Charge rate

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
I have an early 50 8n, side dist., 6 volt. The battery ran down to where the sol. would not even click. I charged the battery to a 25% charge per the reading on the battery charger. Started the engine and the amp gauge only shows a 3 to 4 amp charge rate. What charge rate would you expect to see on a battery that was that low?
 
I put another generator on it and I get the same
results. Does that mean the voltage regulator might
be bad? Are you say that the gen should run at
almost max output until the battery gets charged up?
 
(quoted from post at 15:47:40 09/15/13) I put another generator on it and I get the same
results. Does that mean the voltage regulator might
be bad? Are you say that the gen should run at
almost max output until the battery gets charged up?

me, I would take a digital volt meter and read the battery voltage before you start the tractor, and again when its running at elevated idle. should be about .6-1V difference in the two readings if the VR is working right.
 
(quoted from post at 15:26:32 09/15/13) I have an early 50 8n, side dist., 6 volt. The battery ran down to where the sol. would not even click. I charged the battery to a 25% charge per the reading on the battery charger. Started the engine and the amp gauge only shows a 3 to 4 amp charge rate. What charge rate would you expect to see on a battery that was that low?
en, 1950 is close to generator change over date, so you might verify that you do or do not have the high/low adjustment screw on the rear bearing plate of the generator. If it has it, it may be set too low. We have the serial number change over numbers, but in 60 years anything may have been substituted in way of generator. The earliest 8N gen maxed out at 11.5 amps and later 8N gens maxed out at 20amps.
 
(quoted from post at 16:04:09 09/15/13)
everything your alternator/generator can output. at least 20-30A assuming sufficient engine RPM.
Hang on a minute.
He said it was 6V so not an alternator unless it was a specially built one.
That said, not going to get more than ~20 amps out of an 8N generator.
Those generators were pretty noisy as electricity goes, so digital meters
don't like them much. Far better off with an analog when it's running.
If the ammeter goes from zero when off, to charging when running, it
may be working just fine, or it may need an adjustment. But it is charging.
Does the charge rate change with RPM?
 
Gen does not have an adj. screw. With the battery
that low I would expect the amp meter to show more
of a charge than 3 or 4 amps. With an analog meter
it does show an increase in voltage. It has never
kept the battery charged very good. The charge rate
varies very little with an increase in RPM. Like I
said, I have another gen that I put on and nothing
changes.
 
(quoted from post at 20:47:46 09/15/13) Gen does not have an adj. screw. With the battery
that low I would expect the amp meter to show more
of a charge than 3 or 4 amps. With an analog meter
it does show an increase in voltage. It has never
kept the battery charged very good. The charge rate
varies very little with an increase in RPM. Like I
said, I have another gen that I put on and nothing
changes.
Normally I would expect it to charge more too. But, with two
different generators, both charging, both using the same VReg?
You say it has never charged the battery very well. Same battery?
Not long ago I had one that would not register a charge at all on
the ammeter and it was because the battery was bad.
I thought it would be trying to charge to beat the band, but
it didn't read a measurement on the ammeter at all.
Car parts place will test the battery for free if you don't have
a hydrometer and/or load tester at home.
Sure, it could be the VReg. I don't think so since it is charging,
but it is possible. If it is, the replacement VRegs are junk.
Make sure you get one with a "no questions asked" return policy,
or consider converting to a 12 volt system.
 
Ken........unlike modern 12V alternators, the original 6V generators do NOT charge at idle. You need about 1/4 throttle. As fer reading 3-amps, semi-normal. Me? Before I did ennythang, I'd re-polarize yer 6V-genny. Just "arc-spark" the side-by-side ARM and BAT screws on yer squarecan voltage regulator; engine OFF. I use a wide blade stubby screwdriver, you can use bailin'warr iff'n you want. You can "polarize" as many times as it takes to feel warm'n'fuzzy ...er... charged.

Batterys don't live forever, and iff'n yer battery is semi-dead, it takes overnite to re-charge it at about 3-amps. Ennythang faster will BOIL yer battery acid out. Which BTW, you need to check and "top-up" with distilled water. Iff'n you run outta battery acid/water you will WARP yer LEAD plated and then will DEFINITELY need a NEW battery. .......the charged Dell
 
If it is charging 3 or 4 amps, it IS polarized! So don't go messing, sparking, arcing & screw something up. Bad advice.
 
JMOR........I told him he could re-polarize as many times as it took to feel warm'n'fuzzy. It is GOOD advice.

Do NOT expect a genny to re-charge a DEAD battery. Is also GOOD advice. .........respectfully Dell
 
2 different generators, same voltage regulator.In
the 10+ years since I rebuilt the 8N I have
replaced the battery 4 times. This battery is only
2 years old. The 8N does not get used a lot, but
it should be enough to keep the battery charged if
it was working right. Saturday I charged the
battery to about a 25% charge, enough to start the
tractor, and ran the 8N for about 2 hours at 3/4
throttle disking a field. I then connected the
battery charger back and the charge % had hardly
changed. I left the charger connected and the
battery had charged to 50% when I stopped it, so
the battery will take a charge.
 
I did the re-polarize trick in the begining, No change. The VReg was new 10+ years ago when I rebuilt the 8N. It has never charged more than 3-4 amps. The battery is 2 years old,the 4th one in 10+ years. I was thinking maybe I was never charging the battery enough and it was getting weaker every time I used the tractor to where it finally would not work at all. I thought the VReg controlled the amount of charge to the battery, IE the weaker the battery, the more the charge. This one stays 3-4 Amps no matter the condition of the battery. I ran the 8N 2 hours at 3/4 throttle Sat and the % of battery charge hardly changed at all.
 
(quoted from post at 08:33:47 09/16/13) I did the re-polarize trick in the begining, No change. The VReg was new 10+ years ago when I rebuilt the 8N. It has never charged more than 3-4 amps. The battery is 2 years old,the 4th one in 10+ years. I was thinking maybe I was never charging the battery enough and it was getting weaker every time I used the tractor to where it finally would not work at all. I thought the VReg controlled the amount of charge to the battery, IE the weaker the battery, the more the charge. This one stays 3-4 Amps no matter the condition of the battery. I ran the 8N 2 hours at 3/4 throttle Sat and the % of battery charge hardly changed at all.
nstall this jumper from field to ground & this will force the generator to output its maximum possible current. Then look at ammeter & at voltage battery post to battery post after five minutes & compare to same voltage measurement taken before starting.
 
I jumpered the 2 points that you indicated on both
generators and the amp meter went full scale to 30
amps. It still seams to me that the VReg is bad, no
regulation.
 
(quoted from post at 13:28:01 09/16/13) I jumpered the 2 points that you indicated on both
generators and the amp meter went full scale to 30
amps. It still seams to me that the VReg is bad, no
regulation.
would concur, with the exception, that if battery is already fully charged or has internal problem that would command the VR to cut back on charge current. Might be nice to try another battery or make sure that one is well discharged & re-look using VR.
 
(quoted from post at 12:51:55 09/16/13) I would concur, with the exception, that if battery is already fully charged or has internal problem that would command the VR to cut back on charge current. Might be nice to try another battery or make sure that one is well discharged & re-look using VR.

said 'command' is the voltage of the battery. if the battery is at about 6.3 or 6.4V at room temperature, then its fully charged, the charge current would drop to very little.
 

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