voltage regulator sticking... fix?

[Terry Horlick]

I have been having fits with my voltage regulator. The contact points want to stick. When they are working I can see arcing, and then when they stick the ignition warning light comes on. My repro vr just did this and burnt out my generator. I had the generator re- wound and installed a new repro vr from Moss and it sticks also. When it sticks the contact points melt and fuse together. I took contacts out of an old defunct Lucas vr and grafted them into my old repro vr and it worked perfectly for a day. Today the points stuck again. I then popped them apart and it works ok again. After carefully cleaning the contacts they still do the arcing and sticking thing. What is wrong? The generator is strong... it runs down the road charging at 12-15A and sometimes peaks to 20A. With headlights it is down around 3A. Can I solder a capacitor across the points to prevent arcing like you would do for a Bosch fuel pump? Has anyone done that? Or is there a modern voltage regulator out there I can use to protect my electrical system from damage. All the electronic components are completely stock except for the addition of turn signals and two extra brake lights. If the capacitor trick would work does anyone have any idea of what size cap would be best? HELP!!!!

[Jennifer and Hugh Pite]

Hi, I don't think I would blame the voltage regulator. It sounds like the wiring from the generator to the regulator is incorrect and the full power from the rotating armature is going through the field contacts (F) in the regulator. These contacts are designed to carry a relatively low current to the field windings whose purpose is to supply the magnetic field in which the armature turns. You should have a higher charging rate when the lights are "on" since the ammeter reading is an indication of the power being used. If all the lights, heater, windscreen wipers ect. are "off" and you still get a high charging rate then either the battery is low or the wiring is messed up. I would think that if the battery is fully charged and you get a high charging rate then the battery is being over-charged this will most likely ruin the battery and, I am told, possibly cause it to explode. Hugh Pite

----- Original Message ----- From: "Terry Horlick" thorlick@sbcglobal.net> To: mg-tabc@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2005 9:50 PM Subject: [mg-tabc] voltage regulator sticking... fix? > I have been having fits with my voltage regulator. The contact > points want to stick. When they are working I can see arcing, and > then when they stick the ignition warning light comes on. My repro > vr just did this and burnt out my generator. I had the generator re- > wound and installed a new repro vr from Moss and it sticks also. > When it sticks the contact points melt and fuse together. > > I took contacts out of an old defunct Lucas vr and grafted them into > my old repro vr and it worked perfectly for a day. Today the points > stuck again. I then popped them apart and it works ok again. After > carefully cleaning the contacts they still do the arcing and > sticking thing. > > What is wrong? The generator is strong... it runs down the road > charging at 12-15A and sometimes peaks to 20A. With headlights it > is down around 3A. > > Can I solder a capacitor across the points to prevent arcing like > you would do for a Bosch fuel pump? Has anyone done that? Or is > there a modern voltage regulator out there I can use to protect my > electrical system from damage. All the electronic components are > completely stock except for the addition of turn signals and two > extra brake lights. If the capacitor trick would work does anyone > have any idea of what size cap would be best? > > HELP!!!! > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > >

[Jennifer and Hugh Pite]

Ooops, this statement in my previous email is totally incorrect and the charging rate as indicated on the ammeter is only a measure of how much current is going to or from the battery. Hugh Pite

> > You should have a higher charging rate when the lights are "on" since > the ammeter reading is an indication of the power being used. >

Hugh Pite

> > ----- groups.yahoo.com/group/mg-tabc/ > > > > > >