How do I test my 6v Generator?

My charging system is draining my battery so I need to determine if it is my regulator or generator. The battery is new regardless. I tried hooking a belt to it and running the generator with a drill while simultaneously checking the voltage terminals (no output). What am I doing wrong?

Thanks

 

There are a couple of ways to test a 6v generator, I only know one and I'm not sure if it determines how well its working but If you hook your generator up to a 6 volt battery it should turn like a motor. Your regulator has points and sometimes those points can be filled to make better contact. I'm not sure what kind of car this is for but I'll post the procedures for checking the charging system in a chevy.

 

the site seems to be down at the moment but in the 53/54 manual theres a good outline of testing the charging system.

http://chevy.tocmp.com/

 

If i'm not wrong it's like an electric engine, if you put both power and ground on it it should turn, if it's not broken.
"edit" sry, to slow..

 

Just remember just because something is new does not mean it is any %$&((%) good. Have seen new batteries with internal shorts. What kind of car? Ford and GM use different test procedures.

 

Yes, when discussing car stuff it is useful to know the make. With generators, there are several wiring and regulator setups...
Manuals will show how to "full field" the thing, which in effect cuts the regulator out and sends gen to full output, telling you whether regulator or gen is the likelier suspect. Circuits vary, and I have to look up even the most familiar ones.

 

I'm interested to know more about this as well since I had a little generator malfunction on the way to Goodguys last Thursday night. I ended up getting it rebuilt and on the road Friday a.m. but I am not sure it is working 'right' yet.

Going down the road with no lights on it stays in the middle where it is supposed to be. After dark with the headlights on it drops down to what I would call the 'quarter' (like a quarter tank of gas) position. I don't think that is normal.

Having just rebuilt the generator I'm thinking maybe it could be the regulator but supposedly it is good. I guess I'm in the same boat as deluxester, just don't know where to look.

 

A very quick&dirty test: Rev engine to maybe 1,500 RPM to be sure it is up to speed. Remove a battery cable...if engine continues to run, obviously gen is doing at least something.
Next, turnitoff and run down battery a bit by leaving lights on for 5 or 10 minutes. Start...ammeter should go way over to charge side for a minute.
Under normal op, ammeter stays centered because output of gen is regulated to what is needed.
"motoring" the generator and "full fielding" are more respectable low tech tests.

 

The car is a 1950 ford coupe. The engine is an 8ba.

 

thanks bruce. The car is a 1950 ford if that helps, and the engine is a 8 cylinder flathead.

 

Waaaay back when I was an auto elec, we would put a battery on the gennie to motor it up to confirm it was OK. When we fitted the gennie to the car we always adjusted the regulator to match the gennie.

Mechanical regulators can do wierd and wonderfull things when they get on in years, so its a good idea to have it checked and matched to the rebuilt generator.

If you cant get the car to a reliable autoelec, he should be able to get by with just the gennie and regulator

 

with the engine at a high idle, Run a jumper wire from the field terminal to ground. If your ammeter pegs to full charge the gennerator is OK. Don't leave the wire on longer than necessary to check the gauge.

The other thing to do is to go around and assure you have good clean grounds on all your lights, and good clean and tight connections at the termminals. Also check the connections at the light switch. Any of those connections can add resistance to the circuits and cause a big drag on the battery and generator.

 

In the first post you say the battery is getting drained. The voltage regulator has a Cut-out to disconnect the armature from the battery side of the system to prevent the battery from motorizing the generator when it's not charging, and thus quickly killing the battery, and sometimes even turning over the engine, especially a worn flattie.
If your battery is slowly going dead, after a few days, it's not the gen/reg doing that. It's another small drain on the system, like a liight on, or the dirt on top of the battery acting as a conductor, or grease around the starter solenoid, etc.
Frank

 

I'll post some 1950's tests and polarization stuff here when I get some time. Brought in the old must manuals.
There are also simple continuity tests to verify armature and field condition.
And...did you polarize? If so, how? There are two methods, wrong one can damage regulator...Ford versus Delco. Be very cautious about source of procedures because of differences in grounding and such. You can make yourself a dead short across a set of points in regulator, and they won't appreciate it.

 

Tell me more about this polarization, I think it may be the source of at least my problem...

 

Polarization is needed to set the polarity of generating system to same as battery ground whenever generator and regulator are separated or one changed. There is lots of utterly wrong info available because of the two ground systems in use...what flavor of gen do you have?

 

I have to look this stuff up now...usedtobe, a little scrap of paper came with your regulator with instructions and sometimes a jumper wire! Look it up on the web, and 50% of your finds will be confidently recommending Delco procedure for Ford and vice versa...smoke time!

 

If things are working right, the ammeter needle will move to the "1/4 tank" location on the charging positive side of the meter when you turn on the H/Ls. The headlights are creating a heavy load that the VR senses and forces the generator to put out more to make up the extra load which moves the needle. When you turn off the lights, the load is reduced and the VR reduces the generator out put to meet the new lower demand and the needle falls back toward the center. That is telling you that everything is working right. The ammeter needle shows you what the generator is putting out at that point in time. The VR changes that as the load requires.

If the needle moves to the neg (discharge) side then you have a problem but your battery would probably be dead by now.

 

And be aware that ammeter, either 2-post or the Ford Loop kind, will read backwards if hooked up in wrong direction.

 

CGR, the easyiest way to see if you are charging is to get it up on fast idle, about 1000 r's or so, and put a voltmeter, test meter, across the battery. a 6 volt should be 6.5 to8 V. A 12 V will be 13.5 to 15. If you are just reading battery voltage, a low reading, than it's not charging.

Frank

 

Some do-it-yourself easy stuff:
Most older books divide USA 2-brush systems into GM and many others, called type A, and Fomoco, type B. I have also seen the type B called a heavy-duty circuit.
Polarization:
Ford--disconnect FIELD wire at regulator; touch briefly to BATTERY terminal on regulator. Do NOT use jumper wire or GM method!!
Other--get a short jumper, briefly touch between Armature and battery terminals on regulator.

 

On Ford systems, always be sure grounding is good. Connect jumper from ground terminal (or steel body) of gen to base plate of reg and another from there to battery ground. Really, this should be hardwired into car thus, as Ford discovered in early 2-brush days.
Gen/reg test:
Ford--clip on a jumper from A to F at reg. Revvitup to charging speed...reg is now out of service, if generator is good should produce 6 or 14 volts...or brightening of headlights if you have no meter.
Inferior cars--jump from F to a ground.
If no good, suspect gen or wiring...if good, suspect reg.

 

I have seen unpolarized generator/regulator systems de-solder the armature. Look in the brush area, if you see solder on the casing it has de-soldered and now you need a new armature at the least.

 

Wiring test: Just disconnect and isolate the suspects at BOTH ends (in case of ground or whatever in middle) and replace with jumper. You should have a couple 4-foot 14 gauge wires with alligator clips as basic test/limp-home gear.
And, as noted above, brightness of lamps allows you to guess voltage if no gauge is available.
Grounds: Memorize this! ALL (that is, ALL) HAMB friendly cars have ground problems. If they are beaters, problems are from rust and general deterioration of connections. If showcars, problems are from paint...factory paint was thinner than we do, and easy for metal parts to bite through to bare metal when installed. I believe in extra ground wiring on anything critical, and Fords need their ground wire in gen circuit for sure.

 

Brushes: on a car that is together and running, try cleaning commutator area with a blast of spray brake or electrical cleaner that evaporates without residue. Then push brushes hard into commutator with engine running...use something like tape covered screwdriver through slots. See if anything happens. If working alone, shim or adjust idle so that engine is running fast enough idle to cut in generator output. A simple light socket with two wires and alligator clips can be set in where you can see it as your voltmeter...handy for any electrical tests.

 

THIS is Gospel.
Redundant grounds are the most important improvement you can do. Depend on copper, not iron to carry current. Size your new copper grounds according to the load. Generator, regulator, even the distributer and coil need to be redundently grounded. Along with under dash, too. REALLY.
And a Copper ground from battery to engine and from bat to body.
If you want a trouble free system, You need to wire like a proffesional race car is done.

Frank

 

I spent several years learning how to wire a car by the excellent learning method of carefully and comprehensively doing everything wrong and observing the resulting smoke, fires, and darkness...

 

This is all really helpful, thanks! I plan to print it out and take it out to the garage with me tonight. Wiring has always been the 'achilles heel' of building cars in my family, we all suck at it!

 

Not my quote, I think I read it here, but it is very true: "Every electrical component is manufactured with smoke inside it. When you see the smoke released from the component it is no longer any good."