate, it is quite likely that they are just anomalies. The wire size on all three poles are the same size, just different colors. Lets say that the stock of green wire has run out. Were they likely to stop the production line for that? More likely, another color would be used in the interim with no functional difference. Nothing magical or special, just another thing to make us scratch our heads 40+ years later. I have several and have found no consistent difference in performance.


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## tjetsgrig (Nov 1, 2009)

The different colors don't make it run any better! It's like putting chrome valve covers on yer SBC and claiming 25 more hp! The lucky few good runners have hit the "sweet spot" as far as balance and runout. I tear these things apart on a daily basis......20ohm just don't cut it for me! It's like the blue drag arm....just 'cause someone says they're rare, eveyone jumps in! I don't even bother tearing these apart because they are such turds!! Use them, run them, they would be good in your collection, but my opinion is, they are not that rare. As long as you're havin" fun, that's all that matters!!!!


JS


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

ajd350 said:


> Just considering that these armatures were being cranked out at a furious rate, it is quite likely that they are just anomalies. The wire size on all three poles are the same size, just different colors. Lets say that the stock of green wire has run out. Were they likely to stop the production line for that? More likely, another color would be used in the interim with no functional difference. Nothing magical or special, just another thing to make us scratch our heads 40+ years later. I have several and have found no consistent difference in performance.


Exactamundo!


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

Well....I was just wondering, that's why I asked. But THIS ONE does run good, alot better than average, and this is even with low power magnets, I'll throw in some Dash Magnets someday and see if it gets even better- or Worse ?
BTW- I have one single Lam arm/top plate in my collection, and that puppy has (all)Green wire too(if I remember?), but that puppy is a slow runner. Not super slow, just a bit below average, and I've always assumed it was an early arm?....did the single Lams pre-date the double Lams, or was it just a cost cutter arm ?

PS- My multi-meter crapped out after some old batteries leaked in it, and F'd it up. So I have Not OHM'd any arms recently, so the Green/Green/Red arm from the OP has Not been OHM'd yet, so I dunno if it's high or low, but I DON'T think it's 20ohm, Sgrig. Oh btw- and I do agree about the Blue Drag Arms, nothing to brag about, Although they have nice bottom end torque, just no top end, which is actually kinda GOOD- when used in my Shorttrack Oval cars


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## ajd350 (Sep 18, 2005)

Ralph, you got the idea. Duds and hot arms can come in all flavors. I've seen some 17s in those combinations and my single-lams are nothing to get excited about. Just keep mixing and matching to find the good combos.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Completely Colorblind*

Like people, arms have different potential for performance.

The biggest mistake I made as a young slotter was "unreasonable expectations". It's up to the builder to accept that the arm is what it is; and then provide the supporting cast of parts to maximize it's potential. It becomes all about recognizing good combinations.

Much is always lost in translation with the wire color thing. Folks want to believe that there's some absolute "magic wand grading device" for arms...and there is, it's called a thorough bench test, with the rose colored glasses removed, naturally.

I only use wire/tip color and comm plate design to help me sort them by era. Then I bench test them as time permits. I just sit down and listen to what they have to say. It's a simple personality test to tell me what they MIGHT be capable of; providing I continue the build development with regard to the afore mentioned correct cast of supporting parts.

Even then it's still just a slightly better rough idea until you put it on the track and weed out the idiosyncrasies.


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

Well Guys, I just picked up a new multi-meter today, and started OHM testing the arms I've gotten since my old tester Puked out. And I tested this vintage Green/Green/Red ARM, and she came in with all poles right around 16.7 - so now we know.
I'm also amazed, that all my Wild Ones Arms are OHM'ing in at around 6-7, which is about the same as all my Tuffy-A/FX Mean Greens OHM at


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