wd 45 charging issue

[mark rubemeyer]

I"ve got 14 volts out of the voltage regulator, 12+ on each side of the amp guage,but needle won"t move, tried a different guage, same result. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[John T]

If your measuring that 14 volts "out of the voltage regulator" as you claim just what terminal are you taking that from?? BAT or ARM/GEN??

If the wiring is correct and all good the voltage on the BAT terminal should be near the same on the batterys hot ungrounded post unless the ammeter were an open circuit and its that voltage that really matters. If a good charging system is properly coupled up to a batttery Id expect that at fast RPM the battery voltage should rise from the setting 12.6 to at least 13 and 14 and over volts.

If you are measuring the voltage on the VR's GEN/ARM once it rises sufficient greater then the battery voltage (on BAT terminal) the cutout relay (if its working and the VR is well grounded, check that see my Procedure) should close in which case again the VR's BAT and ARM/GEN and battery voltage should all be near the same.


If you work through my Troubleshooting Procedure it has a test (See Para 5, involves grounding the gennys FLD to look for max charge) to see if non charging is a VR or a Genny problem

http://www.ytmag.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=farmall&th=665110


John T
Untitled URL Link

 

[mark rubemeyer]

I beleive it would be the bat side of the vr. What's got me puzzled is the lack of charge or discharge showing on the guage.

 

[Anonymous-0]

The box that the amp gague is mounted in may not be grounded to the battery box. The factory used a screw in the lower left corner to do this.

 

[Brian Jasper co. Ia]

The switch box with the ammeter being grounded will not make any difference on a regulator system. If it were still the original high/low charge rate controlled by the light switch then it would.
Have you checked the actual voltage at the battery? If there is 14V at the battery terminal on the voltage regulator on a generator system, or the battery post on an alternator, but not at the battery, you may have unwanted resistance somewhere. Doing a voltage drop test is the easiest and most accurate way to find connection issues. If you suspect the ammeter is "open", with the engine running, put the volt meter leads across the ammeter. If you see more than .1 volt, there is excessive resistance. Do the same for all of the wires in the charging system.

 

[John T]

It can still be charging even if the ammeter needle is mechanically stuck/froze so long as the ammeter is continuous not an open circuit. If she is charging a voltmeter on the battery will tell because it will rise from 12.6 to 13 or 14 or so volts at fast RPM. If battery voltage never rises shes NOT charging.

Run through my Troubleshooting Procedure, it will explain things and tell how to test the genny and VR, no use in me typing all that over n over and reinventing the wheel each time this question is asked

A VR requires a good ground (see my procedure)

NOTE You say VR and I took you at your word (many tractors get converetd over), if its a Cutout Relay system that uses the light switch for Low/High charge regulation things are a bit different but still covered in my procedure

John T
Troubleshooting Procedure

 

[mark rubemeyer]

after trying several of the checks, I still don't find the problem. I've still got voltage on both sides of the ammeter, and 13.5 v out of the vr. I took the top off the vr, and see points. Is this just a cutout switch or a vr? The c/o thru the light switch has all been bypassed, so i'm sure the swith on the gen is doing the work of it.there are 2 terminals on this switch,one says bat. the other i can't tell.The gen has 2 terminals and a ground. One is a big black wire to the bat. side of the vr, the other is a green wire connected to the field on the gen. I did manage to get the needle to show a pos. charge when I jumped the bat on the vr to the field on the gen. the bat on the vr is always hot. I'm no electrician as you can tell, thanks for all the help.

Mark

 

[El Toro]

What's the battery voltage across the battery terminals with the engine at 1/2 throttle or better? Should be near 14 volts. Hal

 

[Jerry Coulter]

We need to know whether you are working on a WD45 gas tractor which was built with a 6v generator and cutout, or a WD45Diesel which was built with a 12v generator and regulator. If your system is not original, we need to know what your components are.

 

[mark rubemeyer]

It is a gas engine. it has been basically switched over to 12 volt.the batt.,coil, and voltage reg. are 12 volt. Has for the gen., Not sure, but I assume it is a 12 volt also. Still pos. ground. The cut out thru the light switch has been bypassed totally by the vr. Hope this helps.

 

[Jerry Coulter]

OK, then John T's trouble shooting guide should identify your problem. Good clean connections at every point is critical.