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Regulator issues


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I have a 52 b-3-d and it is not charging the battery. I believe it is a regulator issue. With the cover off the regulator and the truck running, I could not get the circuit breaker to close. But when we manually closed the circuit it did make the generator work, and the battery did charge. What could be wrong?

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A factory correct # NOS Autolite regulator for your truck matched to the generator... never used or tampered with should fix your charging issues.  Some of the now days new regulators are meant to last maybe a couple months!           But 1st check .......

 

Polarize the charging system. Briefly (1/2 second) jumper BAT to the ARM terminals on the regulator. Should see a brief spark flash.

Check that the regulator is well grounded to the body and generator.

 

A quick test of the generators output is to ground the "F" terminal of the regulator to a regulator mounting screw and slowly raise the engine RPM while watching the amp meter and or volt meter connected to the battery.. reading should imediately rise.

Do it just for a few seconds. No amp or volts reading increase = bad generator or wiring.

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I recently had the same issue with my generator. It wouldn't put out enough current to close the circuit breaker contacts, but if I manually closed them, or jumped across them, it would charge. I replaced the regulator but it didn't help. When I took the generator into my local shop they showed me where the armature had slung out a bunch of solder. The Armature is bad and will need to be replaced.

 

Merle

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Do the field ground test as mentioned to see the MAX AMPS out put..

If the amp guage reads 40/ 45 amps or higher doubt very much anything is wrong with the generator.

 

All my 1946-52 MoPars have stock charging systems. All work fine and other than a new regulator on a couple of them over the years all charge the batterys just fine.

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Another question just out of curiousity I have called around and found that it is cheaper to buy a new rebuilt generator then having mine rebuilt, if the generator is bad and I do end up buying a different one, I have read that I may have to match up some numbers from the old one to get a new one. Is this true?

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Another question just out of curiousity I have called around and found that it is cheaper to buy a new rebuilt generator then having mine rebuilt, if the generator is bad and I do end up buying a different one, I have read that I may have to match up some numbers from the old one to get a new one. Is this true?

 

That's o.k. but pay the core charge and keep your original,

 

Trust me,

 

Hank  :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

A automotive electrical shop should be able to do it quickly so you could get it repaired.

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It seems you might need some real shop help with this charging system issue.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Where did you find it and how much did it cost ?

Thanks,

Hank

 

VR's can be bought at NAPA, VPW, O'Reilly's or anywhere automotive parts can be purchased (at least in MN, no idea on CA)

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I have a couple of them myself and actually they were a find from "Istanbul Turkey" (the furthest sourced part with the exception of my Hand Crank from Davin in Australia) they have the "original" FLD, ARM, BAT stamped into the housing...nice... (oh god I'm starting to sound like Mark...)  help !

 

Hank  :)

Edited by HanksB3B
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