Is my Generator charging?

[AUSMHLY]

Hello all,

Last month I had my generator rebuilt. Installed it and all was well. Today I noticed the red plastic charging light in the tachometer stays lit until 1000. I checked the belt and it seemed fine. 1/2" play. I retighten it to make sure. The two wires on the generator were snug. No change with the light staying on till 1000. Before it would only be lit when the ignition was on, car not running. As soon as I started the car, the light would go out.

So, what do I need to check, and how do I do it?
Thanks guys,
Roger

 

[Randy Forbes]

Put a volt meter on the battery terminals and measure the voltage with the engine off, engine running and in your case, above 1000 RPM.

My money is on the voltage regulator needing adjustment or replacing.

 

[healeynut]

Roger -

Sometimes with a newly rebuilt generator it overloads the contacts in the Voltage Regulator and warps the contact arms. You may just have to fiddle with the contact gaps in the Voltage Regulator a bit to get it working properly again.

 

[Cutlass]

Is there a good "how to" on setting the voltage regulator? I've got the same issue. My regulator has three contacts.

 

[GregW]

There are a couple pages on adjustment in the shop manual, starting on page NNN4.

 

[healeynut]

the shop manual has some guidelines, but the main thing is to make sure the contact surfaces are filed and usually about ~.02" apart seems to be about right. If it's warped it'll be bigger or less than that for sure.