The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay electrical problem

My headlights are getting almost nonexsistent and the blinkers wont work unless i gun the engine.The belt is tight.If i remove a battery cable the engine stays running.Its winter so keepin mind if the truck is running the heater is on high.Is this a generator or a regulator problem?This is on my 6-volt 51.

could be reg - if it isn't part fried, it is possible to adjust it to increase gen output so charges at idle w/ some draw [careful - not too much], but you may also need brushes in the gen, or the batt could have a weak cell - get a load test done on batt and check brushes/ gen output first

Bill

Would just changing brushes cause a generator to need to be re-polorized?

I've changed brushes a few times and don't remember ever polarizing - course, that don't mean the next failure wasn't my fault!

were yours ground down pretty short? did the armature look real dirty and scored? don't think ya need polarizing if the generator never stopped gennin, or if ya didn't replace the regulator

Bill

The original 51 generators brushes were worn way down so i replaced them,put it back in and it didnt work any more.I removed it and put in a salvage one. If memory serves me corectly i also droped it.I will pull the one in the truck tomorow and see if i can figure it out.

Slow . . Rider,

I learn't that any time you disconnect the generator or battery (or the voltage regulator) you should polarize the system. When in doubt, jumper the Batt terminal to the Gen terminals on the voltage regulator - a spark will fly.

Of course, the good old boys that taught me are backed up by every shop manual that I've seen.

This might not be the answer to the problem you describe, but it will keep your generator from getting mixed up thinking it is sometimes a generator (when the engine is runnig) and sometimes it should try to spin as a motor (when the engine is not running).

Yes, I know there can be a residual polarization for a certain period of time, but why take a chance?

Curmudgeon

Wich isthe hot wire,F or A? Im going to try and reinstall and polorize the original and dont want to hook it up backwards.The brushes on this one were very short.It was the first time ive replaced them but im prety sure there in corectly.

F and A go to F[ield] and A[rmature] on the regulator - seems to me that F is the heavy gauge wire so that'd be the hot one - good to have a ground wire from gen case to reg mount screw too

Bill

Ok guys,i now have blinkers,high beams and heater all at an idle.I belive though that i have the the field and armeture wires flip floped.Can anyone verify that the F field wire is the heavy guage wire and the A armeture wire is the thin guage?

Slow..Rider,

Double checked in the book, Fat wire is the armature and thin wire is the field.

You can verify that the generator is operating correctly on the bench by motoring it. I used my battery charger with an ammeter in it to test the last one I did.

Jumper the field terminal to the generator frame. Hook the negative battery charger lead to the generator frame. Touch the positive charger lead to the Armature terminal on the generator and it should run as a motor drawing from 4 - 6 amps for a 6 volt generator.

Make sure you've got hold of the generator before you hit it with the positive lead. It jumps pretty good when you hit it with the juice.

This also polarizes the generator in the correct direction.

To polarize on the truck, momentarily connect the BAT terminal on the regulator to the ARM terminal.

Thanks for all your help guys,i can now drive safely in the dark again.Amp guage isnt working but i can live with that till spring.