fwtexasbj8
Senior Member
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All, think I have fried my rebuilt generator something bad! The original issue I was seeing was a fluctuation on my volt meter from an overcharge to an undercharge condition. I swapped regulators and saw the same behavior so took my generator and regulator to a local generator shop that has consistently done good work for me and others.
Diagnosis was a bad regulator so I got a new Moss unit. Once a good regulator was available, they discovered the generator was also bad so it was completely rebuilt and bench run/adjusted with the new regulator. I re-installed everything and all was good with a fairly constant 13+ volt output on the gauge during a quick 15 minute drive. I got home, shut everything off and started to get everything ready to wash her then began to smell a strong electrical smell. I opened the bonnet and smoke was pouring from both ends of my rebuilt generator! I quickly disconnected the leads and began to try to measure any unusual voltages to the field or output and with the key off, no voltage was measured. With the key on, I saw 2.3 volts on both the field and output wires. I started her to get back to my garage and only saw battery voltage so no generator output.
Any ideas what could cause this type of failure? All of the other wiring seems fine with no ground or short issues found.
Diagnosis was a bad regulator so I got a new Moss unit. Once a good regulator was available, they discovered the generator was also bad so it was completely rebuilt and bench run/adjusted with the new regulator. I re-installed everything and all was good with a fairly constant 13+ volt output on the gauge during a quick 15 minute drive. I got home, shut everything off and started to get everything ready to wash her then began to smell a strong electrical smell. I opened the bonnet and smoke was pouring from both ends of my rebuilt generator! I quickly disconnected the leads and began to try to measure any unusual voltages to the field or output and with the key off, no voltage was measured. With the key on, I saw 2.3 volts on both the field and output wires. I started her to get back to my garage and only saw battery voltage so no generator output.
Any ideas what could cause this type of failure? All of the other wiring seems fine with no ground or short issues found.