Post to the EFV-8 Forum
Post Classified Ads
Shop the Online Store

User Login

Not Registered Yet? Click Here to Sign Up!

Early Ford V-8 Club Forum

FORUM RULES: Users agree to these Rules when using Forum.

The site administrator reserves the right to change the terms and conditions of the user agreement without prior notice to the user. It is the responsibility of the user to regularly review the terms of this agreement.

The user agrees to the following terms:

All information that you provide to us for your membership is correct.
You will not use your membership to spam, harrass, or exploit other members in any way.
Vulgar, Abusive, Racist and Sexist Language will not be tolerated.
Commercial-type sales postings will not be allowed.
No mass posting or flooding of the boards is allowed.
No Advertising of parts or cars; no Ebay or business/commercial ads (please use the "Classified" for ads Wanted or For Sale).
VIEWING MULTIPLE TOPICS ON SCREEN: You can choose to see more than 10 Topics at a time ... Log In and choose "Preferences" from the top bar on the Forum page. Scroll down and Change the "Default Topics Returned" parameter to 25 or 50, and save the changes. Since this setting is stored in your browser 'cookies' (if enabled), it seems to use that stored value even if you are not logged in. So, if you use a PC that you haven't logged into the forum from, the setting still seem to remain at the default.
EXTERNAL PHOTO LINKS ON FORUM: You can still use external photo links in your posts on the new forum. They follow the rules of any link in that they have to have the URL link qualified down to the full image file name (example: .jpg). The links will open in a new browser window, the same as an uploaded image attached to a post. Since an image attachment to any post does not display inline with the post, the results are the same. You can use multiple external links within a post. This link is from photos on a site from Don Clink's 'Deuce@75' albums:

http://donclink.com/deuce_75_1/images/dscn2950.jpg

Using links from photo sites such as Photobucket can help in "size" issue with uploaded attachment files. For best viewing in web browsers, photos should be around the 800x600 pixel range, and probably not more than 1024x768. Most cameras today store HUGE jpg image files, as the default settings are in the 7, 8, 10, and 12Mb image sizes. The image files that are then attached are very large, and the browser can't display the full image size without using the scroll bars. Use the re-sizing functions of your photo editing software to reduce the image to 800x600, which reduces the file sixe and the image load time in the browser. Don uses Google's free Picassa3 software, which is an excellent photo management product. All of the photo albums of the Deuce, Grand National, and Auburn that are links on the NORG site were built using Picassa's web creation functions. And it's free? (THANKS to Don Clink for the info!)
HOW DO I SHOW MY EMAIL ADDRESS ALONG WITH MY USERNAME? You can LogIn on the Forum, and select PREFERENCES. On this page Members can add optional information such as their City,State, Country; Occupation; Hobbies: list a Homepage; list AOL Instant Messanger Handle; Signature; "Make Email Address viewable to others;" and even change the number of Default Topics shown on a page. WHEN others click on your profile, they will see this information.

EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Voltage regulator

Reply to Discussion | New Discussion

<< previous || next >>

Posted By

Discussion Topic: Voltage regulator -- page: 1 2

TomO

10-29-2011 @ 8:44 AM

reply profile send p.m.

Senior
Posts: 7256
Joined: Oct 2009

It sounds like you have solved your problem and now can enjoy driving your car.

Sorry to hear that one of your local club members is in poor health and had to sell his cars and parts.

Tom

silverchief

10-28-2011 @ 3:26 PM

reply profile send p.m.

Senior
Posts: 524
Joined: Oct 2009

Well finally! Some good news.
Local club newsletter came yesterday with note that due to health problems, one of the club members was selling his cars, plus parts including generators and regulators. Turns out he rebuilds both. Visited him today, bought regulator, rebuilt generator (just in case)and new electric fuel pump (just in case)

Using instructions from you guys, installed the regulator, polarized my generator, hooked the whole thing up - and what do you know - it works like a charm. Amp meter shows appropriate charge - under load and not. 7 1/2 volts at the battery at fast idle.

PLUS - amp needle flutter I have been plagued with forever is 98% gone.

Thanks for all your help.

silverchief

10-27-2011 @ 2:18 PM

reply profile send p.m.

Senior
Posts: 524
Joined: Oct 2009

Thanks guys.

I'm going to print this stuff out to try again -
and for future reference.

TomO

10-27-2011 @ 8:24 AM

reply profile send p.m.

Senior
Posts: 7256
Joined: Oct 2009

When I use an ohmmeter to trace wires, I disconnect the wires at both ends. This prevents false readings due to back-circuits.

The regulator terminals are ground, ARM, FIELD, BATT reading from left to right while facing the regulator.

The ground wire is black with a red tracer and comes from the bottom side terminal of the generator.

The ARM wire is yellow with a black tracer and come from the terminal on the back of the generator.

The FIELD wire is black with a white tracer and comes from the top side terminal of the generator.

To polarize the generator, disconnect the FIELD wire from the regulator and momentarily touch it to the BATT wire. Then reconnect the FIELD wire.

To check the generator output, connect a jumper wire from the FIELD terminal of the generator to the ARM terminal of the generator. Increase RPMs to 1500, the ammeter should go to 30 amps and the voltage at the BATT terminal should be above 7 volts. Disconnect the jumper after getting the readings.

If the regulator "won't do anything" the problem is usually the cutout relay is bad or one of the resistor blocks is bad. The cutout relay should be adjusted so that it picks between 6.2-6.5 volts.

Tom

supereal

10-26-2011 @ 5:52 PM

reply profile send p.m.

Senior
Posts: 6819
Joined: Oct 2009

Bill: Without special equipment, it is virtually impossible to test or adjust a voltage regulator. Substitution of a known good regulator is the usual method. Voltage regulators operate by "buzzing" the relays, and setting them is critical. I would suspect that your generator was "polarized" incorrectly by the rebuilder, who may not know that the old Ford system is positive ground. You can run your car on battery only. Just disconnect the. "batt" terminal at the regulator.

silverchief

10-26-2011 @ 2:15 PM

reply profile send p.m.

Senior
Posts: 524
Joined: Oct 2009

Thanks Tom

Put my rebuilt generator back on. Wiring from regulator to it go into a loom, and come out at gen. Markings on the old wire are too faint to read. I used
a voltmeter resistance test twice to be sure which wire was coming from field and which from ground...connecting field to the insulated terminal on the gen, and ground to the bare terminal. However, when I start engine the amp needle goes crazy. When I reverse them it sits quietly in the middle, but shows no charge from gen.

I took my regulator off and to the generator rebuild people to have it tested. They said, "We can't get it to do anything!" Can my garage check it without it being on the car? How is that done? If not I will have to re-install it and drive my car the short distance there with just the battery firing the plugs - cuz my amp shows discharge under load (lights) but still no charge going to the batt.

Grrrrrrrr!!

TomO

10-23-2011 @ 9:01 AM

reply profile send p.m.

Senior
Posts: 7256
Joined: Oct 2009

If you have an original Ford regulator, here is a link to a company that converts them to solid state for around $100.

http://www.wiltonae.com/home/index.aspx

Tom

51f1

10-23-2011 @ 7:53 AM

reply profile send p.m.

Senior
Posts: 573
Joined: Oct 2009

All of the voltage regulators I have seen for my truck are Made In The USA!

Richard

supereal

10-22-2011 @ 2:47 PM

reply profile send p.m.

Senior
Posts: 6819
Joined: Oct 2009

You are on the right track, Bill. Once you find a vendor you can trust, stick with them and let them know why. At our shop, we repair and service a wide variety of vehicles from Harleys to the big rigs. Over the years, we have sifted the wheat from the chaff and know where to go for both availability and quality. It is safe to say that most, if not all, parts today are made in Mexico or other non-US sources. I'm not saying they are all bad, but enough are, to present a serious problem when they are wrong, are bad out of the box, or are outrageously expensive. Too many are marked "Made In USA". At least the box was! To stay in business, we must have parts that are of high quality, as failure comes out of our pocket, even if the part is guaranteed.

silverchief

10-22-2011 @ 1:29 PM

reply profile send p.m.

Senior
Posts: 524
Joined: Oct 2009

Supereal

C&G price is 42.00 plus shipping. No problem with them.
Have used them before - but I find a surprising number of Napa stores have closed - or sold out to O'Reilly Auto Parts which I am not impressed with. For 42.00 I have to believe C&G's regulator is made in Mexico or China.

Local Car Quest has "Made in USA" clearly stamped on what appears to be a high quality part priced at 64.00
For less than 20.00 difference, If there is a problem, I can talk face to face with a local businessman, and pay no return shipping charges. I think that's the way I am going to go.

Thanks for replying.

<< previous || next >>

PAGE: 1 2

NOTE: YOU MUST BE A REGISTERED USER AND BE LOGGED IN TO POST (and reply to) messages in this forum. If you are a first time user, please click the CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT in the masthead above to register and Log In. After that, all you do is LOG IN to enjoy using this site.

DISCLAIMER: The V-8 Club does no independent testing of any of the opinions, thoughts or suggestions presented in the website on the Forum, in the Tech Tips section, or any section. A reader should consider the website to be a forum wherein differing solutions to a particular set of circumstances may be discussed. Ultimately, the selection of an item for an individual's vehicle must be based upon the independent study of the vehicle owner in consultation with people in the hobby and restoration experts.

Early Ford V-8 Club Forum

Merchandise Questions

Membership Questions