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Instead of rebuilding my original generator and still having the same problems later it seems it would be a better idea to put in a 6 volt positive ground alternator. What are your thoughts?

Why would you think you'd have problems later if the generator were properly rebuilt now? Properly rebuilt it should provide complete reliability for perhaps 50,000 miles or more - far more than most of us will ever drive our cars. Plus of course you maintain the authenticity which may be important to a future buyer.

Unless you're adding gobs of electrical accessories such that the demand exceeds the capacity of the generator, the only significant advantage to an alternator is that you have charging while at idle - very important for police cars and the like that sit for hours idling with all the lights on and flashing - but not so much with normal vehicle usage.

I have to recharge the battery every two weeks. The generator probably does need to be rebuilt. I don't drive the car that far when I do drive it so I drive it often. So if I rebuilt the generator that would probably maintain the battery?

So if I rebuilt the generator that would probably maintain the battery?

Of course!! That is the purpose of the generator.

There are multiple reasons why your battery continues to go dead, and generator failure is but one, generator regulator failure another, and there are others. But diagnosing for generator or regulator failure is very simple, just a matter of minutes and all you need is a voltmeter and a short length of wire. You'll find the procedure written up on here many, many times if you search for it. If you can't find it, I (or someone else) will be glad to go thru it again for you.

Brenda Quote:

Buy and use a "battery maintainer" style charger. Most come with 6V-12V switches.

Craig

Yes, it took a bit of searching. And there was bad or non-relevant info in the process, like advice to disconnect a battery cable while the car is running, and advice about Lucas generators, and procedures so confusing you'd have to be an experienced electrician to understand what the guy was talking about. But here are a couple worth saving.

itstillruns.com/test-6volt-generator-7890471.html

To determine if it's the generator or the regulator, temporarily attach a jumper (and remove it as soon as the test is completed) between the FLD terminal at the regulator or generator to GROUND and again check your voltage across the battery and raise the engine speed modestly. If the voltage rises to 7.2 or thereabouts, the generator is OK and the regulator is at fault. If the voltage fails to increase, the problem is with the generator. If the generator is at fault, locate your local starter/alternator repair shop - most of them are quite competent at rebuilding the generator if you don't want to tacklle it yourself. If the regulator is the problem, try NAPA for a new one, or one of the various national Packard vendors like Kanter Auto Parts.

Brenda;

Try this link to another posting on the same subject.

packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb ... e=flat&type=&topic_id=16630&forum=2

If the link doesn't work look for a tread with the subject "One wire 6 volt positive ground alternator"

dp

None of you mentioned polarizing the generator. Do you think that's necessary?

If the generator or regulator was changed or removed for testing and then replaced it is recommended to repolarize. If nothing was changed or disconnected or the battery didn't accidentally have the polarity reversed then usually it is not necessary but will not hurt if you do it again.

Get a small length of decent size wire and with everything connected and the key off, at the regulator momentarily short the ARM or GEN terminal to the BAT terminal. There will be a small spark. Keep the terminals connected for a couple of seconds and then remove the short and see if there is any difference in the charging.

When the battery is dead from sitting, does a jump start getting it running again? If so, the Gen is fine. If not, then the gen or regulator needs to be looked at.

If you gen is working, then perhaps you have something parasitic that is draining the battery. The clock uses more power than a modern solid state one does. You can check this with a Multi-meter set to AMP mode disconnect one of the battery cables and hold put the multimeter leads between that cable the battery post. This should tell you how much amperage draw something in the car is using with it turned off. Just make sure all the doors are closed and the lights are off when you do this.

Most of us use a battery disconnect when not driving the car. It's also for safety as you never know when a piece of insulation make flake off of 60 year old wiring and short, which could lead to a fire.