How can I tell if my generator/charging system is working correctly? I just drove my truck yesterday and today it had a dead battery. I turned it on an off several times and drove maybe 5 or 6 miles because I was out hunting. The battery is only two or three months old, so I know the battery is good.

I know generators don't work as well as alternators. How long do you have to drive it in order for it to charge up 4 or 5 seconds worth of cranking?

Its a 1963 f100 with a 292 y block by the way.

 

Its been awhile since I worked on a generator so I hope I don't lead you down the wrong path.

First check all our connections make sure there tight and clean at the battery, generator and regulator.

Belt tight and in good condition?

Does your Gen light come on when you turn your key on?
If not check fuses.

Next get the truck started and remove the neg side off the battery , if it stays running you are almost sure that the charging system is probably working. If you have a volt meter hook it up to the battery with the truck not running you should have around 12.6 volts with the truck running and 14 something when running if it is a 12 volt system.

To check to see if it is the generator or regulator you need to full field your regulator, I would have to look this step up to make sure I don't advise you wrong . But if I remember right you ground the DF on your regulator and test voltage output. Maybe someone else can help on this.

To check for a draw on the system put a test light between the connection at the negative battery terminal and cable if the light lights you have a draw remove fuses one at a time until the light goes out . That will show the circuit of the draw.

After all this I thought I would mention that most autoparts stores will check your charging system for free.

Hope this helps and I hope I don't steer you wrong thanks patmedic

 

Thanks for the help. It must not be working because as soon as I disconnected the negative lead it died. What causes this? Like I said, the battery is new and I replaced the generator about a year ago. I didn't see any obvious disconnected wires.

I appreciate the help. I am very mechanical, but when it comes to electronics I can be a bit challanged sometimes.

 

So I don't reinvent the wheel here I did a search and found a thread that gives you great instructions on how to test your charging system. Not being computer savvy I could not figure out how to link you to that thread . So please pull up the search box and put in generator regulator testing. This should help you out to your next step. Sorry I am not much help. patmedic

 

I really appreciate the help. From reading other threads it seems that I may have a bad ground. How do I find that? I believe there is a wire from the engine block to the frame, but that is in place the last time i checked.

Also, you said to full field it. Its a fairly new generator, about a year or so old. I polarized it when i got it, or at least i did what i believe was polarizing, but I'm not 100% sure I did it correctly. What exactly is full fielding? I know im kinda asking to be spoon fed here, but its just very frustrating because Im not very good with electronic components.

PS- To post a link, just copy and paste it. click on the link with your mouse and highlight it, then right click and select "copy" then while typing your message right click again and select "paste" and it will paste the link.

 

Some say the best way to test for a bad ground is to use a ohm meter. But google voltage drop test and use that method. Its a better test for testing for a good ground. and more accurate Another good idea is just run another temp ground wire from gen to battery big wire would be great here . And run another temp ground to from engine to body could be smaller. Keep me posted of what you find. Be safe patmedic

 

Well I went out today and conducted a generator test as the manual described. It said to connect the field and arm wires together with a jumper wire, then connect then negative lead of an amp meter to the battery and the positive lead to the field wire. The book says that at 1500 RPM it should reach about 30 amps. I don't have a tachometer on my truck, but the highest reading i got was about 1.6 amps and I revved the engine well above 1500 I'm sure. Im going to guess i revved it to at least 3000 RPM and it only gave about 1.6 amps. Does this mean that the generator is bad? its a practically brand new, i replaced it about a year ago.

Also, is it possible that the voltage regulator is simply bad?

 

By bi passing the regulator you showed the generator is bad . But it is always recommended to replace the regulator also. Old , used , overworked maybe a few more bucks but it might keep you out of the garage and on the streets.

 

So would it bee a good idea to buy a new regulator and rebuild the generator? the generator is practically new as I said. What causes a generator to go bad? can i buy a rebuild kit and rebuild it?

Im irritated because a new generator is about 100 bucks and this one is new, but obviously complaining about it doesn't solve anything.

 

To really test a generator you need some specialty tools . A growler is one I can think of and a armature lathe would be nice . I am not sure what all is included in a rebuild kit in my job we think about cause , cure and correction. Thinking about that this is a new generator something missed by the re manufacture caused the problem . Food for thought

 

After comparing costs and seeing this article, I think I'm going to simply switch to an alternator. They cost less and are more efficient anyway. According to this article I can use the stock regulator and be just fine. does anyone see a problem with it? is it really as easy as just hooking up the right wires? I thought you needed a different kind of regulator for an alternator.

GM current for your Ford

patmedic- thank you for your help. You're the only one who has replied so far and I appreciate it.

 

Perfect, I am sold I will probably do the same thing. And this alternator has a built in regulator easy , cheap and reliable . Good research and find Thanks.

Dito to you