Farmall 100 charging post #2

Ok I posted right before this about the Super A.
This is my 55 100. When I got it last spring it had a new VR on it and it vever charged very high just 1-2 volts on the amp gage. It quit working so I put a new one on it this week since I have been in the mood to work on electronics on 4 farmall tractors.
well I get the same problem barley shows a charge and if I turn the lights on it shows discharge. Sometimes the VR just stops charging and goes to 0. It will start charging again if I hit the F terminal to the Gen terminal on the VR with a jumper. It sparks and the amp gage shows a charge again. I know that probably isn't a good thing to do but it worked. What is going wrong what can I trouble shoot? I added a jumper wire to make a good ground on the VR to tractor frame and no difference. now if I ground the feild terminal the tractor charges 10-12 volts on the gage. With that said what can I do? Bad VR again? there not cheap I want it to work.
that is 2 in less then one year. and there not working good at all. it has a fairly new wire harness on it also.
THanks
Chad

If its a Voltage Regulator system and it charges fine if you dead ground the gennys FLD post but NOT otherwise, that tells me 1) The genny is okay and 2) The cause of non charging is EITHER a bad or mis adjusted VR,,,,,,,or the VR isnt well grounded,,,,,,,or the wires bad from the gennys FLD post to the VR's FLD terminal..

Sure the VR is compatible with your ground???

Was the genny correctly polarized before start up cuz if not the VR can get damaged????

DO NOT jump the VR's FLD and GEN/ARM terminals, if you wanna jump anythign try jumping the gennys FLD post to ground cuz that makes her high charge

Heres my Troubleshooting Procedure, if you work through it the cause of non charging can be determined

http://www.ytmag.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=jd&th=304795

John T
John Ts Troubleshooting Procedure

I did correctly polarize the VR. I have read your trouble shooting guide several times and have left there more confused. I get lost reading it so that is why I keep asking the questions.
what do you mean was my ground compatiable?
I hooked a alligator clip the copper ground wire on the VR and ran the other end the a good bright bolt and nothing. I know its a good ground its the same spot I ground the feild to and it works that way. Is that wrong?

how can you adjust the VR? Or is that a bad adjustment from the factory?

Chad,
John's posts on generator/regulators are the easiest/simplest explainations I've seen. An AMP guage shows AMPERES NOT VOLTS. You should NEVER spark the Field and Gen terminals, you may have cooked the regulator. A quick test of the regulator is to ground the Field terminal; this should give you as much as the generator can put out, don't leave it to long or you will burn up the generator.

Very simple test without going to a long winded reply. When ya ground the field and that makes it charge the reg is ba. When ya ground the field and it doesent charge the gen is bad. Just a simple quick test.

There are air gap and spring tension and small bending of tabs to perform adjustments but its hard to get into that over the net without specs and data etc. If youre not experienced with VR's Id let a shop do that... Bob M or Jim may be able to help adjusting the VR but I dont get into it over the net..

Run the Troubleshooting Procedure yet??

John T

By asking was the VR ground compatible I mean is it suitable/labeled for POS or NEG ground or labeled for either... Next is how its labeled (like Pos or Neg) the same ground you have?????

If youre not experienced with basic generator and Voltage Regulator systems you may not be able to follow my troubleshootign procedure in which case I advise you let a shop fix your system, its not all that expensive

Best wishes

John T

The VR is labled for positive ground. I think it is cooked it worked about as good as the last new one I put on and then it just stopped working that is 2 of them. Yes they are TSC brand.
It gets very frustrating. I have had really good luck on wiring up tractors of the past 10 years and following diagrams and such. I read your trouble shooting guide at work and didn't get a chance to digest it like I should have.
I have made sure wires are good as best I could made sure they were wired correct to Bobs diagrams. I use the tractor all the time and I hate not having the charging system works.
It did charge just maybe 1-3 amps on the gage then stopped charging.
If I ground the feild it shows 10-12 amps.
Does the help? I am guessing the VR is not adjusted right or is junk like the last one.

With the battery disconnected, pull the top off of the VR. There will be two coil/relay looking units in there. Reconnect the battery (the cap can violently short out the system as it is removed!!)
One will be the cutout relay. It will have a heavy winding around it (probably) and heavy contacts.
The other will have smaller contacts. With it running at 1/2 throttle or more, use a small twig, or plastic knife/spoon/fork handle, to push the small set of contacts together more (apply pressure lightly in the close contact direction) The generator should begin to increase out put. If it does, then use a volt meter to assess the battery voltage (across the battery termonals) and adjust the spring, tab, or screw to cause more pressure on the contacts.
as you do this watch to be sure you do not short anything to ground (smoke). The voltage should be set to 7.2 to 7.3 volts.
Shut it off, disconnect the battery, and put the cover back on the VR. Restart, and check the voltage. The voltage may have changed due to the cover's effect on the magnetism in the vr. IF TOO LOW OR TOO HIGH, ADJUST AS ABOVE TILL GOOD. This can take two or three removals of the cover. If it has no effect when pushing on the contacts, a new (possibly NAPA) VR is needed. JimN

Yep, if she charges with the gennys FLD grounded but NOT otherwise, once more its either a bad VR,,,,,,,,or the VR isnt well grounded,,,,or the VR is out of adjustment (its field current control relay NOT the cutout relay) or the wires bad from FLD on VR to gennys FLD post. If Jims procedure dont get the VR working maybe try Jim at Agri Services in New York www.wiringharnesses.com for a new VR

John T

Don't "digest" John T's troubleshooting guide. Print it out and take it to the shop with you. Take it one test at a time. You can work through the guide like this and not have to memorize all of it. Really, it's pretty simple once you break it down.

Plus, if the papers get greasy you can simply throw them away and print out a new copy!