Calling John Nordhoff - Help

Working thru your instructions again regarding checking for possible cutout relay problem. Please clarify for dense me:

1. Dead ground the gen field post. (Do I remove the wire from gen field to relay field first?)

2. Jump a wire from Relay's BAT term to its GEN terminal. (Do I remove the existing bat and gen wires first?)

1. Dead ground the gen field post. (Do I remove the wire from gen field to relay field first?)

NO thats not necessary, just run a temporary jumper from FLD on Genny to a good clean case/frame ground. If the VR is working correctly its supplying a regulated/intermittent/chopped ground to the gennys FLD post anyway. When you dead ground the gennys FLD that forces it into high max charge and it no longer relies on the VR

2. Jump a wire from Relay's BAT term to its GEN terminal. (Do I remove the existing bat and gen wires first?)

Again NO thats NOT necessary, just temporarily jump BAT to GEN/ARM on the VR as that simulates what the cutout relay (between BAT and GEN/ARM)
does anyway when the gennys voltage exceds battery voltage.

NOTE with the gennys FLD dead grounded and the cutout relay by pass jumped across, THE VR IS OUT OF THE EQUATION so if still no charge the genny is bad unless theres another wiring problem??

NOTE The wire down from the load (NOT battery/starter) side of the ammeter that wires to BAT on the VR MUST ALWAYS BE HOT WITH VOLTAGE as thats how the gennys output gets to the battery to charge it. If its not getting to the battery (via ammater if it has a good one) even a perfect genny cant charge the battery.

NOTE Put a voltmeter on the battery and sitting it should read 6.3 or 12.6 but once running at fast RPM if the charging system works battery voltage should rise (6.5 to 7 on 6 volt or 13 to 14 on 12)

NOTE if its a 3 brush genny some are adjustable to increase the charge rate, maybe you have a 3 brush adjustable type and its set for low charge?????

NOTE on some VR's they dont work exactly right if the metal cover is removed.

The above and my Troubleshooting Procedure is about all I can do over the net to help, maybe Jim or Bob M or Mayor Bob can add more, Im runnin outa smarts here and that dont take long either for me

John T

The test is simple ground the field and if that makes it charge the cut-out or reg is bad or not grounded ect

Thanks very much, John and Gene.

I wanted to confirm that I did not need to remove any wires for the test. I had earlier followed your instructions step-by-step and all results seem to point to a bad cutout relay.

So, I'm ready to head out the door and purchase a new relay (I have several new ones for Ford that I've unnecessarily purchased thru the years - and didn't want to put out money for this one unless I was dead sure.)

Hopefully, all will be well within the hour.

Thanks again. I'll hopefully post good news soon.

Make sure the new relay/VR is suitable for your ground, i.e. Pos or Neg ground......

Also some Fords were Class B while most other Tractors were a Class A Charging System, you need one for your ground (Pos or Neg) and for an IHC which like most others is a Class A system but I doubt the parts man will have a clue lol

The VR MUST have a good ground to work right remember!!!!!!!!

If its grounded (Genny and VR) but she only charges when you ground the field and/or by pass the cutout (jump BAT to GEN/ARM) that tells me the genny is okay so the VR is bad or not grounded or a wires missing or miswired...

John T

Proper VR. The IH/Case dealer is just up the road and the owner and son know their old Cubs. Don't know about other employees.

Anyway, the cutout relay is off and the VR is on; but no change in outcome.

Still a problem somewhere that escapes me, but I'll leave it for another day/week. I'm tired - very tired and frustrated.

You folks have been great in working with me on this. Thanks to everyone.

Could it be a broken field wire?