charging system

how do i check to see if my generator is charging, is it a matter of putting the meter to the battery post, also if i have to replace the gen how do i polarize
it...............JIM

"how do i check to see if my generator is charging, is it a matter of putting the meter to the battery post,"

Put a voltmeter on the battery tractor not running and read voltage, a 12 volt battery would read around 12.6 volts if the battery is good and its charged up or a 6 volt battery 6.3 volts.

Start the tractor and at fast RPM if the charging system is good battery voltage should rise to at least near 13 maybe near 14 volts subject to RPM and genny and VR condition. If it never rises or if it falls, charging system is bad or belts loose or there's a wiring problem.

If theres an ammeter or if you place one in the circuit that can show if its charging or not.

To Polarize a Class A generator, use a jumper wire to momentarily flash jump from BAT on VR or Cutout Relay over to GEN/ARM terminal on a VR or cutout relay DO THAT BEFORE STARTING.

If you want an easy method to diagnose non charging without any fancy test equipment or throwing parts and money at it, work through my Charging Troubleshooting Procedure linked below. In Para 5 it shows how to full field a genny to by pass any Voltage Regulator or Light Switch Low/High charge system problems to see if the genny itself is okay. It also has the Motor Test for testing a generator.

http://www.ytmag.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=jd&th=458743

John T
John Ts Charging Troubleshooting

thanks john,...i put my tester on the 2 posts on the generator and it showed 4.3 volts,...is this a proper test of the gen.

(quoted from post at 14:19:32 07/24/15) thanks john,...i put my tester on the 2 posts on the generator and it showed 4.3 volts,...is this a proper test of the gen.

Click to expand...

h yeah! That is exactly what John told you to do! Did you even read what he told you to do? Read it again!

",...is this a proper test of the gen."

NO

The generators output is developed in the Armature which is between the grounded brush (case ground) and the GEN/ARM Post.

Put your tester on the Battery. Any open unloaded output of a genny doesn't tell the whole story, its to what (if any) it can raise the battery voltage that really matters.

John T