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Terrible pic but was directions regarding all issues wi5 my generator. I started today identifying that the generator is a b type. Then starting with a battery measuring 6.2 volts the car started up. Then began testing..hard for me to determine high idle so I was just accelerating a bit..when testing at high idle I could get Around 6.6 volts at a much higher acceleration I could get it up to the 7.5 volts…but it was Erving high….testing at idle I’m always getting a slightly lower reading at the regulator then I do at battery and starter as I’m testing the battery is draining…after 30 minutes at low idle I’m at 5.91 at battery/starter and 5.85 at batt terminal at regulator….when idling I’m getting around 5.8 at arm terminal and that too will go up to 7 plus if I really accelerate….last it instructed me to conduct field test as the same advise I got here..it said to turn car off and remove field terminal wire from regulator ..restart the car to high idle and ground out the detached wire the voltmeter was grounded at battery as instructed and positive was attached to arm at generator for test….when I grounded the field wire I get very little voltage ..not even 1 volt..more like.
.5…so I assuming that’s a generator issue? I don’t know…I’m getting good ground at generator and regulator..hoping this will help trying to show what’s going on…I had to stop as it overheated sitting at idle for an hour..thats never happened before..but I don’t think I’ve ever let it sit that long at idle

Edit…I realized the field was not secure on the generator end when I did test so will try again when battery charges
Edit,.meant to say I have a type generator not a b

Edi…so I completed field test again getting0..5 vo,t then up to 1.2 volts when grounding field wire removed from regulator..no idea what’s going on

Okay, first of all this document is written for a negative ground car and you have positive ground, so to use it you have to change some things. Like it says touch the + lead to arm and – to ground. You should do the opposite, etc.

Also you say the generator is a B type but per the test I asked earlier the results indicate an A type. An A type is also correct for your car.

To confirm, we can check:
- when the – of your voltmeter is on the arm terminal, and + on ground, with the car on, you should see some positive voltage. If it's negative, your generator is polarized backwards. (If you have an analog or cheap voltmeter that cannot indicate negative voltage, switch the leads to check for negative voltage.)

- perform the same test but with the field terminal instead of arm.

You should disconnect arm and field from the regulator during these tests.

If on the second test you get armature voltage between the field and ground, you have a Type A generator. If you get no voltage, you have a Type B generator. This is a internally hardwired property of the generator, unaffected by polarization.

Edit: saw your edit.

Ok! I assumed it was positive ground cause of the age…I’ll go check it again now tks

Ok thanks for the info….my new readings are….at a high idle both the regulator and battery test at 7.0 to 7.2 volts they appear to be testing the same amount of voltage…. At same high idle the generator is testing at 7.8 to 7.9 volts. According to those test instructions this is pointing to a bad regulator which I ordered yesterday. My ammeter needle slams to the right and to the left based upon idle..it gets stuck in both full and empty positions until i tap it and release it…should I do any tests with the field wire or do you thinks it’s the regulator…thank you!!

Can anyone tell me how to set high idle or what that even means when trying to read voltmeter…

High idle isn't a setting as such. You simply hold the throttle at a speed where the generator is putting out the maximum voltage. At normal idle it's too slow to be able to get useful measurements.

High idle generally refers to "cold" idle. In other words, when the throttle is held up by the step on the carb cam that is connected to the choke linkage.

One the engine is warm enough, i.e. when the choke opens enough, the throttle plate shaft can move past the cam stop to the fully closed position, putting the engine in low idle.

Jimmyk

In the ’54 shop manual, section XXI, there is mention of 900 rpm for the Delco equipment, and 920 rpm for Autolite equipped cars. Those values are the expectations for the reverse current relay (aka cut-out relay) to close, meaning the generator is ‘on-line’. I would expect ‘high idle’ is a term that means the system is operating with the generator ‘on-line’, plus a few hundred rpm of margin. You can also search for this rpm, because once the relay is closed, the system is up to temperature, and the battery is fully charged (or close to it), the voltage regulator should be in the voltage regulation mode. That is additional rpm does not result in an increase in voltage. My bet is 1200 rpm will do. A word of caution, in that most of the generator/regulator voltage specifications are for a system at normal operating temperature.

dp

Ok tks…I got a new regulator and still having charge issues..I’m wondering now if the car has a serious battery drain somewhere when key is on and maybe always did but I never noticed as I didn’t ever drive it to far and it was converted to 12 volts…it also has a 6 volt fuel pump mounted at tank wires to ignition switch…I bring this up as every time I recharge the battery for testing the batt cable with spark mounting it…I read here that could be a sign …? Getting same readings with new regulator …

Did tests this am..charged battery to 6.35 volts when I attached battery cable the voltage dropped to 6.2 volts with the driver side door open and dome light on. When I turn key on but don’t start it drops to 6.0 volts….that is with mechanical fuel pump on with key on..it will then start but not strong….did field terminal test at fast idle..and it jumps up approximately 1 volt …no matter the idle speed. At regular idle the battery is reading a constant 6.0 volts…..when I rev it up it will get to 6.6… then when turning car off the voltage will return to about 6.2 at battery….these are probably most accurate tests as this has been quite the learning experience for me…if anyone has any further advice it would be appreciated..I’m thinking my step be would take the generator to an arm shop and have them test the output as the regulator is new…?