John M, if the Generator and Voltage Regulator are working properly,,,,, ,,and if the Battery is good even though it may be ran down some,,,,, ,,,and if the belts good n tight and shes wired correct,,,,,I would expect it to charge maybe 20 amps or so after start up but then if no lights are on to hover slightly in the + charge (maybe a couple amps) as long as your at least a fast idle BUT I WOULDNT EXPECT IT TO SHOW MINUS 2 AMPS DISCHARGING UNLESS SHE WAS IDLING REALLLLL LLLLL SLOWWWWW WWWWW WW OR THE BELT WAS LOOSE !!!!! !!!!! !!!!! When shes at that minus 2 amps you speak of, is that at slow or fast idle?? and does she go up in the slight + charge as RPM increases????? If faster RPM brings her up, I dont think I would worry to much yet provided the battery never needs charging. I wonder how accurate your ammeter is??? The battery should read 12.6 volts setting but then increase up to the 13 to 13.5 or slightly more at full RPM if the batterys okay and the charging circuit is okay. Is this a 2 wire cutout relay and light switch generator field current type control or a full fledged 3 or 4 wire Voltage Regulator system after you upgraded to 12 volts as you mentioned ????? ? John T Nordhoff in Indiana, retired electrical engineer
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