The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay New voltage regulator

Greetings,
Seeing as my old voltage regulator gave up the ghost, (1955 1st series 3100, 235 engine, 6 volt negative ground), I procured a shiny new made in USA unit from Jim Carter. I installed the unit, polarized, and it does not charge correctly. Took it for a drive, and the ammeter shows 0, once I apply brakes, headlights, etc., it drops to "Discharge" and remains there, returning back to zero if the offending light is turned off. After driving a couple miles it went to charge for a moment before returning to zero (which seemed promising to me), but as soon as I used any lights it went back to Discharge and remained there. I noticed that the new unit has no adjustment screws, so this leads me to my question:
What is the procedure to properly adjust this regulator?
Also, can a ordinary multimeter be used to make and check adjustments? How?
If you read this far through this saga, your a Saint, thanks.
-Guy

There is a voltage regulator adjustment procedure in the shop manual. It's kind of a fiddly process, done by carefully bending bits of the relays. It's a shame that a new one needs adjustment right out of the box.
Hotrod Lincoln will tell you that if it isn't an original Delco-Remy regulator, it's junk. But maybe you can make it work. If you don't have a shop manual, you can check HERE. It's the 1954 shop manual but should be the same as your 55.1 truck.

First, did you polarize the system when you changed the voltage regulator?

The positive ground GMCs of that era had a very comprehensive section in the maintenance manual on voltage regulator testing and adjustment. You should look for a Chevy maintenance manual covering your truck and use your "ordinary multimeter" to test and adjust. Just be sure not to take any current measurements that exceed the ratings of your meter, because it is real hard to get the smoke back in once you let it out.

Kevin beat me to the draw.

Okay, the bending part makes sense then. On the original there are screws for adjustment, the lack of screws on the new unit left me mildly befuddled. And yes, I did indeed polarize it, thanks for asking though!
Thanks
-Guy

Good advice. I was doing some amp draw tests on a buddy's truck and forgot to change the leads when I went back to measure voltage and let the smoke out of the safety device. That fuse cost me $16 to replace.

You should not attempt any adjustments until you get a constant charge & the voltage is not up to specks. Even then you should call Jim Carters & check with him. If you do anything to it the warranty will probably be void. Put a jumper wire from the R term to ground & run it up a little. If every thing else is good the voltage should run up
infinitively.
Check the terms. in back of the ammeter. They can be burnt & causing a problem like that.

George

There are plenty of good condition used and a few brand new Delco Remy regulators on Ebay, especially the ones listed for "aircraft" applications. Hint- - - -they work on stovebolts- - - -even the ones that don't fly.
Jerry

Sorry, I'm new here and havnt heard this advice before; I've begun to think that consistent unreliability is a goal in aftermarket parts manufacturing. Never thought to check ebay

I'm going to chime in with Jerry here but I'll add the voltage regulators made by Standard Products Company in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s were also good. A departed friend who owned parts houses here in Dallas for 40 years told me as demand for voltage regulators had declined, Standard operated as a contract producer for Delco-Remy and made the same regulator for them and others like NAPA, Sears, etc who sold regulators under their brand name. Just in case you find one of those for sale it might also be okay. Good luck!

If you are new here, here is another "avenue". Convert to 12V, very easy. Not expensive. Get a Delco 10si alternator. No more troubles, no more generator, no more voltage regultor. Better starts. Cheaper parts. Much better reliability. No endless adjustments. bending this bending that, polarizing, and so on. Many have done it and are happy. We have helped many. Chevy converted to 12V a few months after your truck was built. So did all the manufacturers.
"All of your wildest dreams will come true." Pedro