M not charging

tcanthonyii · Jul 17, 2008

So I bought my M basically as a basket case that runs. It's still 6v and will stay that way for a while yet but I don't think the thing is charging. I ran all new wires as the old harness was hooked up wrong according to the manual and the old one was original and was all but shot. The amp meter shows that it is always drawing power (to the left of center). Any Ideas what's up? The brushes in the generator look brand new. I'm not used to working on externally regulated machines.

Thanks

T.C.

Brownie 450 · Jul 18, 2008

Make sure that you are positive ground on the system, & that the regulator is matched to the polarity of the system.
Polarize the generator if not already done, by momentarily jumping the Gen. & Bat terminals on the regulator.
If no charge yet, ground the field terminal on the generator & see if the generator charges. If it does charge, the regulator has problems.
If no charge after these tests, suspect wiring problems. Check wiring diagrams on this site.

kossuth · Jul 18, 2008

Also ensure that it is actually discharging. To see this you need a multimeter. Basically take a battery reading before you start it to see what the state of the battery is. With the tractor running it should be in the neighborhood of 7 volts. I'd check that because it's possible you have the wires crossed on the ampmeter which will do this.

John T · Jul 18, 2008

http://www.ytmag.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=farmall&th=665110

John T
John Ts Troubleshooting

boomer22 · Jul 18, 2008

John T's Guide is awesome. Great way to get started troubleshooting.

If it were me I'd take the gen off and take it to a place to have it tested.
Mine did basiclly the same thing on my H so i took the gen in and found out it wasn't charging, the guy polished the armature and now it charges like a champ.

Cost me a whole 5 dollars to have him look at it and polish the armature, good as new.

Just my 2 cents worth.

tcanthonyii · Jul 20, 2008

You ain't kidding boomer. It's my life saver. I ran through the test and did make some assumptions along the way. I did have positive power at both sides of the ammeter. With key on and off. I did have postive power with key off at the batt term on VR. I did have good ground and I did the polarizing of the VR. I rebuilt the wiring harness last weekend and followed the diagram in the book. One was was hooked up wrong. That was the assumption I made was that all wiring was good b/c I had already done that. The battery is a friends out of his AC which mysteriously locked up 2 days aftter he used it. He had it tested a few weeks a go. I grounded the field terminal and bam, charging of the battery!!!

Guess this just means I convert over to my 12v conversion sooner than later. I have everything but the battery to do it so I might as well. Got all the parts for free except the coil. Opted to do the 12 volt coil instead. Cost is going to be the same now for me to convert by the time i buy a new vr and battery anyway.

Thanks Guys for all the help again.

T.C.

M not charging

tcanthonyii

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Brownie 450

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kossuth

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John T

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boomer22

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tcanthonyii

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