Re: Ammeter bounced and went negative only.

Posted by John Regan on Sep. 14, 1998 at 12:47:58

In Reply to: Re: Ammeter bounced and went negative only.
posted by Gordon Biggar on Sep. 14, 1998 at 10:31:54

: : Hopefully this is a easy question. I was driving down and noticed the ammeter started bouncing around. After a few minutes,it went to 0. When I go to turn the lights on, or brake, etc. it goes full negative. The car kept running fine. My thought is that the generator died and I was running off the battery. This seemed to be confirmed by having barely a horn if the lights are on, but full horn if no lights. The lights also do not get brighter when I accelerate (as though I was now charging).
: : Am I right in my thinking it is probably the generator? My ammeter usually stays pegged at 20 after 30mph or so.

As others have stated.20 Amps is just way too high.I hope you have not tossed the solder out of your generator.Unfortunately with the 3rd brush set that high, if the cutout has stuck open, it is most likely that your generator field winding would be burned open.
4-5 amps is plenty of charge for cutout based system.
We do make a voltage regulator for this type of generator.With a Vreg you can then safely set the charge rate higher and drive without any worry of overcharging.Vreg will adjust the charge rate down from your maximum setting (usually between 12-15 amps) or up to that maximum setting - whatever the car system needs at the moment - just like a modern system.
Be sure to not put off addressing this problem since leaving the battery discharged will ruin the battery and you will then need both a battery and a generator.If you have been adding water to the battery (and I am guesssing you have), that is because you have been overcharging.
Good luck.

Model A Voltage Regulator for 3 Brush Generator

Follow Ups:
Ammeter bounced and went negative only. - Thanks! J.R. Aiello Sep. 15, 1998 at 23:09:54(0)

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