The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 6 Volt Generator question

Had my 51 3100 running this weekend and pulled the battery cable off to find out what the issue was causing the dead battery, of course when I pulled the cable off the truck died. I assume then it a generator issue. Do I pull the generator or is there an easy way to test? Rebuild the generator or buy used one from somewhere?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Purney,

There are two scenarios, one is that the generator is indeed no good, and the other would be that it isn't being told to charge.

I would first polarize your generator. Momentarily touching a wire between BATT and ARM (gen) on regulator will do this. This is done before starting the engine.

Your ammeter, if working should show you what your charging system is doing. If polarizing the regulator makes no difference, you can try a full field test on the generator.

Disconnect the "F" (field) wire at the regulator, and with the truck running, touch it to a good ground. With the RPM's increased, the ammeter should show a hefty charge.

This full field test works best if you have a voltmeter connected somewhere and you can actually see generator output climb to over 7 volts.

So the answer to the question is...the generator could be good and it could be a faulty regulator not telling it to charge. These tests will prove the generator and point the finger at a bum regulator.

Your ammeter should be working....it should alert you to these problems before your battery croaks!

Stuart

Mr Gabster is right on. Voltage regulators can cause lots of charging issues. Is you battery somthing that will hold a charge ?? Also voltage regulators have/can cause a battery to loose its charge while connected to the system.

Thanks Stuart, I will give it a try.

Thanks for the feedback west, the battery is brand new and holds a charge until I start up the truck!