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Dan - Presuming you’ve got a 3 position light switch, the switch controls the lights ONLY – it has no effect on charging rate. (BTW the 3 switch positions are Off, Dim and Bright). With the light switch aside for the moment, the fact the generator charges when you run a wire from the grounded battery terminal to the regulator base tells us the regulator is still not grounded - despite your previous efforts. Recommendation then is to run a permanent wire from the regulator base to a SOLID ground – eg. to the point where the grounded battery cable bolts to the frame. Now back to the light switch. Presuming the lights are wired up and working, with the engine stopped the ammeter should indicate 0 amps with the switch set to “O”. And you should see a discharge of around 8 – 10 amps with the switch at “D”, and close to 15 amps at “B”. (And of naturally the lights should burn dimly at “D” and light brightly at “B”). If you don’t get the above either your lights are wired wrong or the light switch itself is messed up (look for the dimming resistor grounding against something inside the box). Keep in mind also when the engine is running it’s about all the generator can do to keep up with the lights. You’ll get only a few amps of charge at full RPM – as RPMs decrease so will the charge rate. Below about 2/3 throttle the lights draw more than the generator can provide - you’ll begin to see the ammeter indicating a discharge as the engine slows down.
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