New generator problems Ford 3000

[Dchilds]

I bought a new generator for my Ford 3000. Put it on along with a new voltage regulator and am not getting charge at the battery while running. I was not getting a charge before the new equipment either but probably for an altogether different reason.

The battery reads 12.4 both while not running and while running. The "lightning bolt" light is also on. New, tight belt and everything appears to be in good order otherwise.

I read the manual and attempted to polarize the genny this evening. At the voltage regulator I disconnected the "F" and jumped the wire over the one of the "B"s. Saw a little spark but it didn't fix anything.

What am I missing? Give it to me in lay man's terms if possible. Is there another step to polarizing the genny or might I have missed something else?

 

[Billy OK]

I just put a VR on my 2000 same as your 3000.I polarized mine at the generator,ran a wire from pos at the battery to small wire terminal at the gen.I also used a meter to check for volts right off the gen..Pull large terminal at gen and hold the pos lead from meter and find a good ground,mine read little over 2volts.I got all the info I needed off youtube.You can do this.

 

[Dchilds]

(quoted from post at 20:21:58 11/29/16) I just put a VR on my 2000 same as your 3000.I polarized mine at the generator,ran a wire from pos at the battery to small wire terminal at the gen.I also used a meter to check for volts right off the gen..Pull large terminal at gen and hold the pos lead from meter and find a good ground,mine read little over 2volts.I got all the info I needed off youtube.You can do this.

Man. I did exactly this. Even found a YouTube video.

What voltages should I be reading at all the different locations? Field, armature, warning light post etc. ?

I started it and disconnected the battery then took a reading at the lug that the battery positive connects to. It reads 11.9-12v. I know it should be reading 14v or so. I'm running it at about 1k rpm or so. The light stays on.

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 23:52:03 11/29/16)

(quoted from post at 20:21:58 11/29/16) I just put a VR on my 2000 same as your 3000.I polarized mine at the generator,ran a wire from pos at the battery to small wire terminal at the gen.I also used a meter to check for volts right off the gen..Pull large terminal at gen and hold the pos lead from meter and find a good ground,mine read little over 2volts.I got all the info I needed off youtube.You can do this.

Man. I did exactly this. Even found a YouTube video.

What voltages should I be reading at all the different locations? Field, armature, warning light post etc. ?

I started it and disconnected the battery then took a reading at the lug that the battery positive connects to. It reads 11.9-12v. I know it should be reading 14v or so. I'm running it at about 1k rpm or so. The light stays on.

he light is connected across BATT to ARM...........so, if it stays on, then the cut out contacts are NOT closing.

 

[JMOR]

P.S. Arm, WL, D are all the same electrically.

 

[Destroked 450]

(quoted from post at 19:17:52 11/29/16) I bought a new generator for my Ford 3000. Put it on along with a new voltage regulator and am not getting charge at the battery while running. I was not getting a charge before the new equipment either but probably for an altogether different reason.

The battery reads 12.4 both while not running and while running. The "lightning bolt" light is also on. New, tight belt and everything appears to be in good order otherwise.

I read the manual and attempted to polarize the genny this evening. At the voltage regulator I disconnected the "F" and jumped the wire over the one of the "B"s. Saw a little spark but it didn't fix anything.

What am I missing? Give it to me in lay man's terms if possible. Is there another step to polarizing the genny or might I have missed something else?

If you disconnected the F you didn't polarize the regulator.
Take a piece of wire and momentarily touch it to the B and F to polarize the regulator then start the tractor and see if it's charging.

 

[Bern]

The spark is a good sign - that means that your field circuit is intact inside the generator and that you successfully polarized it.

Try putting your voltmeter on the "D" post of the regulator and monitoring the voltage while you flash the field again - except this time don't "flash" the field, hold it there. Voltage should rise very quickly, well past 14 volts. (Note - only do this test long enough to verify a steady reading, i.e. only for a few seconds). Then take the same measurements at the "B" terminal of the regulator. You should see the same thing.

If you get high voltage at the "D" terminal, that means your generator is doing what it should. If you don't, do the same test at the "D" or "A" terminal of the generator (the larger one). If it goes up there, you have an open circuit in the wiring between the "D" regulator post and the generator output stud, or possibly a loose connection at the "D" terminal.

If the above steps check out, and you have no rise in voltage at the "B" terminal of the regulator, then your cutout relay is not closing (i.e. faulty voltage regulator). If voltage does rise at the "B" terminal, carefully check the two female spade terminals that attach to the "B" terminal of the regulator and make sure they are making a good connection. Give them a little squeeze with a pliers if you have to to ensure a solid connection.

 

[Bern]

You don't polarize the regulator, you polarize the generator. Having said that, you can polarize the generator at the regulator by doing exactly what the OP did - removing the field wire and flashing the "B" post. He indicated that he saw a spark - this confirms that he was successful and did it correctly.

 

[Dchilds]

Thanks for all the info. Maybe a dumb question but should I be doing this while the tractor is running or off?

 

[Bern]

You can polarize the generator with the engine off or running, however the voltage tests I laid out in my last post are done with the engine running, preferably a little above idle, like say around 1000 RPM or so.

 

[Dchilds]

Update - I did a couple of things tonight. I tested voltage as described and saw the increase that was mentioned when flashing the F wire. But I still was not getting more than 12.4v at the battery terminals. I was running it at approximately 1k rpm so as not to anger the neighbors.

I decided to cut off the old B terminal female "jackets" on the two wires and replace them. I also put the old voltage regulator back on. I think that was the ticket. I fired it back up and was reading 12.8v at 1k RPM. Not the 14v I thought I might see but, hey, it's charging! And the light is off!

I didn't want to rev it up too much to see how high it would charge. Should I be satisfied with that output?

 

[Bern]

It would have been nice if you would have tested it after replacing the "B" terminals but before swapping the regulator. Then you would have known for sure what cured your problem. Maybe you can swap regulators back and test it again, since I suspect the "B" terminals were your issue all along.

That said, if you truly do have 12.8 volts, and the light went out, then you're heading in the right direction. With a low battery, and the engine at only 1000 RPM, it will take that small generator some time to get it back up to 14 volts.

 

[Dchilds]

(quoted from post at 20:49:03 11/30/16) It would have been nice if you would have tested it after replacing the "B" terminals but before swapping the regulator. Then you would have known for sure what cured your problem. Maybe you can swap regulators back and test it again, since I suspect the "B" terminals were your issue all along.

That said, if you truly do have 12.8 volts, and the light went out, then you're heading in the right direction. With a low battery, and the engine at only 1000 RPM, it will take that small generator some time to get it back up to 14 volts.

Yeah, the terminals looked pretty cruddy down in those boots. I was getting 12v at the solenoid lug while running with the battery disconnected with the new regulator though.

I'll monitor it for a bit and report back if it does not creep back up towards the higher end of the range.