The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Ammeter + and - terminals

We are having problems making a 51 1/2 ton charge. Is the + terminal on the back of the ammeter on the charge side of the gauge and the - is the discharge side of the gauge? I think this is the only thing that we have not tried so far.

We have all new 12V parts from Classic. New harness, new 35A generator and new voltage regulator. We have double checked the wire numbers on the harness and they all seem to be going to the correct spots. i made the + - assumption on the back of the ammeter because it was not marked. BUT we still can not make it charge, or if it does, it will only charge at a low RPM, then quits.

We have had the generator bench checked and it works. It has been polarized. We have installed 2 different new regulators with similar results and the regulators have been "jumped" between the Bat and the Arm terminals. STILL nothing.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Another clue? I checked the voltage at the battery and at the regulator and they are the same. When I went to check that this time I took the cover off of the regulator and physically pushed the BAT contact closed on the regulator and it started charging at 13+V. This was at a low RPM.

Once I increased the RPM to a driving speed it will stop charging and if you try to push the contacts closed, they will vibrate and will not stay closed anymore.

Also, we have added a dedicate graound wire from the generator to the regulator and from the regulator to the negative terminal at the battery.

Can anyone help on this one?

If you turn everything off, when you turn the headlights on, the ampmeter should show discharge(-), if +, it is hooked up backwards.

Ed

It is hooked up correctly; when the lights are on it goes to the discharge.

The problem seems to be RPM driven. It charges nicely at about 800 rpm but if you increase the rpm to driving levels, and the volts go up into the 14.5 range it will shut off.

Could this be a cut-out issue? Do you have to match the regulator to the generator?

The generator is a Wilson 92-01-3012 12v 1485

The regulator is a BWD R309 VR18

Anyone else have this issue ever?

Ken.

I spent many years working on and teaching generator/regulator systems. Drop me PM and I'll give you my phone number- - - -there are a lot more procedures to try than I can outline in a forum post. I can also copy and email you pages from a Delco service bulletin that gives specifics about testing and adjusting the regulator. Your problem is not uncommon, and sometimes it's an easy fix.
Jerry