A question for John T.

Today i adjusted the valves on my farmall M. To do this you have to remove the generator to remove the valve cover.Anyway i cleaned up all gennys contact points where it bolts on so it has a good ground.I never did that after it was painted.so now its all back together and it is charging awful high about 17 on the ammeter. It never did that before. It was always below 10.And now when the tractor isnt running and you pull the switch it doesnt move toward the discharge side like it should.The coil was awful warm after it was ran for an hour. Bad coil? Its all 6volt pos.ground system.

Are you sure you didn"t do something to grould the field? Coil is warm from the extra wattage going to it.

Im not up to detailed specs like typical charging currents on a 6 volt system that Bob M or Janicholson may be buttttttttttt from memory 17 amps is fairly high on a 6 volt genny at least if it stays there a longggggggggg time after starting.

I think our friend Teddy may be onto something since if the gennys field post got somewhow dead shorted to frame ground that makes her charge full bore to the max. If the gennys Field post got over tightened or was hit the pass through insualtion may have broke. ID CHECK TEDDYS SUGGESTION and insure the field post isnt permanently grounded?? See what happens if you remove the wire off the gennys FLD post???

If you remove that gennys FLD wire it shouldnt charge much (if alls well) but if it still does at high rate the genny must be shorted possibly the pass thru insultion is broke!!!!!!! If when that wire is replaced it goes to high charge AND STAYS THERE A LONG TIME the VR must be bad (if it has a VR) or the wire from FLD on Genny to FLD on VR is shorted to frame ground CHECK THAT WIRE!!!!!!!!

If it has a 2 wire (BAT GEN) Cutout Relay and uses the LHBD light switch, remove the gennys wire on FLD and see if it stops charging as it should if alls well??????? If not the gennys FLD must be shorted internally or the post insulatiion is bad. If it stays on max charge with that wire connected see if switching the light switch from low to high makes a difference as it should??????? if not the wire may be shorted from FLD on genny up to the light switch.

We could tell more if we knew the battery voltage sititng (6.3) and then what it is running (6.5 to 7)......If it stays much above 7.2 or higher a longggggggggg timeeeeeeee regardless I suspect a bad VR (if it has one) or a shorted genny FLD,,,,,,,,,,,or a short in wire from gennys FLD to light switch (if it uses that)

If the battery voltage doesnt rise to much over 7 I would expect the coil to be warm when running but NOT so hot you cant keep your hand on it.........If the batetry voltage is going to 7.5 or more and stays there a longgggggg time I could see the coil getting fairly hot....

I just cant say sitting here if the ammeter is accurate or why its not swinging to - discharge

BOTTOM LINE I THINK SOMETHING N MAY HAVE GOT BROKE OR SHORTED WHEN YOU WERE DOING THAT WORK.

Maybe if it has a 3 brush adjustable genny the third brush got moved to max charge positiion?????

Maybe the loads (lights) got somehow disconnected from the charging system (BAT terminal on VR or Cutout Relay) that would explain why the ammeter dont swing to discharge and if the genny dont see that load if its a VR system it can affect the charging?????????

I still like Teddys reasoning, maybe the Field wire got shorted????? Its easier if there armed with a VOM but tougher over the net YOU MUST HAVE GOT A WIRE SHORTED OR SOMETHING (FLD POST INSULATION) BROKE WHEN YOU DID THE WORK

SEE WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU REMOVE THE WIRE FORM THE GENNYS FLD POST IT OUGHT TO STOP CHARGING

I hope Teddy and Bob M and Jim and others can help me out here............

John T

I will let you guys know what i found, in a couple of days. I dont have another generator mount voltage regulator. I will get one anyways just to have a spare one on hand. Thanks for the info.

17 is about all those gens can produce after eating wheeties all morning. So two things to check (John hit the nail, more info is needed)
Charging voltage with a good battery that is fully charged to begin the test should be 7.2 to 7.4 volts at 2/3 throttle or more. If in the 8 to 9 volt area, it is not being regulated correctly.
The generator should not charge if the field terminal is disconnected. If it does, the field is internally shorted to ground, (a long bolt used to mount the regulator can short the field and not only make it put out, it can make the field draw much more current than normal, making more output than desired. Let us know. Jim