Shake-N-Bake
Well Known Member
I am looking for help to solve a problem I am having with our '61 Bel Air. At idle, or even elevated idle....the charging system doesn't 'wake up' (best description for behavior that I am observing...). I have an amp gauge and volt meter connected the battery sits right around 12.4-12.7 volts at idle. I rev the engine to around 1500 RPM and the readings stay the same. Amp gauge shows the battery is slightly discharging. If I turn on the headlights, then the discharge rate increases to about 15 amps. After a while, the GEN light will start to glow I presume because the voltage has dropped to around 12.0-12.2 range. When I measure volts at the armature terminal, I get about 13.8-14.0 volts. When I measure at the field terminal, I get about 9-10 volts
If I rev the engine one time very briefly to around 3500 RPM, then the GEN light extinguishes, the amp gauge jumps to about 20 amps charge. If I cruise around for a short while then the amp gauge charge reduces to slightly above zero, even with the lights on. If I activate the turn signals at idle while sitting at a stop light, then the amp gauge reads a discharge of around 2-6 amps, bouncing back and forth as the signal flashes. I figure this is normal because once I get up to cruising speed the amp gauge will show about 4-5 amps charge for a few seconds and then go back to near zero.
Every once in a while, if I am idling in a parking lot or for an extended period of time with the lights on the amp gauge might begin showing a 15 amp discharge and the GEN light will glow again. A short blip of the throttle resolves the issue as before and I drive around normally for a while again. However, when the GEN light is off....and the amp gauge shows it's charging....I only see about 12.8-13.0 volts. I would expect the volts at charge to be high 13s or low 14s.
Do I need to adjust my regulator? The generator was recently rebuilt by a local reputable generator shop. The voltage regulator is new. I did polarize the generator per the instructions (by briefly touching the BAT and ARM terminals on the voltage regulator with a jumper wire...) If I do need to adjust my regulator, how do I go about doing that? I've read the shop manual and I got myself confused.
Thanks.
If I rev the engine one time very briefly to around 3500 RPM, then the GEN light extinguishes, the amp gauge jumps to about 20 amps charge. If I cruise around for a short while then the amp gauge charge reduces to slightly above zero, even with the lights on. If I activate the turn signals at idle while sitting at a stop light, then the amp gauge reads a discharge of around 2-6 amps, bouncing back and forth as the signal flashes. I figure this is normal because once I get up to cruising speed the amp gauge will show about 4-5 amps charge for a few seconds and then go back to near zero.
Every once in a while, if I am idling in a parking lot or for an extended period of time with the lights on the amp gauge might begin showing a 15 amp discharge and the GEN light will glow again. A short blip of the throttle resolves the issue as before and I drive around normally for a while again. However, when the GEN light is off....and the amp gauge shows it's charging....I only see about 12.8-13.0 volts. I would expect the volts at charge to be high 13s or low 14s.
Do I need to adjust my regulator? The generator was recently rebuilt by a local reputable generator shop. The voltage regulator is new. I did polarize the generator per the instructions (by briefly touching the BAT and ARM terminals on the voltage regulator with a jumper wire...) If I do need to adjust my regulator, how do I go about doing that? I've read the shop manual and I got myself confused.
Thanks.