H ampmeter jumping

j hakenwerth · Jun 23, 2012

Just went through everything on my H. Everything seems fine but my ampmeter is pretty jumpy on the charging side of the meter, any ideas why?
Thanks Jerry

rustyfarmall · Jun 23, 2012

Might be the voltage regulator causing the jumping, or it might be the ampmeter itself.

Janicholson · Jun 23, 2012

Mechanical voltage regulators are electrically noisy. They produce variations involtage output that ---average--- the desired charge voltage and current. from a millisecond to millisecond view, they produce voltage from below bat voltage, to twice the bat voltage. Batteries and lights do not care as long as that average is ok on a second to second basis. Amp meters of best design use a resenous liquid on one of the pivots for the needle. This sticky viscous material dampens the needle fluctuation and produces the steady needle showing an average charge rate. (This is not the only method, but common) The electronic controls of newer equipment and cars (if equipped with a gauge) would need much less dampening if any. Original meters can and do have this material dry out and stop working, new less expensive meters don"t even have it. Thus your viewing the needle jumping around might be irrelevant but distracting. Swinging through full scale side to side is an indication of connection problems, or generator/VR issues. Jim

Bob Kerr · Jun 24, 2012

Mine did that also. The steering post is the ground for the light box and regulator and when I cleaned up the bottom of the post and the bolts, problem solved!

H ampmeter jumping

j hakenwerth

Member

rustyfarmall

Well-known Member

Janicholson

Well-known Member

Bob Kerr

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