How to Fry a 6 V Voltage Redulator

G

Gordon Ellis

Member
I have had serious charging issues with a 39 Ford electrical system. I have been showing no positive indication on my ammeter when the car is running, at any rpm. I had the generator checked three times, all with positive results. I have used three different regulators, and no change. I finally discovered that I had the Field and Armature wires reversed during all of my time trying to solve this issue. I have had two of the three Regulators I used checked and the shop says they are toast. Question: Is it possible that having the Field and Armature wires reversed would fry my regulators?
 
The tabs are often marked like this one. The order is ARM, FLD, BAT. There are non-Ford voltage regulators that have the tabs in a different order.
 

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Gordon Ellis said:
I have had serious charging issues with a 39 Ford electrical system. I have been showing no positive indication on my ammeter when the car is running, at any rpm. I had the generator checked three times, all with positive results. I have used three different regulators, and no change. I finally discovered that I had the Field and Armature wires reversed during all of my time trying to solve this issue. I have had two of the three Regulators I used checked and the shop says they are toast. Question: Is it possible that having the Field and Armature wires reversed would fry my regulators?
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Gordon, I feel your pain, but bet you'll never make this mistake again. Have lots of history in this department.....funny how I learn best from my mistakes and trying never to repeat them!:rolleyes:
 
Now the issue is a lot of modern voltage regulators are bad out of the box, so it might take some effort to find a good one. Might be worth looking for a NOS one.
 
I would say yes about mixing wires. Whatever the maker; terminals are marked.
The "bat" fat wire always goes to the cutout the skinny wire is the field and the last
fat wire is the "arm". Miss wiring probably will smoke the resistors underneath.
JSeery nailed it. Join my club. Anything "modern" is genuine Junk. So I ask just
how many refrigerators / toasters / stupid phones we go thru, while my parents 1939
fridge in the basement works like a quiet charm. My 1933 toaster works perfectly.
My 46 V8 perfectly wifes 2017 car >>junk yard. end of todays rant.
 
Concerning 'fried V regulator on a 39 system'...the Field and Arm connections are clearly labelled on the generator and on the regulators as Field, Arm and Batt, not necesarily in that order. I messed up by attaching the wire from the Arm on the gen to the Field on the Reg. Huge mistake. My question is...will that error fry a regulator? Thanks for your input! Ford Owner in Distress.
 
Big Job, I am chuckling to myself here. Up until quite recently I have been using a "toast master" toaster that was a wedding gift from 1956. Sadly it has quit but I think it can be repaired if I could just find someone who could take a look at it. My youngest would enjoy it for its antique value but nice if it actually was not "Toasted" !
 
Bob NH said:
Big Job, I am chuckling to myself here. Up until quite recently I have been using a "toast master" toaster that was a wedding gift from 1956. Sadly it has quit but I think it can be repaired if I could just find someone who could take a look at it. My youngest would enjoy it for its antique value but nice if it actually was not "Toasted" !
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Don't give up Bob, I think there is some kind of thermo contacts in there
most likely dirty 'if I remember correctly'..pretty simple to fix unlike todays
junk with printed cir cut board when those go bad its dumpster time.
 
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