Generator charging system

I have a generator on my f-head motor. i have done some research on here and cannot come up with how in the front door does this charge my battery?..the positive only goes to the starter solenoid and nothing else and no diagrams that i have explain to me how it charges the battery..can any one help me here please

 

+ wire from generator to starter solenoid, and + cable from battery to starter solenoid. That's where the connection is made.

 

Yes I can help. First of all you have a generator not an alternator as some are thinking. The heavy wire from the generator "A" terminal goes to the voltage regulator (usually terminal "A"). When the generator begins to produce an output voltage, that voltage/amperage will close a relay within the regulator which will connect the generator output to the battery and that is how it works....

 

from what i can tell the only wires go from my battery + to the starter solonoid and of course - to ground i have three wires from my generator all of which go to the voltage regulator i guess i just cant see the connection of where it ties in..


thank you walt im gunna take another look and mabey some pics

 

OK. Where the battery + cable connects to the solenoid, you will have a smaller wire on that same terminal that runs to the BAT terminal on the voltage regulator. The gen and battery are connected together by a relay inside the regulator. This relay closes when the gen begins to produce power (like a light switch) which sends the power (volt/amp) from the gen to the battery. If you are running an AMP meter then the BAT or "B" or "+" or maybe even a number (some regulators) will be battery hot all the time. Are you having problems with your charge system or just curious as to how the system/circuit works?

 

Thank you very much Walt its more for the information. but also to make sure that im charging my batt also i have never dealt with a generator system before my 66 had an altenator and no voltage regulator

 

I am with you. If I have it/own it, I want to know what makes it tick. Once I have that mastered then I know if it is feasible to repair or just replace.

 

ok Walt so its a good thing that i asked because from what i can tell my generator does NOT charge my battery. the voltage regulator i have has two screws on the left side and one on the right..i have two wires off my generator one goes to the top left side of the reg. and the other is on the bottom left side...i really have no clue about which one is which and my manual has nothing on a generator system or the voltage regulator

 

OHHBoy here we go again.. It's not your fault you don't know but this can become a can-o-worms because these jeeps, as old as they are, have probably had no less than 25-30 different people work on them and each person usually changes something or makes a shoddy repair. We have to start somewhere so here goes.
1=what generator and regulator do you have (numbers and pic's pls.)
2=you will need a volt/ohm meter and maybe a test light.
3=Has the charge system ever worked since you have had the jeep?
So lets try this for starters, OK! Multiple heads are better than one so lets kick it around.

 

Ok here it goes i will get the pics up asap BUT from what i can tell Everything is original. It only has 42,000 orig miles. I cant really see the badge on the generator cause of where it is but from what i can tell is it is a oval like badge,the generator does charge as we speak the jeep is running and i unhooked the batt. and eng. didnt die. and my amp meter runs up when i idle up....regulator has no markings on it at all just the black cover that is orig. .......ok just went back out to get the pics and use the volt meter ....I am getting about 15v like i should be from what i think is the positve which is the one connected to the top left of the regulator. The other stud puts out only a couple volts which is the one that is connected to the left bottom when i rev the engine the voltage goes up on that one to about 10 volts from the regulator only i believe

voltage regulator

 

Sorry about the bad pics Walt had to paste them from Facebook that is all i can see of the badge cause of the hy lo pump its the the silver one under the red piece

 

The stud that you can see with teh orange wire is the one that has a constant 15 volts and is connected to the top left of the regulator.

 

It looks like a Prestolite system but not positive. 14.6-14.8volts charge is what I consider optimum. 15.0volts will not destroy anything so I would not attempt to adjust the voltage regulator. Now you know you have the generator producing 15 volts so measure directly across the battery and should be about 14.6 or there abouts. If that is your reading then that loss will be all wright because you are running from the gen thru the V.reg then on to the ammeter then back out to the battery. If this is about what you have then if it was mine I would just repair or replace any wires that are questionable (one at a time) and wrap with tape for a nice looking loom and stabilize the loom to reduce flopping around and getting into something it's not supposed to.

 

i dont have a digital volt meter so its probably more twords the 14.8 or so

ok dumb question will a battery just by itself read 12v ? In turn if im getting 14.6 or so then i should realize that it is charging testing straight across from + to - am i thinking correct?

what gets me walt is im getting good reading on the amp meter and you were saying that it should run from the amp meter back to the Batt + ? i also remember you sayin something about the small wire goin back to the solenoid would this still come from the amp meter? the only wires on mine now is the batt + cable and the positive (main power) to the key switch i dont want to fry anything so i think i should ask first..better safe than a torched jeep

 

Checking the battery voltage without engine running and nothing turned "ON", you should get a static reading of about 12.5V or so. If the battery terminal reading comes up to 14.8V at about 1500-2000 rpm then you charge system is optimum and I would not mess with it. Some guys prefer a volt meter vice ammeter but if you are not very familiar with wiring then I suggest you leave as is because to remove the ammeter wiring can get somewhat involved. The positive wire from the solenoid going back to the key switch is likely feeding the ammeter circuit. The reason most guys don't like the ammeter is because the complete vehicle load must go through the ammeter to be able to indicate proper discharge indication and same going from the generator back to the battery.

 

quick question..i know what wire is the power or hot wire but what is the other wire from generator? or other stud i should say

 

Provides power to the "field" coils, this creates the magnetism needed to generate electricity, and is regulated to control the output.

 

That would be the field stud/wire, then a ground wire from the generator case to the base of the regulator.

 

oops! PeterL beat me to it.

 

thanks guys you are a big help im jsut trying to make sure i have them all correct cant really check it until the starter comes back from the rebuild ouch