The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Voltage Regulator Install/Screws

Hi guys. Before my VR was mounted to the firewall with some sheet metal screws. I have since ordered some new screws from Classic, however these have rubber and a screw. I am wondering how these go together?

It looks like the VR is not supposed to touch the firewall??

The original had rubber cushion rings in the 3 VR mounting plate holes with a metal insert. So I'm guessing, yes, it should not touch the firewall.

Any one have some pics of the installed screws?

Those rubber grommets are only shock mounts- - - -the regulator housing still needs to be grounded, usually with a wire running back to the generator housing so it doesn't have to depend on body/chassis/engine ground straps.
Jerry

Have a pic? I get what your saying, but a pic would be awesome

These are called Well nut's. The rubber goes in a hole & when the machine screw is tightened down it swell the rubber to tighten it in the hole. This protect's the regulator from distortion & vibration.
Like previous said you must have a ground wire.

http://picasaweb.google.com/gv50chevy/UntitledAlbum03#5509064794680668610

http://picasaweb.google.com/gv50chevy/UntitledAlbum04#5516871463448378802

The red truck is a pic I saved from the internet

The blue one is mine. My regulator is just firewall art.
I converted to 12 volt alt.

It may not show what you want to see

Good Luck

Thanks for the pics. The Red photo helps alot. Looks like all 3 screws are the same size on this regulator. On mine, the screw on the drivers side(lone screw), needs to be much larger in size than the other two? Maybe mine is missing a washer or something?

OK I was thinking of the later models that are mounted on the core support.

Installed the way you mentioned. Just added a washer to the nut for the drivers side. Those compression nuts work great.

Now for the grounding wire. Didn't see any pics of how people grounded it. Where would I connect the grounding wire? One of the nuts that holds the lid on?



On another note.. I ran the motor with it connected last night. 10 years ago it worked fine(its been sitting, prior to the rebuild of the truck), last night it was showing 12.53v on the Bat, 1.3v on Arm, 1.3V on F(I think it was F, the small wire). Didn't see it charging? Maybe the battery was full?

You should see 13 volts or more at the battery posts with the engine running at fast idle or above. The ground wire should attach somewhere on the metal base of the regulator, usually by a sheet metal screw into the base. One of the cover attaching screws will be OK, though.

Try polarizing the generator by connecting a jumper wire from the Bat. terminal to the Arm. terminal on the regulator momentarily. You should get a moderate amount of spark, not a dead-short flash. Run the engine and check the voltage at either the Arm. terminal of the regulator or the battery posts. They should be within a few 10ths. of a volt of each other, and 13 volts or more if the generator is charging. No charge- - - -try grounding the Field terminal at the regulator. This should put the generator into full charge, no voltage control at all. Don't rev the engine too high with the field grounded- - - -I've seen voltage go above 20 volts. If there's no charge with the field grounded after polarizing, you've got generator problems.
Jerry

Thanks for the tips. I went back out and checked as you said. It does show charging with the (F) - grounded, however its more 12.5 volts and slowly climbing to 12.8 after about 2 minutes.. It hasn't started charging the battery on its own yet, but I guess that is due to the battery being almost full. I will have to keep a eye on it when I get the truck put back together more so I can load the accessories, lights , etc.

Update: Removed the screw/rubber nut on the driver side hole and placed a bolt there instead to ground it to the cab. Now its charging all the time 13+ volts.

So, you obviously didn't have the regulator housing grounded to the generator body with a separate wire like I reccomended. Relying on body-to engine grounds through things like the driveshaft, etc. is very risky business. They can change resistance anytime you hit a bump, etc.
Jerry

Yeah, I did the bolt as part of your suggestion to ground the housing. It obviously fixed the issue. Running a separate wire is the next step, just ran out of time the day I was working on it. Electrical is only about 50% done on the truck currently. :-)