Re: checking generator

Posted by Jeff King on July 18, 1998 at 11:17:09:

In Reply to: checking generator posted by jerr coleman on July 17, 1998 at 14:12:05:

: I have a 1963 ford 601 workmaster and I am having a charging problem. It's a 6-volt positive ground system. How may i use a volt-ohm meter to check the voltage output from the generator

Charles Hard is correct. To check total generator output, ground the field of the generator. The system should go to full charge. If it does, the generator is good and the problem is somewhere else in the electrical system. Wiring connector hot spots, or the regulator, or a short in accessories could be dragging the system down.

Last month's Yesterday's Tractors Magazine had an excellent article called Two-brush Generators that might help you out. I belive it was article 29.
Check out your wiring harness between the generator, regulator, and battery for signs of hot spots. Look for cracked insulation near terminal ends, or coffee colored copper wire near the ends. What can happen (did on my rig) is the stake on connectors oxidize or get dirty and their resistance goes way up. Then the generator spends its energy heating the wire connector instead of the charge getting to the battery. Redid my harnes with #8 THHN wire from the armature to the regulator and then to the solenoid, and # 10 from the field to the regulator. That cured my charging problems.
Best of luck.

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