|
If you have an anaolg voltage meter ( usually the 9 dollar volt/ohm jobs at the auto stores work fine ), take a voltage reading on your battery before starting, and then while running. Watch the ammeter, and the voltmeter. When the ammeter jusps way positive ( hight charge ) you should see a coresponding slight rise in voltage.. say from 6.2 to 7 or possibly just a bit higher. If this is not the case, you may have a loose connection somewhere or a bad wire. For one, clean your battery terminals and cable connections... Can't hurt. Couple things to look for. Your 6v positive ground regulator ( We are assuming you have the stock 6v pos grnd system in your sidemount 8n, as you havn't specified another charging system ). Ok, you will have a wire from the regulator to the generator field, a wire to the generator armature, and a battery terminal. ( for the 3 terminal regulators.. I've heard there are 4 terminal regulators out there.. but don't have one in front of me, so won't comment on it. )
Anyway. Sounds like you do not have the stock wiring harness, and that some previous owner has just wired it up, etc. As a test using some jumper wires, come from the battery terminal of your regulator to your ammeter, them from the ammeter to the 'hot' side of the starter solenoid. This will give you a direct charging path from the generator thru the ammeter, to the battery. Ensure that your ignition is setup and wired in such a way that you can shut your system down when you turn the key, etc.. probably is.. but with that custom wiring job, who knows.
Also, ensure that your regulator has a good ground reference. A bad contact to ground may be what is producing that intermitant charge pulsing.
What i did since I'm still removing 50 years of bad paint from my tractor was to run a seperate wire from a known ground.... like where the ground strap of the battery hits the frame, to the regulatorbacking connection point where it bolts on. Bad grounds were causing many problems on my tractor. Turns out the previous owner had removed the ground strap from the battery, and painte dthe frame, then reattatched the strap over the heavilly painted area. When i got my tractor it would barely turn over. After sanding down the connection point to bare metal the starter is turning over pretty good for a 6v starter. If that takes care of your charging problem, you know it was wiring and/or grounding, and can correct it accordingly. If not, might want tto take the reg and gen down to a rebuild shop and have them check it for you... beats having to hand crank the tractor! Soundguy Anyway, at this point, if your gen and reg are working, you should show charge after starting.
|
