Just a couple of days ago I took the '60 out for a drive. It has a generator and voltage regulator setup. Coming home I noticed my temp gauge was rising to around 200 and my ammeter was also showing +15. It had been running right at 180 and +5 while driving. My headlights were also noticeably brighter. By the time I got home the temp gauge was showing 220 and the ammeter was still at +15. As soon as I stopped and put it in park, the temp gauge went to 180 in about 3 seconds and the ammeter dropped back to just on the plus side - while the headlights were still on and the car was in park and idling. Normally I will get a discharge rate while idling, with more of a discharge rate if the headlights are on. BTW, I had installed new halogen headlights and relays as has been discussed in previous threads over a month ago. Everything had been working fine until the other day.

I stopped by the local electrical shop and talked to them. They surmised the voltage circuit on the voltage regulator might be malfunctioning. But they said it didn't sound like it was overcharging. They specifically said overcharging would not affect the cooling system and, in turn, the temp gauge. So I have the generator and voltage regulator off now and they will go in tomorrow to be checked out.

My questions are:

1. Does it sound like an overcharging situation to you?

2. Because the temp gauge is electrical, if the system is overcharging, wouldn't that make the temp gauge read high? It sure seems like it to me because the temp gauge went up and down in relation to RPM.

I'm just looking for a little info to help the shop correct the problem.

Thanks,
Terry

 

1) Yes, it sounds to me like you're overcharging. If you have a volt meter, check the battery voltage with the engine running at a fast idle and that will tell you what's going on.

2) Yes, if the voltage is high, the electric temperature gauge WILL read high. I have a '61 Impala that did exactly the same thing on a cross country trip. I had the radiator looked at TWICE before I realized I had a bad voltage regulator. Fixed that and like magic, no more overheating.

Hope that helps,

Steve

 

Thanks Steve!

I knew I forgot to give all of the pertinent info! I did check the battery and it showed 12.67V with engine off. After starting the car, it showed 16.34V initially and dropped to 15.10V after a couple of minutes warm up. So I felt I had a good battery reading (it should - it's brand new battery) off and a high reading when running.

Terry

 

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Seems a bit too high. Most settle down to ~13.8 - 14.4V once the battery has reasonable charge.

A voltage regulator has two relays in it. One activates the field and the other kicks it up a bit more to account for the drop due to the the headlights. Maybe one of the relays was hanging up?

 

zang - I also did check the temp sender with an IR just after I pulled in. The IR was reading 184 degrees pointed right on the sender when the temp gauge was near 220.

todd - that's what the shop indicated it was - the voltage circuit malfunctioning. I should know tomorrow morning when I take both in for a test. I'm expecting the VR to be the problem.

 

Find out if it is a possibility that since you increased the draw by adding the halogens, that the existing voltage regulator may not be up to the task of suppling the additional current and this is creating arcing in the relays, possibly leading to fusion of the contacts (arc welding).

If your bulbs are 50 watts, the filaments are ~3.5 ohms. With the relays and heavy wire, you now get close to the full 50 watts. With the old wiring you picked up resistance along the way, probably on the order of 2 ohms. If we add 2 ohms to the filament, (i.e., 5.5 ohms), the power draw goes down to 32 watts. That's why your headlights are now brighter, but the electrical system has to work harder to do it.

Maybe it took a while of use with the contacts "burning" to reach this point. Maybe try a solid state regulator.

 

todd - yes, I will specifically ask them about that. Along the same line, I mentioned to them that I have a 35 amp generator but currently there is a 30 amp voltage regulator on it. The guy at the counter said that shouldn't matter, but I don't think he's the expert there. I will be talking to the expert directly tomorrow so hopefully he can determine if your theory is right on. I plan to go to a 35 amp voltage regulator to match the generator just so I do have those few more amps available.

I'm aware of the benefits of a solid state regulator, but I'm thinking for the long term I will just convert to an alternator. But for reasons I don't want to get into here, I just need to get my current setup working properly right now.

 

You have to flash the VR whenever you disconnect the battery for any reason with the DC generator set-up.

 

I've had lots of C1's, and never found that to be the case unless the whole system was completely disconnected and the generator then sat by itself for a long time. If that was true, you'd need to polarize the generator every time you flipped your battery disconnect switch.

 

John is right. This is not true.

Jim

 

Whenever the field coils are energized they become magnetized just like a tool is magnetized when you pass it through a magnetic field. The pole shoes hold that residual magnetism either N or S depending on which direction the current passed through the coil. Disconnecting the generator does not demagnetize the pole shoes or change the polarity of the coils. Only if someone inadvertently passes current through the coil in the opposite direction that it was intended to go, will the polarity be changed. Also if components are changed, such as replacing field coils, the polarity may be affected. That being said, if the generator has been removed and disassembled it is good insurance to polarize it before putting it in service.

 

Just thought I'd let you all know how this turned out. I took my voltage regulator and generator in to be checked. The guy said the VR wasn't working right, so he tapped it, made an adjustment, and told me I was good to go. He also tested the generator and said it was good. He added that it was putting out about 20 amps. Due to a situation with the front office personnel, I didn't get to follow up with him why my 35 amp generator was "okay" but was only putting out 20 amps.

Anyway, I took them both back home, put them on, and started checking voltages. I went from overcharging to undercharging! So I bought a new VR, put it on yesterday, and I'm getting proper readings at the battery and the gauge. Yes, I polarized the new VR before I started it up!

So right now I'm good to go. I think for the long run I'll either go to a solid state regulator or I may convert over to an alternator. But for right now, I'm running good and want to enjoy the upcoming fall weather drives.

Thanks for the help!

Terry

 

do you polerize the vr? or the generator?

 

I just polarized the voltage regulator. A jumper wire from the BATT terminal to the ARM terminal on the VR for just a second. I was good to go.

 

Only the generator requires polarization.

 

What you're polarizing is the generator, but it's done at the voltage regulator.