charging

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El caminnow

Junior Member
when i drive my car amps are at 15, no lights, then down to 3 or 5 with lights. after 20 minutes or so the amps seem to drop to 2 or 3 below zero with lights on, when off 8 or 10. i noticed the post on the generator/ cut out gets real warm. is this normal, any ideas, cut out seems to work, i dont have another gen to try but i suspect gen. battery is not hot. thanks for any input, sam
 
Sounds like the meter is backwards.

Normally moves to the right 3-5 amps with the head lamps it moves further to the right to around 15.

Sounds more like a bad meter. I say that because the meter does not care where the power comes from the generator or the battery. Of the cutout was bad, always closed, the battery would die when you shut down the car. If it were bad open then the ammeter would slowly discharge as the battery died from running with the lights on.
 
Mike V. Florida said:
Sounds like the meter is backwards.

Normally moves to the right 3-5 amps with the head lamps it moves further to the right to around 15.

Sounds more like a bad meter. I say that because the meter does not care where the power comes from the generator or the battery. Of the cutout was bad, always closed, the battery would die when you shut down the car. If it were bad open then the ammeter would slowly discharge as the battery died from running with the lights on.
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Mike, I don't think the ammeter is backwards, I "think" he meant when he turned the lights off, it went back UP to 8 or 10 amps. Bill W.
 
You might have a repro cutout. They aren't built as well as an original, and I've seen some with very burnt contacts. I run with an original cutout and an electronic voltage regulator inside the generator and have never had a problem. My amp meter stays around 0 to 1 amp charge with the original lights on or off, and I'm still using the junk yard battery I bought about 10 years ago.

If you want an original cutout, Bert's in Denver has some restored originals. Bert's 800-321-3142.

If you use a repro cutout, A&L makes a good diode cutout. I think many of the parts houses also sell it. A&L 860-693-0112
 
i an running stock lights (with no other electronics) and have an old original cut out, contacts look good, does it need to be grounded to the gen?
 
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