Generator light stays on

My generator light stay on and I am wondering if the battery is bad and would that cause it to burn? My gen and VR are working but my battery seems to have a dead dell or some similar problem because it will only take charge on the trickle mode and then looses it very quickly. Any one know about this? Help!

Sounds like it is time to get another battery.

Got that on my to do list. Hoping this solves my electrical
problems. Tired of fighting with my best friend.

A idiot light does not have a ground wire.
It works on the principal of getting equal voltage from both ends.

So you turn the key on and battery supplies power but generator is not working yet.
Light comes on.
When the generator starts charging the light gets equal power from the generator and battery so it goes off.

So yes a bad cell in the battery shorting to ground will cause the light to come on even if the generator is working.
High resistance in one end of the wire(either light to battery or light to generator) will cause the same problem you describe also.

(quoted from post at 08:25:26 11/12/13) A idiot light does not have a ground wire.
It works on the principal of getting equal voltage from both ends.

So you turn the key on and battery supplies power but generator is not working yet.
Light comes on.
When the generator starts charging the light gets equal power from the generator and battery so it goes off.

So yes a bad cell in the battery shorting to ground will cause the light to come on even if the generator is working.
High resistance in one end of the wire(either light to battery or light to generator) will cause the same problem you describe also.

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Yes check and or clean all the battery connections.

You say the battery will not stay up?
Will it stay up if you pull one of the cables off while it is not being used?

Well, an easy way to determine if its the battery or gen, disconnect the battery while the engine is running. If it keeps running, bad battery. If it dies, bad gen. I just went through a very similar problem in one of my Dodge pickups a week ago while on the interstate a couple hundred miles from home. Looked down, Gen light was red. It was cold, but shut off heater. It was getting dark, but nuzzled up behind a semi and used headlights only when I couldn't get away without. Then started pouring rain and used the wipers as little as possible. All, while watching my volt meter creep down. By the time I got off the interstate, onto the country back roads, in the dark and rain, not much candle power in the headlights, and turn signal flasher pretty much gave out. When I got it into the barn, pulled a battery lead and the engine died instantly. Put a new alternator in it the next day, and much, much, much better.

Good luck.

Mark

Check the liquid levels in your battery. Check your belt tension too. Does the generator light dim when the engine is running? There are a lot of questions yet to be asked and answered here.

One quick way to check your generator is while it is running ground out the "F" terminal on the generator, this will make the generator full charge. The light should go out. If light goes out the generator is good. The idiot light grounds thru the generator armature. The armature is your generator output. If it's not putting out the light comes on. The output comes out of the "A" terminal on your generator. IF you have output then follow that wire from the GEN "A" terminal to the regulator "A" or "GEN" terminal (same terminal} Marked either way. Make sure you have output there. The regulator terminal marked "A" or "GEN" are connected by a set of points with the "BAT" terminal on the regulator. This wire goes up to your amp meter and power is disbursed from the amp meter where needed.

One other test is you can make your test light an idiot light. Hook the test light to the battery feed wire - not the ground hooked to frame - then touch the "A" terminal on the generator with your test light. The light will come on when generator is not running. Test light should go off when generator is running fast enough for output. If your test light does not perform in this way the generator is bad. Make sure generator and bracket are grounded "WELL" to the vehicle's frame. These connections are as important as any of the connections. Same goes for the regulator being grounded to the vehicle's frame.