Discharge, Ammeter, Headlight mystery

Bevan

Member
New regulator, new battery, new ammeter, and rebuilt generator.

Despite this my Ammeter shows discharge when I turn my headlights on. It doesn't do anything when I turn on the aftermarket auxiliary bank I put on the fenders. Anyone got any ideas?
 
I would have....... If the tractor is started and the genny is at opposite polarity then the battery is installed, it can damage the Voltage Regulator. It can happen that at a shop the genny is polarized one way (say Neg ground) but the tractor is opposite polarity (say Pos ground). That's why its a good idea to Polarize the genny just in case. See my Troubleshooting Procedure.

John T
 
I went through the diagnosis checklist and other than being a bit confused on which side to hook up the ingoing current to the Ammeter the components all passed their tests. I am still showing discharge when I pull the light switch to turn on the lights.
 
I went through the diagnosis checklist and other than being a bit confused on which side to hook up the ingoing current to the Ammeter the components all passed their tests. I am still showing discharge when I pull the light switch to turn on the lights. Do I just replace the VR just in case? I polarized the Genny too. Which side of the Ammeter does the Input go to. Pos or Neg?
 
(quoted from post at 18:40:46 10/27/14) I went through the diagnosis checklist and other than being a bit confused on which side to hook up the ingoing current to the Ammeter the components all passed their tests. I am still showing discharge when I pull the light switch to turn on the lights. Do I just replace the VR just in case? I polarized the Genny too. Which side of the Ammeter does the Input go to. Pos or Neg?
B,
The in and out of an ammeter is the opposite of what you would think. As I remember the input goes on the positive side and the output goes on the negative side. It seems contrary to flow to me but it should work. Test it to confirm and let us know. Have worked with ammeters for years, 50 plus, on an old Wincharger power source.
Mr. T. Minnesota
 
I believe I got the problem licked. After covering everything in your checklist I was out of options. A friend of a friend told me sometimes the VR points (even when new like mine) like to stick so its a good idea to rap it with a screw driver to get it to work. I tried just that and after three "treatments" the discharge problem stopped altogether. Now the output responds to the load from the accessories and adjusts to a slight charge state when I run them.
 

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