Re: Ammeter

Posted by HH56 On 2024/5/21 19:25:33

You could repolarize again. It will not hurt anything and may do some good.

If your voltmeter is reading correctly, with the numbers you reported in your first post in this thread I would wonder if the generator is actually charging or if the regulator is adjusted properly. Standing battery voltage for a charged battery at rest should be 6.3 volts across the battery terminals. When the engine is at fast idle or greater, if the generator is charging and regulator is adjusted properly the voltage produced is generally about 1 volt higher than standing battery voltage so I would expect you would be reading at least 7v and maybe a bit more instead of the 6.6 you reported..

A simple way to test generator or regulator is to momentarily short a terminal to ground. Note that in a working generator this will bypass the regulator and cause the voltage to jump higher by a few volts so try not to have any bulbs lit or accessories turned on when doing the test.

To do the test have the volt meter connected across the battery terminals to read the battery voltage before and during the test. Start the engine and run it at fast idle, then use a small jumper wire to MOMENTARILY short the F terminal on the regulator to ground. Make sure it is the F or FIELD terminal you are shorting. That should immediately cause the generator to go to full output and you should see the battery voltage jump up at least 2 or 3 volts. Only keep the terminal shorted long enough to read the meter. If voltage jumps up the generator is working but if there are still charging issues then the regulator is suspect. If there was no change when shorting at the regulator you could move the test jumper to the FIELD terminal on the generator and short again to rule out a wire issue. If still no change then the generator is suspect.