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Super A Not Charging - Trouble Shooting Method

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John Franklin

04-10-2008 01:48:35




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I have a Super A, 6v positive ground, that for now has a dead battery. I think the battery is probably 5 yrs old.

Before removing the generator & regulator to take it to some place to have tested, is there a way to test the system to see which part isn't working. If I put a another working 6v battery on it, is there a procedure I can follow to test the battery.

BTW, when I pull started the tractor, the ammeter shows no charge. In fact, it shows no negative charge either.

A couple years ago I had the VR and generator tested and the generator needs a bushing and it was repaired. Those worked ok then.

I polarized the generator when I installed the new battery years using a jumper wire momentarily shorting the BAT and GEN terminals on the VR. Was that procedure correct?

Thanks a million for any help,
John

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John T

04-10-2008 06:17:16




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 Re: Super A Not Charging - Trouble Shooting Method in reply to John Franklin, 04-10-2008 01:48:35  
John, If you work through my Troubleshooting Procedure below, in Para 5 it tells how to see if non charging is a Voltage Regulator orrrrr rrr a Generator problem. Since you have a 4 terminal full fledged Voltage Regulator versus a 2 wire Cutout Relay make sure its wired correct which IS NOT the same as the cutout relay system and the LHBD light switch system. On those the gennys FLD post wires to the light switch but with the VR it wires to the FLD terminal on the VR. Make sure BOTH the Genny and VR case/frame has a good ground (VR often gets a ground via its mount to the genny but still needs a ground if mounted elsewhere). If shes charging the battery voltage would read 6.3 volts sitting but when shes runing at RPM should rise to around 6.5 to 7 volts or so. You may wanna have the batetry load tested at a shop cuz if its bad it may not take a charge even with a good system.....MAKE SURE ALL INCLUDING THE VR IS WIRED CORRECT

TROUBLESHOOTING CHARGING SYSTEMS

ARE YOU SURE THE AMMETER IS WIRED CORRECT AND WORKS????? If you turn the lights or ignition on (if coil ignition not a mag) when she’s not running, the ammeter should swing over to the - discharge direction, does yours??? Are BOTH the ammeter terminals reading hot battery voltage?? They MUST !!!!! ! There’s but one wire on the ammeters Supply (from battery/starter) terminal while its other Load terminal wires to the BAT terminal on a Cutout relay or VR PLUS wires to feed loads like lights or ignition, unless where a 4 terminal VR is used where lights n ignition are fed from the LOAD terminal on the VR.

To Polarize the Generator, first temporarily dead ground the Gens Field post to case/frame, then momentarily flash jump a wire from the Cutout Relay or VR's "BAT" terminal over to its GEN (or ARM) terminal and you ought to get a small spark. Same things accomplished by momentarily flash jumping a hot wire (BAT terminal on Cutout Relay or VR or starter post etc) direct to the Gens ARM post to get the spark.

TROUBLESHOOTING A CHARGING PROBLEM IN CLASS A DELCO TYPE SYSTEMS

1) For a good working Gen to get to and charge the battery, it has to have a path usually from the Gens ARM post,,,,, ,,,,to and through the Cutout Relay (between its GEN and BAT terminals, regardless if on a VR or Relay),,,,, ,,,up to the Load (NOT to battery) side of the Ammeter,,,,, ,,,to and through the Ammeter,,,,, ,,,,from BAT side of Ammeter to ungrounded battery terminal, often via the starter lug post. Is yours wired that way or equivalent ??? The ammeter should read hot battery voltage on BOTH terminals, does yours??? Even if an ammeter were stuck (but still continuous) as RPM increases the battery voltage should rise from 12.6 to near 14 volts and/or the lights glow brighter (half that on 6 volt systems). Have you tried that in case the ammeter isn’t working right?????

2) If the above is so, the BAT terminal on the VR or Cutout Relay MUST ALWAYS READ HOT BATTERY VOLTAGE. Does yours??? If not, the Gen cant get to and charge the battery.

3) The Gen to VR (if it has one) wiring is as follows:

BAT on VR to ammeters load (NOT battery) side

ARM (or GEN) on VR to Gens Armature post.

FLD on VR to Gens Field post.

(L) Load (if you have a 4 wire VR) up to BAT supply input terminal on switch to feed loads like lights and ignition.

WIRING ON CUTOUT RELAYS: They wire BAT side to ammeters Load terminal,,,,, GEN side to gens Armature post. On cutout relay systems, the Gens Field post is wired to the light switch where it gets a dead ground for high charge or a resistive ground for low charge. Therefore, there must be a good connection from the Gens Field post up to the switch PLUS the switch is good and it’s well grounded !!!!! !!

4. THE GEN AND VR OR CUTOUT RELAY MUST BE WELL GROUNDED AND THE BELT GOOD N TIGHT. If any doubt, run a ground wire from the grounded battery post or clean solid frame member direct to the Gen and see what happens????? ????? ????? ????? ????

NOW, if the Gen and VR are grounded,,,,,all is wired correct,,,,, ,,BAT terminal on VR or Cutout Relay is HOT,,,,, ,,Belt is tight,,,,, ,,,Ammeter is good n continuous n works but she wont charge, have you had the batteries tested lately????? Is there electrolyte above all the plates and no cells have a gray or milky appearance????? A bad battery may not accept a charge you know!!!!! !! If the battery checks okay, proceed below to see if its a Gen or VR problem (AFTER you have insured the wiring per the above)

TO DETERMINE IF ITS A GEN OR VR OR CUTOUT RELAY PROBLEM

5. a) VOLTAGE REGULATOR SYSTEM: With the tractor running, temporarily ground the Gens Field post to case. If she charges then but NOT otherwise, the VR may be bad, or a wires missing from VR's Field post to the Field terminal on the VR, or the VR isn’t well grounded.

b) IF IT’S A CUTOUT RELAY SYSTEM and she charges only if you dead ground the Field but NOT otherwise, its either a bad switch or the switch isn’t well grounded or else the wires bad or open from the Gens Field post up to the switch. INSURE THAT GOOD SWITCH GROUND AND WIRING

6. If she still don’t charge, leave the Field grounded and jump a wire across from the VR or Cutout Relays BAT terminal over to its GEN terminal (jump by passes the cutout relay) and see if she charges. If then but not otherwise, a VR's cutout relay isn’t working correct (maybe points burned/carboned) or a Cutout Relays NOT working or not wired correct.

7. With the 2 steps above, you have basically by passed the VR or Cutout relays functions, so if she still don’t charge, you're left with a bad battery or wiring or the Gen itself.

8. MOTOR TEST. You can Motor test the Gen. If its grounded and you remove the belt and apply hot battery voltage direct to its ARM Post and have the Field Post dead grounded to frame, it should motor n run well (Armature n Brushes and Commutator likely okay). Then, if you next remove the Fields ground and it speeds up some, the Fields probably good. If it passes both those tests, it should charge, and if not, it may be a wiring or battery or grounding problem. The hot battery voltage may be taken off the VR's BAT terminal or the starter post or the battery itself for this test.

9. Typical Gen problems may be the brushes are worn down or the hold down spring assemblies are stuck/corroded/dirty and arent pushing the brushes tight down against the commutator. Check those things out. Worse may be bad fields or armature etc. Air and WD 40 etc can clean and free them, the hold downs must be free n snap and hold the brushes DOWN TIGHT and they cant be worn down too low.

SUMMARY: Check the wiring,,,,,the grounds,,,,, insure BAT on VR or Relay is hot,,,,, ,check battery (maybe load tested and Specific Gravity checked),,,,, ,,,good tight belt,,,,, ,insure ammeter is continuous (BOTH sides HOT),,,,, see if battery voltage rises above 12.6 (half that for 6 volt system) and/or light glow brighter,,,,, ,,,do the Field and cutout relay VR by pass checks,,,,, ,,insure the Gens brushes arent worn down and the hold down springs are free n clean and push the brushes down tight,,,,, ,,,,,check the connections,,,,, ,,,try the Gen Motor Test to see if its good.

You may just have a bad battery or bad ground or connection if the Gen and VR or relay are okay. Good Luck n God Bless, let us all know.

John T Nordhoff in Indiana, retired electrical engineer who usually lurks over on the Mother Deere pages instead of over here on the "dark side" lol

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Jim Bynum - Delaware

04-11-2008 06:11:41




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 Re: Super A Not Charging - Trouble Shooting Method in reply to John T, 04-10-2008 06:17:16  
Hello,

I have a related problem....
My tractor would run before I took the old generator off but would only run for a few minutes until battery was drained - I assumed the generator wasn't charging sufficiently. As soon as I charged the battery with a charger, it would crank/run and cut off after battery went down. The battery is new so not sure what is going on. I did not run it much until recently after putting the battery in because I was working on the hydraulics.

I got a rebuilt generator with a voltage regulator from a battery/starter outfit. The guy wired the terminals as follows: regulator "F" to generator "F" & regulator "Gen" to generator "A".

At first I took it home tried to hook up the two existing wires on tractor: one "negative" to "BAT" on regulator and the other to "F" on generator. I had to ground the regulator to generator mounting bolt. The tractor would not start even though the engine will turn over. I tried a few more things but nothing while trying to compare to existing wiring diagrams but they are for cut out relays.

This morning I went back to the repair guy and he told me to connect the regulator "Bat" to my tractor wire "negative from ammeter" because positive is ground which I did/know. He said that the other wire to light switch did not need to be hooked up.

I have not got a chance to try this yet but does this wiring hook up sound correct?

Any advice would be appreciated.

thanks,
Jim

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gene bender

04-10-2008 06:03:12




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 Re: Super A Not Charging - Trouble Shooting Method in reply to John Franklin, 04-10-2008 01:48:35  
Kwick fix would be to ground the field terminal on the generator and then see if it charges. Check all parts for ground gen,regbase,control in the dash. I use an ohm meter to check for ground and yes you didpolarize it correct and mite need to do it again.I see lots of newer paint and you mite need to clean all connections and possible you batt is over the hill. I usually get 5-6yrs out of the 6v ones sometimes more. Check all connections on the batt also and then check the level of the electrolite in the batt. Plenty of things to check just a matter getting them done.

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ralston

04-10-2008 05:53:58




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 Re: Super A Not Charging - Trouble Shooting Method in reply to John Franklin, 04-10-2008 01:48:35  
check the points in the regulater and make sure that they are not stuck.



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Red Dave

04-10-2008 04:20:18




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 Re: Super A Not Charging - Trouble Shooting Method in reply to John Franklin, 04-10-2008 01:48:35  
Ground the field of the generator, if it starts to charge, the problem is most likely the regulator. If it doesn't, the problem is most likely the generator.

Make sure that the regulator is grounded, sometimes that will cause problems with it's functioning.



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tractorsam

04-10-2008 04:13:39




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 Re: Super A Not Charging - Trouble Shooting Method in reply to John Franklin, 04-10-2008 01:48:35  
I would put a voltmeter across the battery terminals with it running, if the voltage is greater than what it was not running and hopefully above ~6.5 then your genny etc is most likely working. 5 years is getting towards the life of most six volt batteries these days. Hope this helps, tractorsam



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