voltage regulator

I finally tried to adjust points on field winding and now have no charging.The points are open I would think they should be closed.I disconnected wire to generator when it was overcharging,could this effect any thing?Do I need to polarize it? I really need to get this charging,battery getting low from using tractor.
Local mechanic said just go with one wire altenator.How easy is this and how did yall do it?
Any help would be appreciated as I will work on
and need tractor tomorrow.
Thanks:

How easy it is depends partly on whether you have a 6 or 12 volt system now. I have always done 3 wire conversions since they are supposed to not drain the battery during extended periods of sitting. What tractor do you have? Some are easier than others to fit the alternator under the hood neatly.
Zach

does that reg. have a tab to bend or is it adjusted with a screw? but anyhow you must have got it out of whack. it takes such a small movement to make a big difference and it is very touchy to adjust. is the wires all hooked up to gen.? also you can push the contacts together to see if it will charge cause you may be out of adjustment and they wont pull in.
professor jim will likely be here soon.

I have a Farmall 560 Diesel.One wire just goes from battery to altenator right?

to Rust Red It has no adjustment screws have to bend tab.I tried to get a new regulator but my small town did not have one and they priced it at $55 seems high and delivery in 2 days and no guarantee it will charge. I jusy want to get it charging.

The VR must be hooked up to the generator before adjustment. With that in mind, there are two relays like coils in the VR. One has big contacts and fat wires when the tractor is not running, those contacts will be open do not adjust that relay, it is working fine as is. The other coil has smaller contacts and it is the voltage regulator. Its contacts are usually a combination of upper and lower stationary points with a two sided movable contact between them. That is the one on which to move the spring.
The spring is responsible for causing the generator to make more or less volts. It does this by vibrating the points between a low charge rate, and a high charge rate to average an appropriate charge into the battery and support lights etc. adjusting the spring tension adjusts the average of the voltage to the desired 14.2 to 14.4 volts at the battery. The cover must be on to assure the exact charging voltage. A used text book from the 1950s on electrical systems, is a good investment.
Do not go with a one wire system. A two wire based system is more responsive and allows the tractor to be charged when running at modest speeds. It also does not run down the battery if the tractor is not used for a month or so. A one wire system is basically on all the time with a pilot voltage that can and does drain batteries.
Let us know what you are going to do, and we will help. Jim

I tried adjusting the one with the smaller wire looks like connected to field relay.I do not have anything working now. I am stumped what did I do the only thing was I slightly bent spring tab .I also previously removed the wire to generator to prevent overcharging,I have reinstalled it.Is there a test to see if it will work? If I install a 2 wire can I just run a hot wire and one off the switch?

To wire a Delco 10SI (or Hitachi alternator from a mid 1980s Nissan PU), the following is the method to make it work for a long long time: A diode, or a marker lamp bulb, or a 10 ohm resistor is the only other thing needed, Use insulated spade terminals for the small connections, or put shrink tubing over them to keep them separate. The diode, Radio shack part #276-1661, or bulb, or resistor, goes in series with the wire from #1 spade terminal on the Delco (or the L terminal on the Hitachi) to the ignition (before the ballast resistor if it has one), with the band on the diode toward the alternator. The #2 terminal (S terminal on Hitachi) should be connected with a short 12ga.wire to the Big output terminal on the alt. The wire going to the amp meter load side (not the side connected to the starter relay) should be 10 gauge. The battery must be reversed to negative ground. If not the smoke will be let out of the alternator as soon as it is hooked up. Jim

Jim,
I believe you have the wiring backwards on the Hitachi

I recently did a Hitachi on a Farmall Super H (worked great) S is Sensing and goes to big output stud or battery
L is Light and is for "idiot" light, diode or resistor.

Bob V

You are correct - good catch, I was doing it late last night and editing a former post that ai made correctly. The S is sensing, the L is Ignition/Diode etc. Jim

I repaired the post so it will be correct, again thanks. Jim

If you disconnected the armature wire of generator and left the field wire hooked up ,you may have caused damage to generator. When that wire is disconnected with field wire intact the generator will keep charging but have no outlet for current so voltage can get extremely high inside generator and the regulator will not be able to control it. What you need to determine first off, is the generator still working. To do this you ground the field wire to a good ground and if it charges you know gen works. More too it than that but a place to start.