Re: Testing generator

Posted by DavidPackard On 2019/5/12 19:04:07

I've wired a voltmeter to a standard 'cigarette lighter' plug. Whenever the fancy strikes me I remove the lighter and plug-in the meter. I used the small digital meters found on Ebay, and normally monitor the voltage while I'm underway. Since you'll likely be on the same circuit as the headlamps you should see the voltage drop of that portion of the circuit when the lamps are ON. You'll also be able to see the effect of temperature on the voltage regulator (cold equals more voltage, but not more than 0.2-0.4 volts). Just watch the polarity. For an unmodified Packard the center tip of the cigarette lighter plug will be negative.

dp