Hey guys - very long time!

Havent posted in a long time - Had a couple of kids, changed jobs etc. Now after this cold snap I’m out fooling with my 49’ 8N.

My 8n doesnt seem to charge when I run her. Today I was testing things and found when I short Batt to Arm on the VR she starts charging - giving me about 7.2V at the battery and then trailing off to about 6.75V or even 6.5V. It seems that it gets stuck down there - if I work the headlight switch on and off it “wakes” her up again and the charging jumps up again and then trails off again. Sometimes it drops to discharge and stays there until I short the Batt to Arm terminals again.

My question is: do the vr’s get “stuck” from minimal use or, simply whats going on here?

Jon

Hi Jon! Welcome back, great to see you here again. Have you seen this tutorial in our How-To's that may be of help in this?

• Click here

Hey Ed, Thanks! I did see the tutorial - it’s extremely helpful!

J

1st make sure the belt is adjusted right so it don't slip, if that is good and snug call a well established auto parts store to find out if there is a shop around that works on generators, if so take the generator and regulator to them to have checked out.

So you were playing with it while it's not broke.
I suggest you purchase an English car that requires weekly tinkering to keep it somewhat operational.
Jag~Wire comes to mind, complete with Lucas electric from the dark side.

I suspect the tractor system is working as designed.
However, that Jag~wire is another story.
Beware the dark side.

Ha ha possibly. The car in the garage us a 1981 Mercedes W123, no Jags here.

The 8n - if I jumper batt to arm while the tractor is running it seems to “wake up” the regulator and afterwards it will continue charging. If I turn the headlights on the ammeter shows a discharge and then a positive reaction which seems like a good indication. If I shut the headlights off I get a strong positive charge for a couple seconds and then settling to 1 or 2 amps possibly, also seems good.

Now - if I shut the the tractor off and start it the next day, the ammeter shows discharge only. It seems like the charging system is not operating again. If I momentarily jump batt to arm, suddenly the system works again until I shut the tractor off again.

Is there something in the VR that is sticky or bad contacts likely?

J

Me? I would have to cheat and check battery voltage when static.
Then fire it, look at/verify the negative flow amp meter, check battery voltage again.
Is it lower than static or higher when running?
Now jumper the VR.
Check that battery voltage again.
Up? Did amp meter go up?
Oops.
Might be time for a new VR and polarization.