Is there ant way to test a voltage regulator? I'm getting 15+volts out of the generator and just a little over 12volts at the batteries with the engine at 1800rpm

 

If you have 15 at the alt, but only 12 at the batts, you have a bad connection or bad wire someplace in between.

 

What is the standing battery voltage,if it's a generator it will only be putting out 20 to 30 amps normally.Easiest way to check is with an ampmeter

 

I kind of glossed over this -- is this an actual GENRERATOR with external regulator?

 

No, it's a GENERATOR with an external regulator

 

Please explain. How do I check the amps? The battery was about 12volts before starting.

 

remove the pos batery cable and wire an ampmeter between the cable and battery

 

What will that tell me? The cables are new.

 

That will give you the charge amperage

 

I trust this is the standard three-unit regulator, with a voltage section, a current section, and a cut-out. Correct?

Have you "flashed the field" with the regulator still attached?

That might create a problem for the regulator, but you SHOULD be seeing the same voltage on the generator output and the battery. If not, put a larger gauge wire between those two points.

The sense wire for the regulator is on the battery, and if it senses "low", it continues to supply full current for the generator field, hence the high voltage on the output terminal. Be SURE that the regulator frame has a GOOD ground, and you might want to run a wire from its frame back to a generator mounting bolt on the engine.

I really think your problem will be traced to an "iffy" ground somewhere.

Be sure the negative battery cable runs to the engine block somewhere, and both ends are CLEAN!.

The above connections should NOT be made through paint, but only to clean, spotless metal.

Don't forget the "ground" that is the connection between the ground brushes and ground inside the generator itself, but rarely bad.

Be aware that those old mechanical regulators were usually adjustable, but it takes a bit of finesse to do it, and I wouldn't touch it unless as a very last resort, and then only with a high-quality voltmeter and ammeter.

Sometimes, an aftermarket, "solid state" regulator solved a bunch of charging problems. I just wonder if they can still be found.

At least the engine and frame are one and the same on these old pieces, and you don't typically have a bunch of frame-to-engine-to-body grounding problems, which SHOULD make this simpler to solve.

Did you have this problem before installing the new battery cables? That might be a clue.

Let us know.....

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