Noticed today when I started my Co-op the amp gauge was showing zero.....didn't matter if i revved her up or back down to dead idle.....still zero.....checked with a volt meter and am getting 7.40 volts to the battery at idle....6-volt system......does it sound as if the gauge itself has failed or could there be another issue.....many thanks for your thoughts
Turn off the engine and read your voltage. It should drop slightly. This will confirm that your generator is charging. also read your voltage with the engine off and the lights on. This should drop the voltage even more and the ammeter should show discharge if wired properly.
I did the tests suggested and no change, the amp gauge needle rests right on zero no matter what the load....the generator is putting out proper voltage and the battery is new, so plenty of voltage all around....i think the gauge failed from one start up to another....ill report back in when i get a new gauge installed....many thanks!
Check your cutout relay. Make sure the points close when the revs go up and don't stick closed when the RPM drops.
Another thing, just because you have voltage doesn't mean current is flowing. Make sure all the connections in the charging circuit are clean and tight.
Check your connections, make sure there tight and clean, voltage and amperage are two completely different things, you can have a bad regulator putting out 60v and 0.1 amps, you can also be getting 20 amps out of a 6.5v load. Try a field ammeter see if that works. Mine has always acted weird, it shows zero charge untill the motor warms up for a few. I also have a bad starter so I crank it over with the hand crank. So the battery really never needs much of a charge so I think it needs to discharge some to "excite" the system and begin charging.
