(quoted from post at 13:44:56 12/01/15)
(quoted from post at 10:07:33 12/01/15)
If I understand it correctly...
If your engine is running at high rpm.. the gen is making too much voltage, and the cut-out "cuts out" and you only have gen voltage on one side.
if your reduce engine RPM to something lower, then the voltage will drop, and your cutout should "cut-in" and your should register voltage on both sides...
Try doing your cutout voltage test again at lower rpms i.e. try to get the gen to produce less than the 10volts you saw earlier and see if it will cut in. you may have to start at full throttle, and then reduce in steps (maybe almost to idle.)
I did fiddle around with that some. My cutout didn't operate at any rpms all of the way down to idle. My generator voltage never dropped much either. I also think (just guessing here) that there could be some chicken and egg going on with the generator voltage being so high. As in, I would guess that the generator voltage might load down a little bit if the cutout was working as it should to connect the generator to the battery. The current draw into the battery might be what the generator needs to bring its voltage down. If the cutout never connects, the voltage might never drop.
What little I've read so far about checking the generator voltage involves measuring it when loaded. Right now, it's never loading.
Also from reading that a little bit, my understanding, (I'm sure that someone will correct me if I'm wrong) is that the cutout should keep the generator disconnected from the battery at very low rpms, if the generator voltage falls below a preset voltage. This is to prevent the battery from discharging through the generator.
As the rpms go up and the generator output rises to the appropriate level, the cutout should connect the battery to the generator to commence charging. That level of "cut-in" is set by the cutout switch.
Once connected, the cutout will stay connected as the generator voltage rises with rpms.
If I then throttle the tractor back, the cutout will stay connected as the generator voltage goes back down, even through the "cut-in" voltage to somewhere around a half a volt below it. (My guess is that the difference between cutout and cut-in is to keep the switch from "chattering" if the voltage wavers around the cut-in voltage...what people call "hysteresis")
I think that I'm supposed to check the generator voltage when it's connected to the battery by the cutout and putting out a certain current.
As of right now, I'm not getting that condition through the cutout.
I could jumper over the cutout momentarily just to see if the generator voltage drops, but I would still be flying blind without an ammeter to measure the generator output.
As far as the cutout disconnecting when the generator voltage goes to high, I'm not getting that from what I've read. I think (again, correct me if I'm wrong) that the cutout will happily connect a battery to a generator that's running too high, resulting in overcharging the battery, battery heating and battery water loss. I think that that's why it's important to set the generator output too.
I think (think being the operative word) that the cutout sets the lowest possible charging voltage for the battery and the generator sets the highest...especially on mine, which is a three-brush generator with the little adjusting screw on the back.
