Generator and regulator questions......

[Jeremy58Cub]

58 Cub, not showing a charge when running, constantly on the Discharge side. I took the generator and regulator off and took them to an auto electric shop.

They told me the generator was fine, putting out plenty. The regulator was bad. 45 bucks later, I have a new regulator and have it installed.

I start it up, and the needle goes to the CHARGE side!!!!!! I was thrilled. I left it running for 15 minutes or so thinking the battery could use a little top off.

I return to the Cub and the needle is back on the discharge side.

What could be the problem???

Any ideas?

Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[Bigdog]

The first thing I would do is re-check all connections including making sure that the new regulator has a good ground. If that doesn't help, then ground the field terminal of the generator and start it up and see if it charges now. If it does, the problem is in the regulator somewhere. It is not likely your dealer will give credit for a defective regulator but it is sadly not all that uncommon for them to be defective even new out of the box. Re-check the wiring to be sure it is correct and you have not created a problem causing the regulator to burn out. You can remove the regulator cover and check the points to see if you see evidence of burning or pitting or sticking. If so, burnish the burned contacts and try it again.

[Jeremy58Cub]

Just to make sure I understand you, I need to run a wire from the F terminal on the generator to somewhere on the chassis, and attach it, so it is grounded?

I will re-check the wiring on the regulator. I am 99% sure that they were attached correctly, but I agree, it can't hurt to check!

I will see what I can figure out.

Thanks!

[Bigdog]

Yes, if you ground the F terminal of the generator it in effect by-passes the regulator and puts the generator at full output. If it charges then, the generator is OK and the problem is the regulator or associated wiring. If it does not charge, there is a problem with the generator. Many times generators bench test OK but they are not. After operating under load for a while, they will fail. That may be what happened here. If it works intermittantly, those are the hard ones to pin down.

[Scott]

welcome neighbor