From: John Brian Seeling (JBSeeling@cox-internet.com)
Date: Wed Jun 02 2004 - 07:09:33 PDT
OK, kudos and thanks to the list for helping me start the process of
removing the dunce hat. However, I'm not sure that the problem is solved.
Before I posted my question yesterday, I put a 2-amp battery charger on the
half-track and left the charger on the battery all night last night.
Figured I would need a hot battery today either way.
Next thing I did was to tear my house apart looking for my half-track TM.
Found it on the top shelf of my hall closet.
Many people had replied to my posted message and had asked me what type of
generator and what type of regulator I have. Well, I have (what I think) is
the older stuff and not a "new" charging system. Generator is a Delco,
Model 1117308, 12-volt. Regulator is a Delco, Model 1118488, 12-volt, also.
Hope this information is enough to correctly identify what I have under the
hood.
Next, following the good advice provided by the many fantastic replies, I
decided that I had better start by "polarizing" the generator since I had
not done this as part of my voltage regulator installation. Following the
instructions in TM-9-710, with the engine and key off, I took a short piece
of wire and briefly connected the "battery" terminal of the regulator (top
post) to the "field" terminal on the generator. This didn't make any
"spark" or other sign of doing anything, so I cranked the engine and
repeated the procedure. That didn't seem to do anything either, so I
decided to leave the engine running and go fetch my radio-shack multi-tester
that I had not ever taken out of the box.
While getting the multi-tester, I read the TM one more time. The TM, page
196 to be precise, says "To make certain that generator has correct polarity
after regulator is reconnected, momentarily connect battery terminal of
regulator to the field terminal before starting the engine. Momentary surge
of battery current will correctly polarize generator."
Well, I thought that I had done this in the proper manner, but perhaps I did
it wrong because I had the key in the "off" position when I tried this the
first time (see above description). Then, instead of just turning the key
on and repeating the procedure, I cranked the engine up and did it. I don't
know what effect, if any, this has on the success or failure of my attempted
"polarization" of the generator.
I figured I'd just check the output with the multi-tester (should have
probably started by doing that, but hindsight is always 20/20). Using the
multi-tester, I checked the "battery" terminal on the regulator. It was
reading between 13.5 and 14 volts. The "field" terminal tested considerably
lower, but I don't recall exactly what that reading was.
That surprised me because the halftrack has a voltage meter on the dash with
a spring-loaded switch that allows the operator to momentarily "check" the
voltage. You have to push it in to "check" it. That meter always reads
12.5 volts when you push the button. Running or not, headlights on or not,
and it did this before I changed the voltage regulator. I checked that dash
guage one more time, and with the engine on, it read right at 12.5 volts,
just like it always had. Killed the engine, and it was about the same,
perhaps just a shade lower, but it didn't seem to have moved much, if any.
One other thing. There is also an amperage "D/C" guage as part of the
speedo cluster. Looked like the same type of amp guage I had seen on most
of trucks from the 70's (just like my old international scout that I had
owned in high school). On my old scout, when the engine was running, that
guage would move over to the "C" side. On the half-track, the "D/C" guage
never moves much, but will go slightly over to the "D" side (to the left, or
what I believe to be the "discharge" side) when I turn on the headlights.
When the lights are off, it appears to be very, very slightly over to the
"C" side, but not very much. This is what it did before I changed the
regulator and it is still doing this exact same thing.
I was running out of time (did all of this before work this morning), so I
shut the half-track down, and came up to the office.
I figure I'll try one more time to "repolarize" the generator (this time
with the key on, but engine off), and if that doesn't help, then I'll start
running the multi-tester around the half-track (guages, at battery, at
regulator, etc) to see what kinds of readings I get. perhaps I have fixed
the charging issues and now I have a guage that isn't doing what I would
expect. either way, I figured it would be best to consult the "experts"
(ya'll on the list) before going further.
Thanks to everyone that posted suggestions and replies. I will post more
follow-up on the d-day museum trip prep and I promise to take lots of
digital pics and post them on the smugmug website when I get back.
- John Brian Seeling
Alexandria, LA
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