charging question

We"ve got an old A. It runs very well, last year, I bought a new 6V battery for it. I fired it up for the 1st time since Nov today & the battery was down from sitting....once I got it running, I put a meter across the battery & I noticed while running, it gives the battery 8.3V?? Is this normal?? Too much charging? I have a magneto, so, once it"s running, it doesn"t need the battery (except if I use lights)...when I turn my lights on, it makes no diff to the charge rate, it stays @ 8.3V. Will I damage my new battery? Thanks
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That seems a little high. What does it show not running? Maybe your meter is a little off. I always like them on the high side anyway cause they don't get used hour after hour like they were designed for. If you don't notice acid boiling out of the battery caps I would not be too concerned.

When I shut it down, it showed 6.1V....I didn't see any bubbling @ top of battery...but, only ran it about 1/2hr.

If its really a 6 volt battery and NOT an 8 volt battery, the normal voltage just setting there if its a good battery thats charged up

SHOULD BE AROUND 6.3 VOLTS (3-2.1 volt cells)

Then when hooked to a good and properly regulated generator charging system at fast RPM Id expect the battery voltage to rise to

6.5 TO MAYBE 7.5 OR SO MAXXXX DEPENDING on the RPM and Generator and Voltage Regulator..

I wouldnt get to excited if that 8 volts only lasted a short time until the battery recovered from the energy depleted when she starts up but then backed off to the 6.5 to 7 or so volt range BUTTTTTTT if you keep well over 8 volts for an extended time you could overcharge n harm the battery

The rate of charge is supposed to be regulated by that 4 terminal Voltage Regulator you have pictured. Sure its wired right?????

ARM/GEN on VR to Gennys ARM post
FLD on VR to Gennys FLD post
BAT on VR up to Load (NOT battery/starter) side of ammeter
LOAD on VR sends hot batetry voltage up to light switch

NOWWWWWWWWW if you have a 12 volt genny and voltage regulator.......it will sure overcharge and over raise the normal 6.3 battery volts SURE THATS NOT THE CASE?????????

You dont have an 8 volt battery in there do ya?? It would have 4 cells insted of 3 like a 6 volt battery?????????

Keep an eye on the batetry n if she starts outgassing badly and/or boils over shes overcharging and that can hurt it......

If shes wired wrong or has a shorted FLD post that can keep her in high max charge rate and overcharge the battery.........

If the VR is bad and stuck in the high max charge condition that also can overcharge the battery..........

If its a 3 brush genny they can be adjusted to lower the charge rate......

Remove the wire from the Gennys FLD post (one to FLD on VR) n see how she charges then ??? (should be very low to no charge at all) Then dead ground the genny FLD post right at the genny(still removed wire to VR) n see what happens (should be max high charge)



I think its either a bad VR,,,,,,,,or the VR isnt wired right,,,,,,,or the FLD is shorted to ground,,,,,,,,,,or its a 12 volt genny and VR,,,,,,,or its an 8 volt battery,,,,,,,,or your volt meter isnt accurate

Lets see what others think

John T

Hey how ya"ll doing? I really don"t believe you have anything to worry about. It is not at all uncommon for ANY charging systemto read a little high after starting when a battery is at a low charge; think back to your trucks/cars when you have had to jump start after a dead battery. Basically this is the same thing. A half hour of running time would not have been long enough to fully recharge the battery so it will probably read high upon your next start also. Good luck

in my opinion its perfectly fine. not much amperage from the oln genny so no worries. by the way u have a distributor. magnetos dont have power wires supplying battery power like yours. the coil is inside the distriutor.

You have the confused, that is a Mag (in the picture)the wire you see is a kill switch, and a coil on a distributor is externally mounted. The coil on the mag is looked internally.

Andrew

If you think its charging too many amps i see your generator has the adjustable third brush you can move the gap between it and the other brush a little wider and it wont charge quite as high. With the mag only needs to charge 2-3 amps.

thanks, how do I do that?

In your photos I see a voltage regulator hanging beneath the generator in the center image. When working properly the regulator will automatically control both charging voltage and current. So there's no need to adjust the 3rd brush on your tractor.

And your reading of 8.3 volts is indeed high - 7.5 volts is about the maximum you should see. Consequently I'm gonna suggest it's time for a new regulator. (Regulators are fussy to adjust even with the right equipment. The best strategy is simply to replace a bad regulator with a new one.)

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However before you replace the regulator, do you happen to be you using a DVM (digital multimeter) to take your voltage readings? Many cheaper DVM's get confused by the "noise" in generator/regulator systems and will display false readings. Unless you're using an industrial quality DVM (Fluke, etc), try taking your voltage readings again with an analog VOM - you may find the charging system is actually working fine and it's the meter that's wrong(!)

When a full fledged Voltage Regulator (what pic shows) is used I RECOMMEND SETTING ANY 3 BRUSH GENNY TO THE MAX CHARGE RATE NOT LOWERING IT !!!!

The third brush adjustable gennys were more for the old cutout relays and light switch controller but since you have a full fledged VR its internal field current control relay system should limit the charge rate WITH NO THIRD BRUSH ADJUSTMENT REQUIRED !!!!!!!!!

Again, if that extra high voltage is only short term temporary I wouldnt worry so much buttttttttttttt if it keeps the battery at over 8 volts permanently its gonna overcharge!!!!!!!

I still wonder about your voltmeter acuracy, stick an old fashioned ANALOG Simpson 260 on it n see what she reads, you may not really have a problem but if you do, suspect the VR or a shorted genny Field or shes wired wrong

John T

Take the band off then the screw on the end of the gen if its loose the brush can be moved the wider the gap the less it will charge on the ammeter. I can see the head of the screw on your pic its close to the top on the end of the gen. The way you have the reg wired there are two wires going back to the control one would be marked batt what is the other terminal on the reg marked. Some of the replacement regulators did have the other wire going back to the control going to the terminal on the control for hi-charge. Your regulator is some sort of replacement as it should be mounted on top of the generator but i see a bracket has been added to mount that regulator. Like i explained there have been several types of regulators that replaced the original cut-out which was original on that generaor. Newer replacements usually dont use that wire going to the control and have an external resistor and the forth terminal is marked fot the lites.Hope this doesent get you confused i have nine of these systems on As and Bs only two have regulators and both regulators are different. One is wired like yours and the HI-Charge position works. Iv had that tractor for 30yrs and it works just great. glad to help anytime