I dont think my genny or Regualtor is putting out enough? It seems that even at highter RPMs I am only getting 6.2 volts? I put a meter on the battery terminals and revved up to RPMs i dindt think i should be revving to without a load on and still only 6.2. My ammeter never seems to go into the charge side of the meter which is what prompted me to check voltage. I dont drive the truck daily only on weekends and in fair weather ( windshield wipers are another subject) so i put the battery on charge when i dont use it or the night before I know im going to drive so the bettery is topped off fora day of running and starting. OK enough of my long wind the real questions are:What voltage should the genny be making and at What RPM should i see that voltage at? I know at 12 volts i should see 14 volts and at 24 volts(airplanes) I should see 28 volts. If i follow this then i would think i should see 8 votls on the 6 volts system but I am still not sure what RPM i should see that. Bill
You must have 8 Volts if the engine have 2.500 RPM. It's the same on all 6V Systems. Please check the input at the Regulator or adjust the regulator.
Thanks Volker That is what I thought I have to check that the Gennie is actually working. The previous owner said he had just changed the Regulator but if the gennie is not up to the task and all i am reading is battery voltage I may have to redo the Gennie. I will ground the control on the Gennie and confirm it is making more than the 6 volts I am reading now and if it does I will have to play with the Regulator if not I will havea good enough and timely reason to change to a 12 volt system once and for all.
Here's a fun link Might even be educational too! http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/electrical/50dr5022/index.html
6 Volt Gennies Bill ; I'm sorry I am coming in late here . I know I wrote a detailed How-To on the testing and etc. so it should be in the archives . 8 volts is WAY too high and will cause rapid bulb failure plus arcing and burning of the regulator points . DO NOT try to adjust the voltage regulator ! therin lies burned out generators , batteries and occasionally electrical fires Test the gennie and see what it does before doing anything else . I'm hitting the road to-night but I'll be OnLine soon and will write some DIY How-To tips if you cannot find my old posts , the other guys here are usualy good about finding them & posting links .
Thanks Nate I will not be working on it till the weekend I am not sure if things are bad or not I checked the voltage at 6.2 and the only reason im checking it is because the ammeter is not moving to teh charging side but does move to the discharge side I thought i had read that the Regulators were unable to be adjusted in a previous post I just did not know at what RPM i should be seeing the gennie chime in I know it was supposed to be at "highway speed" but the local roads around her are 40 mph or teh highway is 65 mph Id like to be charging at 40. Bill
Bill ;' Give a look for my old posts , I'll have some time in the next feew days or week to do a comprehensive writeup like before . You'll find an _analog_ typ voltmeter far more accurate and easier to use , even the $3.95 one from Harbor Freight , just get some long wires red & black and make up 5' long test leads... It's a very simple system you can fix @ home .
Pfm So today i was troubleshooting and hooked up my meter and was reading6.2 again then i bypassed the voltage regulator y grounding the field to see if the gennie was working but it never went past battery voltage? I took it foa spin around the block to test the carb adjustment i made and looked down the ammeter was in the positive side i hooked up the meter again and was reading 7.5 at idle and my headlights were bright and did not bring the ammeter into the dischargeside. Ill be darned if i know what happened either the magnets got a bit of polarization when i was nessing about and that was enough to take off or it was PFM?
?? " pfm " ?? Pure Freaking Magic ? I dunno why it's working now but make sure all the connections are tight and leave it alone . To properly full field the generator you need to jumper the two terminals , not ground the field . Then keep a weather eye on the voltmeter and DON'T rev. the pi$$ out of it trying to make it charge as it can easily go to 20 volts DC and this immediately overheats the generator and causes it to sling the now melted solder off the commutator and ruin it.... BTW : showing a discharge @ idle is O.K. , as long as it comes up to the charge side when you rev. the engine a little bit .
I had the meteron it afterward and voltage never went above 7.5 volts even up to 2500rpm so the regulator is holding it there
