VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION New User Forum 1936 generator issue

Need some help .. im trying to give my pops a hand with his 1936 standard. Keeps dying out when car is running a while and wont start untill it seems like the car cools down . Weve changed the points and condensor and coil. I checked while car was runing at the battery what the voltage reading was at it was 6 volts. Went to the generator and removed the wires that were conected to the metal tab on voltage regulator that said bat. The reading there was 23 volts . Is that normal or is voltage regulator bad ?

That is normal for a 3 brush generator running on open circuit. If the car has a regulator the gen needs to be rewired internally to 2 brush ( it may have been rewired already). Remove regulator cover and see if cutout relay closes when you rev the engine a bit. Measure the voltage at the Gen terminal of the regulator at a fast idle to make sure the wiring is correct. Should read more than 6v if all is well. Get someone to help you earth the voltmeter negative lead while you do these tests so you can take a few readings.

Part B of the conversation: If you have a cutout instead of a regulator the gen is functioning correctly but the cutout is defective as it is not closing its contacts and needs to be replaced. Alternatively there is an open circuit with the wiring between cutout and ammeter. Put the wires back on the bat terminal and take a few more readings.

Thank u .. so im going to reconect the wires to the bat tab on voltage regulator . One i reconected wires start engine and wacth to see if the voltage regulator is closing when u rev the engine also put the voltmeter to the gen side of the regulator to see the volt reading . Is this correct ? Maybe a stupid question but illbask anyways . Does a voltage regulator and a cutout look the same how do i tell the difference?

A cutout is smaller than a regulator and is mounted on the generator. It has only one relay inside. A Regulator is larger and mounted remotely from the generator usually on the cowl facing the engine.It has 2 or 3 relays inside the black box. I assume you have a cutout so when you put the wires back on the gen terminal when you start the engine you should get the 23 volts you measured previously on the gen terminal. Inside the cutout box you should see the points close and measure the bat voltage with the voltmeter and report back.

Sorry something may be wrong if i understand u correctly . On the cut out i have two sides or terminals one saide the s labled bat . The bat side was s conected to the wires that seem to go to battery or under dash . When i removed those wites i measured 23 volts. Could the cut off be installwd backwards ? Theres a wire coming out the generator that is attached to the cutoff . Should that wire be attached to the batt terminal on cutoff ?

Sorry something may be wrong if i understand u correctly . On the cut out i have two sides or terminals one side is labled bat . The bat side was conected to the wires that seem to go to battery or under dash . When i removed those wires i measured 23 volts. Could the cut off be installed backwards ? Theres a wire coming out the generator that is attached to the cut out . Should that wire be attached to the batt terminal on cut out ?

Hi Facundo. The cutout has 2 terminals one on each side. One is marked bat and the other one gen. There should be only one wire on the gen connection going from the gen terminal to inside the generator. On the other side of the cutout the bat terminal should have 1 wire only connected going to the ammeter terminal on the dash. The gen wire is short in length and the cutout is installed with the gen connection in easy reach. The cutout mounting position on the gen is such that the short wire from the gen is long enough to connect to the gen terminal.With the connections correct. Measure when the engine is running what the voltage on the battery terminal is and what the voltage is on the gen terminal.

Thanks sounds easy enough .. i will let u know