So I bought a 6V battery this weekend so I could check to see if my lights and fuel pump worked. As soon as I hooked up the cables (positive ground), the generator started to spin (the ignition switch was off). Has anyone had this happen? I did turn on the ignition switch and found out my electric fuel pump does work and headlights worked too. Generator stayed on regardless. Thanks!

 

Sounds like the cutout relay contact points are stuck on the voltage regulator? Make sure to polarize the generator using the FORD (or type "B") method ONLY.

 

How do you unstick the regulator cutout relay contact points? It is a new regulator and truck has not been fired up yet. I guess I will need to figure this out before polarizing the generator. I have also read that the generator needs to be polarized whenever the battery is disconnected, true?

 

No, I don't believe that is the case. Technically, whenever the generator itself has been disassembled or possibly sat for a real long time. That's what the manual says anyway. As you discovered a generator is also a kind of DC motor. Generators only produce voltage greater than the battery above idle speeds. The cutout relay removes the battery from the circuit to avoid backfeeding through the generator until the charge voltage comes up. This is why headlights dim at idle in a generator system. The battery is carrying the load at this point.

I would want to make sure the relays and contact points are not burned or pitted or "welded" together. If left in this condition (stuck cutout) for too long the generator windings would get smoked, too. I *think* maybe a positive ground system would confuse a generator at first, (without being polarized) and lead to the condition you describe.

Back in the day people would bang on the regulator hard if this happened, as it did now and then, to get them unstuck. That's why original regulators sometimes have dents in the cover.

In your particular situation I would remove the FLD and BAT terminals at the regulator itself BEFORE hooking the battery back up. Normally this isn't necessary. Then hook the battery back up, briefly touch the FLD and BAT terminals together for just a second. Maybe see a small spark, that's OK. That's it!

Now the generator is happy and knows its direction in life. Disconnect battery, reconnect FLD and BAT terminals and see what you have. If it's a modern repro regulator I might think about finding a regulator made back in the day when people cared about such things. Generators work OK but they were replaced for a reason, everything has to be just so, to get them to work so-so. Short trips, particularly at night with lots of idling, don't work very well.

 

Thank you for the excellent information. I appreciate your knowledge! I will give it a shot and see what happens. I do have the original regulator but I put in the new repro one since it looked much better. I will clean up and put the old one back in if needed. I have found out how much cheaper-made the repro stuff is. I ended up using my original starter button after fighting with the new one I bought. I think I am going to end up using my original headlight switch instead of the new one as well.

 

No problem! I'd try and get the repro regulator and generator working, use that as a "sacrificial" unit before installing anything else.

I had an original type junk box regulator kicking around, installed it in the 64 as the repro regulator seemed a little weak on the charge voltage and was tricky to adjust. The junkbox unit had a stuck cutout relay. Tried cleaning up the contact points with naptha and emery paper and whatnot, could never get it to work right. It may have just needed the gap to be adjusted.

Banging on it would free it up, but it wouldn't cutout on its own. The generator itself started smoking at one point. This is a Bad Thing (tm) Installed a remanufactured generator (from 1999) that I bought off eBay, with a NOS regulator, it's good practice to pair a known good generator and regulator, keep everything on the same sheet of music. Works as advertised now.

If there's a generator shop around that still works on them, they can adjust the regulator with it for proper cutout and voltages on the bench, before installation.

I wouldn't use an original lightswitch, it's likely pretty tired by now. Maybe Bob Drake or somebody like that would have good modern units. Search with good part numbers and find NOS is another option. That would probably be OK if stored correctly.

 

I tried this today and still have the same issue after I reconnected everything to the regulator; front pulley on the generator starts turning as soon as the battery is hooked up. If the belt is on, the tension prevents it from turning, but I would guess the battery would be dead in a day if left connected. I do have the modern repro regulator. Anything else I can try before I search for a nos regulator?

 

You could try this if you never wanted to mess around with the regulator again:
Parts: Electrical | Fifth Avenue Internet Garage

Third thing on the page. I got my alternator from this guy. Very knowledgeable.

 

Lee,
Never knew there was such a thing! Thanks for the link. Might try that on my truck.

 

fordgal,
I'm lucky that I have a generator shop nearby that is very knowledgable in these old charging systems. I have to stop by today to check on my geny and will see if they have any idea on what you could do next. Will post back with what I find.

 

fordgal,
Talked to the guy at the shop. He said you probably have some contacts sticking together which is causing your geny to spin when hooked up to the battery. You could disconnect the voltage regulator, remove the cover, and use some fine emery cloth to clean the contacts. They look like ignition points and there are 3 sets of them under the cover. Let us know how you make out.

 

Joe - Thanks for checking on that! I have a few options with this; clean the contacts, try hooking up the original regulator and call the place that Lee suggested above to see how that cutout hooks up. This is certainly a never-ending learning experience!

 

The cut out seems to be connected in place of the regulator and does everything electrically instead of mechanical-electrical like the old one. I'm all for originality but sometimes ease of use and no worries about starting or charging wins out. Depending on the size of the thing, it could be mounted inside the old regulator and wired there, out of sight.

 

Hm, they call it a cutout, but it performs voltage and current regulation as well?

Have read the solid state 12 volt Bosch regulator units for a '72 VW work (for 12 volts obviously)

 

It is out with the new and in with the old. I hooked up the old original regulator and the generator did not start up when I connected the battery. That can mean one of two things; the old regulator works the way it should or doesn't work at all. Guess I will find out when I start it (maybe this weekend!) I will still try cleaning the contacts on the new repro regulator as a back up, but I cannot trust it to be reliable. Especially since there is an issue with it just out-of-the-box.