Here's the scoop: 8BA in a 34 coupe. Decided to change over to 12 volt neg grnd, Swapped out the bulbs and such. Sent the gen to the shop for 12 v field coils, brushes etc. New optima 12 v battery. New 12 v regulator, New volt meter instead of amp guage. Put on the new generator, polarized it and cranked it up. It won't charge? Tried a new regulator, still no charge. Took off the belt , grounded the case and jumped the field and arm post together and put 12 volts to it. It motored along just fine so I assumed the gen was ok. Put it back together and still no charging. Tried another battery, no charging. Everything else is working fine but no charging still. I tried two different volt meters and all it reads is the battery voltage. I'm running out of ideas and tests, anyone have any ideas why it wont charge? Thanks, Steve
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Need generator charging help on my 34 ford
- Thread starter 31steve
- Start date
Steve, bypass the voltage regulator to test the generator on its own. To do this disconnect the field wire from the v/reg and connect it over to the armature terminal on the regulator. Start up engine and rev it up a bit and the voltage should be around 14 volts or more because remember there is no regulation. Also remember the cut out inside the regulator is still in the circuit and should be working as normal. Try that and report back. Regards, Kevin.
Kevin, that worked! It charges 14+ volts with the field and arm tied together. So I guess I have two bad voltage regulators in a row? These are USA made J&N brand so I thought I would be good. You don't suppose there is something in the wiring
that is frying them on startup do you? Thanks for the help. Steve
that is frying them on startup do you? Thanks for the help. Steve
Steve, I am not familiar with that brand of regulator and don't know if they have any modern electronics inside or just electro mechanical. However the regulator must match the type of field connection of the generator, in the Fords case the field winding is controlled via the armature terminal, the same as you did the bypass test. There are other generator regulator field set ups where the field windings are controlled via a ground connection. So the regulator must match the generator exactly. Sounds like the wiring is OK otherwise your test connection at the reg would not have worked. Make sure you have a good ground connection between the generator and regulator mounting base. There are other older replacement regs made by various companies in the USA in the 50s and 60s which would be preferable to new repros in my book but you need a 12 volt one, NOT a 6 volt one. Maybe one of an early 1960s Ford falcon regs would work if the contacts inside are still good. Good luck with it. Regards, Kevin.