One of the points which is very much unlike the others, it even has an adjustment screw to change the contact pressure. If the points are open when the engine is running and the light is on I can simply push on the top and it will click down making contact and the light goes out. When I turn the motor off I have to open those points to shut the light off, which is what is happening when I slap it. 

I checked with a voltage tester and at idle it was at 12, I brought the RPM up and it was at 13.25. I turned the head lights on and it was at 13. 

I know nothing, I am a bodyman, I can cut the car in half and weld it back together but don't know this simple friggin charging system. LOL 

Any ideas? I do have a spare generator I got from my parts car and it looks good at the armature and brushes, I has a "rebuilt" sticker on it but who knows how long it was used. Anyway, I could put that in there and try it but if all I need is regulator I'd rather do that, I don't have to pull the battery and get under the car for the regulator. 

Thanks so much for any ideas.

Brian

those regulators are simple, but subtle. given it's age, before i did and serious messing-with, i would do the tedious but important checks on the wiring: is every single electrical connector bright and shiny metal? after half century, it wont naturally be that way! warranty is over! lol

if any of the spade lugs have frayed wires, i'd go after those. strip to bare shiny copper, get a real crimp tool, and put on new spade lugs. wire brish all the terminals SHINY. (batter disconnect first). the generator body has a ground wire -- it's *critical*. a bad connection can be a significant fraction of a volt, or worse, vary with vibration, corrosion, etc. that'll make you NUTS trying to test.

if you go through the wiring and make every single connection clean and solid and not wiggly, there's a non-zero chance it will fix things. if not, you are definitely not wasting your time. also its cheap. also it's purely mechanical work.

sounds like it's able to charge, and that behavior with the voltmeter doesn't sound bad to me.

gennies dont put out crap at low speeds (< 1200? or so). so that's normal enough. 13.25 is in the range of normal. 12 at idle means the generator isn't doing much, but that's normal also. 

Brian

Brian

So if your battery is GOOD and fully charged (meaning a real life battery charger running on it over night and no less) it should read 12.6 volts. Less and it's either not fully charged, or will not hold a charge.
12.6 is awfully close to 13........ which is too low to charge anything.. Even 13.25 isn't going to charge a battery. A cold battery won't take a thing at that low voltage, you'd never fully charge it. 

Your regulator should be adjustable and should be set to 13.8 to 14.7 volts and the voltage regulator portion air gap about .060"
With that in mind, either that generator ain't keeping up or the regulator is set too low or something....

There's a current regulator and I think that should be something like 30 amps and there's an air gap for those points, too - not sure on that one. 
The cutout relay has a setting, too and should close at close to 12 volts ranging up to 13.5 meaning when the voltage drops below that area, it opens and isolates the generator from the battery preventing discharge of the battery through the generator. 

So besides cleaning - check the regulator settings.....
It's possible to have a bad armature - and that should be tested out for shorts, opens and grounds - like you'd check any armature (but has to be removed for that)

Last generator system I worked on was a Lucas - ugh.

Funny thing is, yesterday I came home and the light was on as normal until the motor fired up and it went out and wasn't on when I shut the key off, again today, operated perfectly, geeez. 

I will look a little further and get a little educated.

Thanks guys,

Brian

Brian

These are simple mechanical devices and if you can take apart an electric drill and clean it you can also do the same for your generator - it's just bigger.

Inspect the brushes for wear and replace if worn too much, clean between the commutator segments - I cut an old hacksaw blade and use the back end. If the commutator is worn at the brush contact area find a generator/starter shop to refinish.

Use a generator/starter shop for the work and not a machine shop. Soft copper requires specific machining/finishing and some machinists, not knowing, can ruin a commutator in one cut.

Biran

Thank you Lyle, good stuff. I do have an extra generator out of my parts car (that's long gone but I have a few parts) that looks to be pretty damn solid at the brush area with a "rebuilt" sticker on the outside. At the very least I could stick it in there, I just haven't because the light hasn't been on the last few days and it looks like it's working perfectly fine.

Brian

dot

yawnie

at

gmail dot

com

(also have armature growler, valve grinder, seat tools, boring bar, various hones, rod hone and other "stuff")

The smaller stuff - the Kent-Moore tools, came from the shop I used to work at in the 70s. The boss remembered me saying "when you decide to retire, I'd love to have some of your tools". I had almost forgotten about it but my former boss had remembered me after all those decades and contacted my dad who called me and said "Andy wants to know if you were still interested in his tools".

The bigger stuff came from a friend's shop - he has had severe heart issues and gave up heavy work years ago and I bought his engine tools and equipment - the boring bar, lathe/mill, rod hone, head equipment, CC'ing supplies, valve grinder (which is like new as he took great care of it) and other stuff. 
I learned in the late days of our cars - the late 60s/early 70s, and feel more comfortable with the old-school stuff. 
 He wants me to buy his magneto and ignition business as he's told now to stay away from magnetic fields and things that can zap - and his magnetos can indeed ZAP people. But the time and money - and to take over a nationally respected business like his.......... not sure I want to. 
(Moose Magneto)

Right where you are talking! My son lives there and it is so nice, I can get use to that real quick.

Brian