Genartor Woo'S !!!

[Guest]

We took a night trip last weekend and when I used my high beams my gen. light would come on very dim. Never ran the battery down but I would like any suggestion out there of things to do to correct this problem.
I have driven about 3200 miles this summer in the day time with no problems

[bcomo]

I have AC and 35 Amp Gen and that happens to me too. When the big load is put on the gen to come up with the charge, it just barely can do it.

[Guest]

ground problem

I had this problem once as well, cleaned the ground strap and it went away. I used to see the generator light extra dim with heater , radio and lights on.

[LuckyJay]

You might want to take a look at the brushes in the generator.

[JohnG]

to get some more precise information you might install either an ammeter or voltage meter. Ammeters are harder to find but you can get a voltmeter anywhere (the Sunpro line in Autozone for example).

Grounds are always suspect in old cars due to rust, paint and so on...cleaning up both the engine and chasis ground is a good idea.

It never hurts to clean the brush holders and check the brushes. But your generator light is not on so I am not sure they are the immediate problem. One of my brushes was stuck in the holder due to dirt and my light kept going off and on. I cleaned it all up and that was the end of the problem.

John

[Guest]

Well I took the gen off and cleand it good put new brushes in it which the old ones look good but what the heck. I will try it this weekend . I tried to information about the PowerGen that is listed in our Tech section but have not heard back from them yet,
Will let youal know hao it works out next week
Thanks for all your imputs.

[Guest]

I had the same issue when stopped at a light and the car idled low. Never had a battery issue, just assumed that the light was flawed. I did as John had mentioned and connected a voltage meter, never dipped beneath 12.

[Guest]

Generator light on

I had generator rebuilt, changed out voltage regulator and cleaned all wires that went to both. I have purchase several 1960 Thunderbird books. I have one book that shows #18 yellow-black band wire going to ARM on voltage regulator another book shows same wire going to BAT terminal on voltage regulator. My Thunderbird still has factory wire end terminals on wires at voltage regulator. I can remove cover on voltage regulator and touch BAT contact and light will go out and stay out until I shut her off. But have the same problem after car is restarted. I have took these wire off ohm them out from regulator to generator and put them back where they were. Anyone have any ideal what wires goes where and or what else may be wrong?

[bcomo]

Richard:

I'll get you some info on the wires from my 60 tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, here is a post that I wrote back in 2007.

Here is how the generator light works:

The generator light has two leads. One lead goes to the "hot" side of the ignition switch, where it get +12V. The other lead goes to the Armature (ARM) terminal at the regulator (smaller of the two yellow wires).

When the ignition key is turned on, but not started, the bulb gets power from the ignition switch, and is receiving a partial ground at the ARM terminal on the regulator.

Summary: The bulb goes on because it gets +12V from the ignition switch, and it gets partial ground (-) from the ARM terminal at the regulator. (+ to - = Bulb lights up)

When the engine is started, the ARM terminal receives +12V from the generator. Now the bulb sees +12V from the Ignition switch, and +12V from the ARM terminal at the regulator. (+ to + = Bulb goes off)

The bulb is in a constant state of "Tug-O-War" between the Ignition Switch +12V and the ARM terminal +12V. If the Generator puts out less than +12V, because of low RPM or loose belt, then the bulb will glow because there is less voltage on the ARM terminal and partially grounds the bulb again. (example: +12V at Ignition Switch to +11V at ARM Terminal = Bulb lights up).

So, at low engine RPM, in drive, at stop lights, the Generator Voltage output will normally fall below Battery Voltage at the Ignition Switch -- and the bulb goes on -- which is normal.

A light that stays on constantly means low generator voltage output directly from the generator.

Hope this helps.

[byersmtrco]

The gen light in my 60 has glowed dim (@ idle) since day one. Not all the time. Like everything else with that car it's intermittent. I know allot of people convert to internally regulated alternators. I've never had a problem with the generator. We've prob put 4 or 5 on that car in 48+ years (& pushing 300K miles). The only accesory that draws excessive power is the conv top mechanism. Since using that is pretty much like tea time in England (everything else stops) it's not a concern. If I had AC and elec fan and a thumper stereo, yeah, I would convert it. And who knows maybe someday we'll have all those things. Not likely very soon though.

I believe you can adjust the voltage regulator. Check the service manual.

JB

[Guest]

Generator light on

I read my shop manual a little more in depth last night, about checking things over and that the voltage regulator may need to be adjusted. I played with her this evening and I think with a little more tinkering I may get the problem taken care of. I got to checking the voltage from the ALT post at the voltage regulator and it was low as some one had stated in a previous thread. I got to tinkering with the contact in the regulator and voltage went up and generator light went out. After you guys post, reading shop manual and thinking about the two together, the voltage system is rather simple. THANKS GUYS!!! I will keep you posted on what I find out. Also if you guys have any other info you would like to share, I would appreciate it.

[JohnG]

Having a volt meter in the car that you can watch might be good, at least for awhile. You can see that it neither goes too low or too high. The "too high" part is important so you don't boil the battery dry or burn out bulbs (something like 13.5 volts comes to mind).

SunPro makes a nice one with a white face that you can mount under the dash above your right leg. It's lit so it kind of looks cool at night...

A year or so ago I had a new voltage regulator that did not work. I remembered something an old electrical whiz once told me and ran a business card in between the points. It's worked fine ever since!

John

[byersmtrco]

As I recall, last time I tested mine, it was 13.2 @ idle & 13.8 @ 2500 rpm.

[JohnG]

that sounds pretty good!

The shop manual tells us that the max current actually occurs at only 1225 rpm, realistic for a car not turning high rpm much of the time. (anyone know how fast in Drive you are going at 1225 rpm?). The max current is 30A, which ain't all that bad when you realize it translates into about 375 Watts (not so hot if you put a 500W boom box in your trunk though...)

Interestingly, the voltage regulator is temperature sensitive and purposely allows a higher voltage to be maintained during colder temps.

Also, and I had long forgotten this, there is one coil devoted to disconnecting the generator when the car is not running. This is of note for someone who is finding their battery mysteriously going flat while they are not using the car. This could be one of the causes and would be easily checked by disconnecting that lead to the regulator (to the so-called "cut out relay").

All this stuff is in Part One of Group 7 in the '58 manual.

John

[Guest]

Generator light on

After checking a little further. I found the new (or rebuilt) generator was only putting out 3.3 volts. I checked it at the back of the generator at the armature post. I called Thunderbird Headquarters and they said to send it back. I did got the new one (or rebuilt), installed it, light still on check volts at back of generator again and only 2.3 volts. When I race engine gen light will get dim but not go out. Does anyone know for sure how much voltage should be at that point on generator, before I call these people back? And would I be better off to install alternator instead?