The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 6-volt charging system

can anyone tell me what a 6-volt system is suppose to put out when it is charging the battery?
At Idil it puts out 6.18 to 6.22 the same at high
rpm. I can run the truck for about a month if I do not use the headlights before the battery goes dead. The amp gauge shows dicharge when I run the headlights, but never goes to the charge side of the gauge. any Ideals? by the way it is a 54 chevy 3/4 truck 1st series

funtime,

I think the regulator is suppose to be adjusted to cut out at 7.4 volts. My first thought would be brushes in the old generator!


Stuart

I agree with Atomarc.I would also check the belt.I have seen many generators/alternators or battery condemned do to a glazed or loose drive belt.

I brought my voltage reg and generator in to a specialty shop to have them tested not knowing why they werent charging the system after a complete rewire of the truck. It worked before rewiring. So theoretically...

They cleaned off the terminals! duh-why didnt I do that? And they both work great now.

Same thing though, battery lasted for a while but showed discharge when on. Now it springs up showing the charge. Clean the terminals and check it out.

Is the generator polarized?

Jeff

Take the wire off the field term. of the regulator & ground it. Then run up the engine. It should show a real high charging rate. (don.t do this very long or you will burn out the gen. or lights). If it doesn,t the gen. is defective. If it does the regulator is bad or needs adjustment.

This is a very good reference to put in your Favorites for just this kind of problem.

I had taken the generater out and a ( friend ) took it apart and cleaned the armature and put new brushes in. He is more mechanical then I am so I think he knew qhat he was doing, so what else could it be? The belt is not new but not glazed over ethier

also how do I know if it is polarized? everything worked fine when I bought it and suddenly I have this problem

and how do I adjust the regulater if it is the problem?

funtime,


If you can touch a small wire..a jumper, between the regulator terminals marked ARM and BATT BEFORE you start the truck, it will polarize the regulator. This should be a momentary action, you might see a small spark.

Start the truck, bring up the engine speed and watch your ammeter to see if this changed the output of the generator.

If this has made no change, remove the FIELD wire from the regulator and ground it to the block. Start the rig and bring up the RPM's.

This should put the generator into full charge and be noticeable on your ammeter. You can leave the FIELD wire attached if it is easier and just use a jumper from this terminal to a good ground.

If this procedure works, it indicates a faulty regulator. This should probably just be replaced as opposed to adjusted.

Stuart

After reading your post about pulling the generator I'll be willing to bet you just need to polarize it. Stuart is correct about the procedure. Just a quick spark is all you need. I think you'll find it works again.

Thanks I will try your suggestions and let you know how it goes.

Well I tried both things and the amp gauge never went to charge, but goes to discharge if I turn on the light. Now What? any ideals?

Take the link in my first post above. Buy yourself a multi-meter and jump in.

Be shure you have current to the bat term on the regulator & your wires are good between the gen. & reg. If so your gen is defective.

Thanks for the Help. Ill let you Know how it turns out. It my take awhile as my wife thinks projects around the house should come before my truck. Can you imagine that? :confused:

I have a 1954 chevrolet corvette with a 6 volt stovebolt motor and I lose electrical power intermittedly. I just drove down the street and the instrutment lights were going on and off and then I stoped at a light and the car died and would not start for the moment and then started and I drove it home real quick???? Any idea what this gremlin problem could be????

54 corvette,

Could be a bad connection from the battery/starter to the ammeter or from the other side of the ammeter to the dash and ignition switch. Also check that you have a good ground to the dash and to the engine from the battery.