Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

I saw the 55 Clipper that was once mine at Kerrville. The new owners drove it down from the DFW area. Upon arriving in K'ville they discovered the generator was burned up. The screw holding the ground wire backed off and the wire came off. This was unfortunate as a replacement generator was needed. I suggested they could drive the car home during daylight on just the battery if none of the electrical accessories were turned on. Also suggested they remove the Arm and Fld wires from the unit. This probably earned the the "Hard Luck" trophy.

I find this failure curious. Do not understand how a ground wire coming off would cause the generator to burn up unless it shorted the field terminal. It is an Auto-Lite unit with a universal voltage regulator that I installed. They said the system was working fine until this happened. Any ideas?

(o{}o)

One thought is the regulator couldn't get an accurate idea of what the generator was doing. That is the purpose of the extra ground wire -- so the regulator and generator are tied together and see exactly the same potential.

With the regulator ground at one point and being referenced thru engine, mounts, linkage and not much with good direct conductivity to the generator there was probably a considerable resistance and voltage drop between generator and regulator. With the disconnected ground wire the regulator probably saw a low voltage and could have kept telling the generator to put out more.

First, with a fully charged battery 100 - 150 or even more miles w/o an operative generator is very possible. Though I've not had to do so I have friends who have.

I don't see any correlation between a disconnected field wire and a generator burn out. With the field grounded - yes - but you'd probably know that, the fan belt would most likely be squealing loudly with that load.

Just curious, why a universal regulator when the correct NORS units are readily available?

HH and OD, thank you for the replies. Reading them them may help the new owner. As for the VR, don't recall any specific reason for going with the one I did. I did change the ground to negative in order to conform with modern convention and have the ability to run modern electronics. Maybe that was the reason for going with a universal.

Incidentally, the new owners said they would be relocating to Baltimore later this year. The Clipper will be returning to its original home. The 47 Custom Clipper I sold a couple of years ago also went to Baltimore with its then new owner. It now resides nearby in Virginia with current owner. Must be something attractive to my Packards in the Mid-Atlantic region.

(o{}o)

Thanks for bringing this up to the masses, JW. Curious happenings. Initially, the first indication of something amiss was on arrival in Kerrville on Thursday night. The car was running fine, headlights and all. The GEN light came on when I shut the ignition off, and went out when I restarted!? Friday morning I discovered the ground wire had come off, and with assistance of some more knowledgeable folks commenced to troubleshooting.
After meeting you on Saturday, we reconnected that ground to proceed with some more testing. She fired right up, with no indicator lights, and output to the battery was about 13.7 volts. Nothing unusual was noted.
Sunday morning we headed out for home, and a few miles down the road, the GEN light again came on. I stopped to take a look, and within a moment or 2, the light went out. We decided that we would give it a go and see what happenens.
All was good for about 60 or 80 miles, then the GEN light came back on. We pressed onward, and arrived home without any issues (about 340 miles total). This morning it fired right up, but the light is still on.
I'm now leaning toward a fault in the circuit for the idiot light itself, and maybe not the generator. I plan to do some measuring later today after work.

On a side note, JW, what I thought was a broken shock was a case of the lower mounting hardware falling off somewhere on the road. Easy fix with some bushings, washers, and nuts.

Brad, pleased to hear you were able to get home without any incidents. Also please to hear the rear shock can be easily fixed. Something not right is going on with the charging system. The generator had the odor of burnt insulation. Good news is you guys are home and can deal with it there instead of on the road. Must say, the Clipper is looking very nice. Take care.

(o{}o)

Be sure and check the fluid in the battery. If the generator was over charging it could have boiled out some of the liquid. You don't want to have a dry battery.

Hello all, just a note of trivia, In 1975 whilst driving home at night in my 39 Richards Six, the headlights suddenly went extremely bright then vanished. I discovered thet my battery lead had come off and allowed the generator to peak with no resistance or load. I am an electrician by trade and later found that this can exceed 23 volts for a 6 volt system. If you persist then you will throw the solder from the commutator. Just a few cents worth to keep your connections clean.PT