A while back had left the 56 sitting for a while and had trouble getting it running... seeing like a lack of fuel in carb.... nuther story there.

during this i ran battery down and hooked up my charger-booster...

I later noted one evening the Gen light still had some illumination to it after running.... getting brighter at idle, but still 'flickering' when revving it up

could i have damaged something when boosting it off??

i have searched around and found some prior posts on checking and will do so, but wondering about boosting these...

this is the stock y block generator and regulator combination.

 

IF:

1. your charger/booster is designed for a 12 V system and is working correctly

and

2. you connected the booster to the battery with the + on the booster to the + on the battery, and the - on the booster to the - on the battery (or a good ground)

then the booster should not have done any damage. Think of it this way, if your battery was not drained it would be supplying about 12 V (12 - 13.5 V) to your electrical system. A charger/booster working correctly should not exceed this voltage by any significant amount.

 

thanks for response..

yes to 12v booster and yes to polarity being correct

 

Something to check - generators and regulators occasionally need a procedure done called "polarizing". It has to do with shorting specific terminals to the battery to establish the proper magnetic field polarity in the generator and regulator coils. Sometimes the polarization will withstand disconnecting or completely discharging the battery and sometimes it will not. One of my Ford tractors has to be polarized every time the battery gets a little low. Another one sat without a battery for months while I painted it and started charging as soon as I relit the engine. I know exactly how to do it on my old 6 volt tractors, but I don't know the exact procedure on your 12V truck and won't guess. There are different regulator/generator circuits and using the wrong polarization method for your circuit can cook the regulator. My point - look it up in a manual and give it a try. It's free and certainly won't hurt anything even if that's not the problem.

As a matter of fact, I can just about guarantee that Earl's '56 shop manual is within arms reach. If you don't have one, I bet you could twist george's arm and get him to look it up for ya. HINT HINT, GEORGE!

 

Oh Joe, I love you too!!!

And ghall, buying a shop manual will be the most valuable investment you can make in your truck!

 

This only needs to be done when installing a new/rebuilt generator that has not been polarized, or may have lost it's polarization due to maintenance (rewound).

You do not need to re-polarize when replacing only the regulator.