TR2/3/3A TR3 Red dash light stays on?

[karls59tr]

I put a new fan belt on thinking that the old belt had stretched or become oil soaked. On the test run the light stayed on at idle but when I got up to about 60mph it went out and stayed out temporarily. The Ammeter gauge now reads slightly towards the Negative when the needle used to bounce around up in the Positive side? Next time I started the car the red light was on again. I'm wondering if I'm just running off the Battery and the Generator is not charging? The car starts and runs fine. I'm going to try and clean up the connections at the generator and the voltage regulator but because I'm running an exhaust header and a carb shield the back of the generator is in a bit of a heck hole to get at! Anyone have any ideas on how to proceed.....what to check first? Karl

 

[martx-5]

Here's a current thread that should help.

 

[karls59tr]

I found the problem. A wire to the generator that I had previously repaired (with one of those blue connectors that you crimp) had come out of the connector. I hate those things. I'm going to go to heat shrink type.

 

[TR3driver]

Crimp-only connections are always problematic, IMO. Copper will always oxidize over time if exposed to air, and it's practically impossible to get an air-tight crimp connection.

My approach, when I have to use a crimp-type connector, is to cut the plastic sleeve off, crimp the wire into the connector, then solder the tip of the wire to the connector and cover the joint with heat-shrink tubing. Cut the tubing a little long, so it extends onto the wire insulation by 3/4" or more, so it also forms a strain (and vibration) relief.

You need to clean the stripped end of the wire up a bit for a good solder joint. Unless the wire is brand new, the copper will have a layer of corrosion even inside the insulation.

Here's a photo album that outlines the process (sorry for the poor photo quality) https://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh260/TR3driver/Installing%20Wire%20Terminal/

Note that the wire shown in the cleaning shots is "new" wire right off the spool. But I've had the spool for a few years, so there is still oxidation to be removed. You can see the difference between the dull, dark oxide and the bright shiny copper.
Recently I've been experimenting with using Tarn-X (the stuff sold in grocery stores to remove corrosion from copper & silver eating/cooking utensils) instead of scraping away the corrosion. It's too soon to be certain it won't lead to worse corrosion problems a few decades down the road, but it certainly works a lot easier than scraping and I've not seen any signs of corrosion yet.

 

[karls59tr]

Thanks for the info. That sounds like the way to go for trouble free connections. There are so many patched in repairs in the wiring harness that I think I'll have to pull it out by the roots and put a new one in.