[Farmall] Generator/regulator update: Eyes open

[Jim Becker]

The switch you have will work fine.  Wire it NOT using the switch to control 
the field.  Hard wire the generator F to a direct ground on the generator. 
Then the ground of the light switch won't make any difference.  Wire the 
rest of it using the cut-out diagram.  This MAY charge the 8-volt battery.

If you get it charging this way, you can IF YOU WANT then try wiring the 
generator F to the light switch to get the H L to work.  Then the switch 
will need to be grounded.

I doubt that it will charge an 8-volt battery if you us the regulator as a 
regulator.

Jim Becker        jim.becker at verizon.net

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dean Vinson" <dean at vinsonfarm.net>
To: "'Farmall/IHC mailing list'" <farmall at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 11:38 PM
Subject: [Farmall] Generator/regulator update: Eyes open


> Okay, if I get "hit with the obvious bat" again, it's going to start 
> leaving
> a mark.
>
> I took the switch box off the tractor, cleaned it all up, wire brushed it
> where the cover grounds to the box itself, shined up all the contacts, and
> methodically tested each position of the switch, the ammeter, etc. 
> Ammeter
> works.  Dim and bright positions on the light switch work.  So I'm sitting
> there staring at it, not seeing anything wrong at all, when it occurs to 
> me
> that those other positions on the switch aren't what I remember from the
> Super M I'd had a while back.  That switch just had Off, Dim, and Bright.
> This one has Dim and Bright but also H and L.  Hmmmm.  Better go look and
> make sure I know what those are supposed to do.
>
> So, of course, big as life in the operator's manual that I've only read
> about a hundred times over the years, is the section about the various 
> types
> of starting equipment.  I have a switch intended for use with a cutout
> relay, so the H and L are High charge and Low charge.  In that system, the
> wire from the switch is grounded and runs to the F terminal on the
> generator, directly grounding it either with or without a resistor 
> depending
> on whether the switch is set to Low or High.
>
> But instead of a cutout relay, I have a voltage regulator.  Tractors with
> regulators are supposed to only have the Off, Dim, and Bright switch, 
> since
> the regulator controls the charging rate.  In that system, the wire from 
> the
> switch runs to the L terminal on the regulator.
>
> So I'd wired the switch as if it were grounding the generator F terminal,
> and I'd wired the regulator as if the switch was supposed to connect to 
> the
> L terminal.  Result:  Grounded L terminal, which is common with the BAT
> terminal, which meant the battery was directly grounded, resulting in the
> hot wire and big discharge I'd seen on the ammeter yesterday.
>
> Seems to me now, the thing to do is buy the correct switch and start over
> with the wiring.  Yes?
>
> The other thing I noticed tonight is that the battery is an 8 volt rather
> than 6.  It's nice and new, which explains why the tractor will start even
> though the charging circuit is dorked up.  Assuming I eventually get
> everything else set up correctly, will a six-volt generator and regulator
> keep an 8 volt battery working?
>
> Dean Vinson
> Dayton, Ohio
> www.vinsonfarm.net
>
>
>
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