Roger Quintero

Back again.

By Generator was bad the last time around.
The field wire in the casing was touching the bolt that went through the casing and shorted everything out causing high Voltage.

Now the generator charges for about 5 minutes and doesnt charge again.
I am going to try and fix it one more time before I go to an alternator.

I did a couple tests again.
Disconnected all the wires to generator.
Check the field terminal and get about 1 1/2 OMS and when I rev the engine the OMS go up to about 4-5 OMS.
Connected the meter to the Armature stud and grounded the field wire and the Volts go up to (12+); however I cannot tell if volts go up with RMPS since my meter is limited at 12Volts.
Checked grounds.
Attached an additional wire from the VR to Ground and it did not make a differences in charging.
Checked and cleaned all ground connections to the generator and they are grounded.

I am leaning toward a bad VR or suggestions?
Any suggestions on brand or place to buy one? I used NAPA last time around.

buns

First off, you can't use an ohmeter on a live circuit such as your generator, with the engine running.
I think you may have fried your meter if it won't read past 12 volts.
Here is a simple test that has been around since forever and will set you on the right track:


GENERATOR TESTS
Attach a voltmeter to the battery terminals. Check battery voltage. Disconnect the lead from the Field terminal and ground it to the regulator base. This will bypass the regulator. Start the engine and run at fast idle. Check the voltmeter to see if voltage has increased. If not, shut off engine, reconnect field terminal, and move to step two.

Now we will short out the circuit breaker and current regulator by connecting a jumper wire from the regulator generator terminal to the regulator battery terminal. Again , run the engine at fast idle and check the voltage. If you still see no increase in voltage the trouble is probably in the generator itself.

Frankie the Fink

I don't know why you think an alternator is any less complicated or any more reliable...you still have a charging device and a voltage regulator (somewhere, either internally or externally). You can easily fix what you have but you have to know how to troubleshoot (or know somebody that can).

Roger Quintero

Hey Frank was that the answer to my question?
Come on alternators are much more reliable and have far less problems with their internal regualtors than the old VRs for generators.
With all things even, those darn generators are far more heavier and a pain to mount compared to a one wire alternator.

Any recommendations on where to buy a half way decent VR? Looks like Napa, Advance and those places have about the same VR, made us USA, 35 Amps.

By the time I have solved the generator VR problems there will not be a problem solving senario that I have not tried.

Rog
P.S. There isnt a vehicle out there that I would not recommend a NICE Chrome one wire alternator for (EXCEPT FOR A C1-C2).

Roger Quintero

I dont know why I wrote OMS when I ment Volts.
I did the test with a volts meter.
Change what I wrote and add volts to the senario.
I think that is what you recommend.
I read your last message prior to the first message when I responded.
Thanks
Rog

Roger Quintero

I dont understand (connecting a jumper wire from the regulator generator terminal to the regulator battery terminal)? I know which one of the (3) wires is the Regulator batter terminal on the side of the regulator, hower which one are you referring to a the regulator generator terminal? On the side of the generator you have a Battery, Armature, Field, ground on top or cover. Are one of those three the regulator generator terminal.
By the way I ground out the field and checked and connected my meter up to the Armature stud and got 16+ volts?
Does that make any sense? I thought that would block out the VR and see if the generator was working? Is that kind of what you recommend?

Frankie the Fink

I, of course, went with a solid state V/R, and there is ONLY one place to get those for generator cars. The mechanical V/Rs from other offerers (NAPA, FLAPS, Corvette vendors) should work fine if they are rated for 35 amps..

I have not touched my generator- V/R in years and that includes running a 600W audio amp off of them full-time when driving...

Roger Quintero

By the way I speak better English than I write
Where did you get your solid state and are they still available?
Was you able to understand the test I did?
Rog

1snake

That is EXACTLY what it is supposed to do. The generator is fine. Your problem lies with either the voltage regulator or the wiring.

Jim

Frankie the Fink

If you want back on the road quick...get the mechanical V/R and install it.

Otherwise the solid state conversion will take a week or so -- requires your old V/R as a core and costs about $85 but this gentlemen does the solid state conversions (he is 93 years old!):

bobj50@comcast.net
Wilton Auto Electric, LLC 10 Stoney Brook Drive Wilton, NH 03086

Before it gets mentioned I'm told the solid state V/R will not pass a Performance Verification test if you are into the whole NCRS thing...you are fore-warned.

Roger Quintero

I think I am going to do both a sold state and old school. What is the exact advantage to the solid state. I hope they dont burn up as quick as the mechanical ones.

Thanks a bunch for all the help.
Rog

Frankie the Fink

The solid state does not require the maintenance of a mechanical unit. There are no point contacts to keep clean and gap....no armatures to worry about. No funky adjustment procedures.

Its just electrons moving around...

K2

You say it charges for 5 minutes and then stops charging. Normally when you start the engine the ammeter will show a charge and it will taper to 0 as the battery reaches full charge. It will remain at 0 unless a load is put on it which is a drain on the battery. I guess I am asking, are you shure it is not working correctly? Is your battery becoming discharged? In any case it appears that your generator is working fine and if there is a problem it may be with the voltage regulator. You might try dressing the points in the regulator to see if that makes a difference before spending money on replacement.
As far as reliability goes, I've owned my Corvette for going on 40 years and have not even once had a charging problem. On the other hand I have had several vehicles with alternators that have failed in less than 50,000 miles. My wife's Rav-4 just had the alternator fail at about 48,000. Luckily it was still covered under warranty as they had to pull the engine to change it!!!! Unbelievable. I guess that's progress?

Roger Quintero

I know it is not working correctly.
Intially it show a slight charge and drops back. If I turn on the lights it drops further however jumps back to the center of the guage and show a charge.
After 5 minutes it shows a slight discharge and when the lights are on it shows a dramatic discharge on the gauage, and the needle on the gauge shows no increase in charging, even at higher RMPS.

I noticed one thing. It will not charge ever time I start it up. It is an on and off thing. It appears once I take off the generator and voltage regulator and trouble shoot; it starts working again for a little while.

By the way I might sound a little off on the electrical system; however I have built alot of cars, including my last one a 34 Ford Streetrod that won best novice streetrod builder at the Cow Palace in SF California.
The bottom dropped out of streetrods so I am into C1-C2 now.
Rog

buns

Here's a pic:

K2

Sounds like erratic voltage regulator.

stellar

How is the ground circuit? How much paint do you have on the braces gen and block? Make sure the gen is clean metal to metal thru the grnd circuit to the block. Go see the old generator guy and let him fix you up. I had a chevy with the tach armature and 2 regs come in last week. He thought the 2 regs were bad and maybe the gen. All tested good on the bench. The regs were at different settings, but good. I asked about paint on the block and braces because the gen was painted so I scraped the paint off where the bolts and gnd wire go on the gen. He said the block and braces were painted. 2 days later he called to say all is well the paint caused a grounding problem. Check it out. If that is good try a new reg, but let the old gen guy have a look.

Pilot Dan

The new replacement regulators now (even the Delco replacements) don't have any adjustment screws as shown above, so it is impossible to adjust them per the service manual. Went through this and decided to give the solid state conversion a try since others here seem pleased with it.
My problem was the FLAPS aftermarket regulator (which I thought would be a quick fix) would not charge after it reached operating temperature, and with no adjustments available, it was no fix at all since it appears to have been calibrated incorrecty at manufacture. Pilot Dan

stellar

Correct. Thats why you need the old generator man to adjust it even if it is new. Many of us old generator men are very displeased with the Quality of the regs now on the market. I won't warranty a reg unless I can set it up with the gen either on or off the car. Still a lot of folks will try to do it themselves and screw them up or keep buying new ones.

Pilot Dan

So, are you saying you have a way to adjust the NEW regulators that don't have any adjustment screws or is your reply in the context of an NOS old style regulator that can be adjusted???