My 47' E3 has been doing some very strange electrical things ever since I had the generator rebuilt...first of all I seem to have no control over the generator cutout and have no load compensation when I pull the 3 position light switch out....secondly, when I shut the engine down, it stops and the amp gauge shows a deep discharge...so I have to pull the ground cable and when I do I get a spark upon separation from the frame.......if I reattach the cable, the amp gauge is where it should be on zero....any thoughts as to what is going on?
The contact points on the cutout relay are sticking. When the gen voltage drops below battery voltage the current is supposed to reverse and let the points open.
Thanks Mike...that what I thought...yesterday I started the tractor and it would cut out and quit, then I could start it again and it would quit...like the electricity was shutting off....the third time it quit the amp gauge dropped to minus 20 and i quickly got down, rapped the voltage controller with a screw driver and the amp gauge released and returned to zero...so does this sound like a bad voltage controller? I don't know why the points are sticking like this...i replaced the voltage controller from another tractor and it does the same thing...
Probably just dirty or corroded. Before you replace it, try cleaning the contacts with fine sandpaper just like you would on a distributor. And make sure the contact spring is good to pull them open. Your generator should have three brushes. One is adjustable to limit the generator output at higher RPM. If the amps are too high it may be trying to weld the contacts shut. The wire from the F terminal goes to the light switch and goes to ground either directly or through the resistor coil on the switch. Switch IN, it goes through the resistor for low charge rate. One click OUT it goes directly to ground for full charge rate. Two clicks OUT is full charge and lights. Do you have an operators manual?
Thanks pal...yeah I have all sorts of manuals. It was working fine last fall, then on a road run the generator went off line and the tractor was running on the battery....sent the gen out for repairs and it hasn't worked right since...I have tried other voltage controllers and the tractor still has no voltage control and now it keeps shutting down..I'm suspecting the gen is still the problem
That's precisely why I try to fix them myself. Heard too many horror stories about generator work. I took a starter from my A-C G to a nearby shop because I smoked it trying to start it with what turned out to be only a bad condenser. He put in new field coils but now it spins but won't engage. I think it's running backwards. He either connected the fields wrong or reversed the end plate. I'm going to work on it when it's a little warmer. Never bothered with it before because it's so easy to crank start. Now that I'm retired I'm finally going to finish that rebuild on my E4.
Yeah you are right Mike....Ill get back to it soon but for now I am trying to get my Case VAC running now that its done....probably a good time to tear down the Co-op and give her a complete restoration...up till now Ive been driving it around on borrowed time...70 year old tires...original drive train....its pretty tired overall...ill pull the gen again and see whats up even though I don't know much about generators..many thanks again!
Mike, I wonder if its possible that I placed the voltage controller in backwards? As it is I have the short wire from the generator attached to the "GEN" tab on the controller, "F" terminal on the generator to the resistor on the light switch and a wire from the alternator gauge to the "BAT" tab of the regulator...I am assuming this is right....just can't figure out why the contacts are not releasing upon shut down....Ill clean the contacts with some fine sand paper and see what happens....if I have something out of sorts wiring wise, please let me know....many thanks!
I just pulled out my op manual. It has a wiring diagram. The cutout relay has two terminals so you could have it reversed. Mine have both been changed over to regulators so there's no need to mind the charging.
