Electrical Problem

[Stewart Loy]

Dearest resto gang,

I have an electrical question for the group.

The electrical system on my Ford powered T-16 is 12 volt, negative ground, with the factory installed generator. When I ran the wires from the generator to the factory voltage regulator I did not polarize the unit.

How does one polarize a 12 volt generators voltage regulator?

My battey has been severely discharged over the whole ordeal - and will only store 12.40 volts after being on the charger all week - is it time to recycle it? It does not seem to want to hold a charge (but I have not hygrometer to check the electrolyte).

I have no load on the system - do I need to get the lights hooked up?

Thank you in advance for your recommendations,


Stewart


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[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Stew.
Sounds like one dead cell in the battery..
Generator should be putting out about 14.4-5 VOLTs..
Stick a new battery in it..
Then test your generator at the battery with it running at a decent rev.on the engine..Should get a good reading ..
Should read 13.5Volts-14.5 volts at the battery terminals..

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally posted by Alex Blair
Stew.
Sounds like one dead cell in the battery..
Generator should be putting out about 14.4-5 VOLTs..
Stick a new battery in it..
Then test your generator at the battery with it running at a decent rev.on the engine..Should get a good reading ..
Should read 13.5Volts-14.5 volts at the battery terminals..

Stew
I forgot to put in this link..
I found this after I posted..
Still sounds like a dead cell so change the battery first step.
http://www.nls.net/mp/volks/htm/gen.htm

[Stewart Loy]

Alex,

I have Friday off for good behaviour, and will give it a try.

Thanks,


Stewart

[chris vickery]

Stewart, was just having this very same discussion with a friend of mine who is an auto electric wizz by trade. A real pro in the word of rebuilding all types of gens, alternators etc.
He said that a junk battery is the single most common problem with electrical systems and often makes other components look faulty. The number of people that get taken all the time for new alternators, starters etc is amazing, when all you need is a battery.
I just proved this to myself last week with bad battery terminals which made my alternator act up because it didn't know what to do. Lucky I started at the most sensible place- the battery.
Can't recall which wire you leave off the regulator to polarize it, but it is something like the "field" that you leave off and touch momentarily to establish polarity. A new reg should advise of the steps in the instructions, if any.
Good luck

[Snowtractor]

HI Stew,
congrats on the T-16 by the way. Were T16's factory 12v? If they were not then I would change for a 12v alternator.
With slow parades and idling a working generator will allow the discharge of a battery. Generators start charging aprox. 1200 rpm ,and a fraction at that rpm,and it increases the higher the rpm. I have seen and tested this on generator /alternator testors.
An alternator can charge at as little as 800rpm and can reach max output at 1000rpm.
A generator may still not supply enough juice to keep a battery from running down, at low rpm , if there is still significant elctrical drain.
Just put a little fist sized 35amp alternator , no reason to get too big.
My 2 cents
Sean

[Lynn Eades]

Stewart , A generator should be polarized when being fitted to a vehicle,because if the permanenant magnets are polarized the wrong way. (polarity)then when you run the vehicle up the points will close in the regulator and when you stop the motor, the points will stay shut . which will in turn feed power to your gennie, which will try to "motor" (the belt will stop it.) and this will then burn out your gennie and your regulator.
To polarize your gennie is simple. You just connect a piece of wire to the live battery terminal ,and strike the wire to the generator "field" terminal (the small one) a couple of times.
Another thing that comes to mind is that with some generator charging systems, they require a small current flow to "excite" the
system(get it started) This is usually acomplished via the ignition warning light. If you dont have one it wont charge.
I say all this as a mechanic not an auto electrician, and this is all based around Lucas systems.-----And Ive never seen a T16 let alone what thier electrics look like

[rob love]

Cdn tire sells the float type hydrometer for about $6; much cheaper than a battery. I like the glass tube type over the ones that look like a plastic antifreeze tester. If you have a bad cell, it will show up with the hydrometer. A difference of 20 points between any cell (with the exception of after you top up the battery with water; you will have to charge the battery for a bit to get it to mix the water and electrolyte) is an indication you neeed a new battery.
Apologies if you knew all this already, but 20+ years as a mechanic in the military, I saw many mechanics who did not know how to use a hydrometer, and would either condemn good batteries, or try and use batteries with bad cell(s).
The weather in Shilo (-35 in the winter) will not allow you to get away with a dead cell.

[Stewart Loy]

Saturday Update:

Our old pal Charlie Fitton came over today for a playday with his electrical test stuff and an old manual. We poked and prodded away at the T-16 electrical system and found some ills, none considered life threatening.

The feed from the generator changed colour somehow in the wiring bundle from the engine to the dashboard, hiding the wrong wire going to the voltage regulator. A missing tiny nut on the back of the ammeter gave intermittent use, and a poor ground to the gas tank gave a misread from that sender.

Dirty points inside the voltage regulator were cleaned and I think that we have a good system now. The battery is fully charged at nearly 14 volts, so we don't know if there is enough of a drain to cause the system to charge more than the trickle it now provides ( although it does put out 50 amps when the Field wire is grounded ). I reinstall headlamps tomorrow to get the machine to fighting order.

As a bonus, Charlie got my chorehorse generator going so it starts without 401 pulls on the starter rope - just a push of the button sparks it to life.

We rewarded Charlie with tea and pie, and he scampered off to do good elsewhere.

Many thanks to all of the folks that offered up advice - I appreciate the help.

See everybody at CC4.


Stewart

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

HI Stew...
Glad to hear you have the beastie operational..Those pesky wires have a habit of changing colour when the cheese starts to bind..but should be repaired pusser when the battle is over..and the beer comes out..
If you are taking the T16 to CC-4 and have the need ,I offer myself ,and three others that will accompany me to the glorius event as crew..
The after dinner parade is a must do and the women won't march so I seek transportation,if available..
I'll bring my own gas can ....