Generator not charging

[SwiftAce]

Excuse me as this is my first post, but I have recently inherited a Cub from my grandfather who passed away and have been working on it pretty much any chance I get when I am not at work. Anyways, after a complete rewire, (The old wires were the original factory wires and the insulation was falling apart and had been electrical taped like crazy to keep the insulation from falling off), I got to a point where I was ready to finally use the tractor with a voltage regulator and generator. Well, I'm pretty sure the wires are correct, as I followed a wire diagram I found on this site, and made sure all wires were on the terminals that they were on before and it will not charge the battery. The amp gauge shows a draw on the battery when the ignition is on, but does not show a positive charge rate, and I verified this using a multimeter and the battery appeared to not be being charged as well. Attached in the imgur link is some pictures of the generator with the brush cover off and the voltage regulator. I have also tried repolarizing the generator and that did not work either. I took pictures of the generator brushes and armature as the armature looks like it is severely worn. As this tractor has sat for 25 years prior to me messing with it, I have no clue whether or not the charging circuit was working before or not. The tractor was parked because my grandfather said it was smoking excessively, but in my time using it, has not smoked at all. Anyways, I was hoping you guys could help me out here, as I am new to tractors in general and could use some help figuring this out.
https://imgur.com/gallery/rYqmTPD

[tst]

welcome to the forum, cannot open your pics nor did you say what year cub it is, 6 volt is positive ground, 12 volt is negative ground, if it has a regulator is is mounted on the side of the hood, a cutout relay is mounted on top of the generator, follow the steps in the troubleshooter to help

[Glen]

Hi,
Welcome to the website.

I could see the pics, the Cub has a voltage regulator.
The points in the voltage regulator could have gotten corroded after sitting for years. File them, and clean them. Wipe off all filings with a clean rag.
The ignition points in the Battery Ignition unit could be corroded also, or old and burned from use, and need replacing.

The commutator in the generator doesn't look worn, it looks about normal.
It is dirty some though. You could try cleaning it. The Cub operator's manual says use fine sandpaper.
The type they say to use, I couldn't find at an auto parts store.
Probably a 400 sandpaper is good. If not, an expert will probably say.

Below is a page from the 1955 Cub operator's manual, telling about cleaning the commutator, on the left side of the page.

http://farmallcub.com/rudi_cub/www.clea ... age-41.jpg

You can figure out the year the Cub is from the serial number. It is on the plate on the steering gear housing, I can see it in your pic, someone has painted over it.
The number is stamped in the plate, so you can probably see it with a good light.

Below is a page from the Cub operator's manual, showing where the plate is.
The plate had words on it originally.
The number probably has 6 numbers in it.
There may be an 1800 stamped in the plate, that is the maximum engine RPM.

http://farmallcub.com/rudi_cub/www.clea ... age-02.jpg

When you find the number, there is info at the top of the page to find the year. It is at Cub Info.

[SwiftAce]

Hi, I forgot to post the year model. the serial number on the plate is barely legible but it looks like it is 119158 which would be 1950. I can also make out 1800 stamped into it, but the rest is hidden because like you said, it has been painted over. The engine block also has a serial tag of 11-29-T which would be 1950 as well. It is a distributor and ignition coil ignition, and I have already replaced the points and condenser. The tractor runs really good, just need to get it to charge.

[tst]

follow the regulator chart, make sure it the battery is positive ground

[Waif]

Replaced the regulator on a 6v pos. ground 53 Cub yesterday.
Left one hold down bolt out ,and the other only snug enough to be able to turn/swivel the regulators left side away from the tractor.
Checked that the single mounting bolt was still snug. (Note , the regulator is rubber mounted. Don't be twisting it's rubber , turn the mounting bracket instead...)
Turning the regulator out away from the tractor allowed access to the terminals on the back of the regulator. I didn't want more teardown to be able to see them,but was wary of the field terminal you don't want to touch when jumping. Or it is likely to ruin the regulator. And I'd tried it blind before/ by feel...

Hooked the positive batt. cable back up to the battery (removed before servicing the regulator) and used a jumper wire from batt. terminal of the regulator to the Gen. terminal of the regulator for a spark , and held it there a couple seconds.
Eased the regulator into position and secured it.
Charging fine.

I'd thumped the old regulator with a short stub of 2x4 that usually rides on the operator platform to shield the stop switch when parked out.. ( I know. Not the proper way to diagnose.)
It began charging but after it stayed charging a while I just didn't trust it to stop. And was not going to run it long enough to be sure the battery was fully charged.(Next time I'll charge the battery first....)
So, it got thumped again and quit charging.
I'd had it apart earlier this year trying to cheer it up , but it was in rough shape. Lots of corrosion.


Bought the better grade replacement from Brillman vs the cheaper grades available. Not cheap. But expected to have better longevity than cheaper ones.

[SwiftAce]

Thanks for all of the suggestions, I am going to follow the chart tonight and I will report back. Also, does anyone know what kind of replacement gasket? i should put between the band and the generator? The old one is falling apart and is not usable. The starter brush cover when I took it off had duct tape on it instead, but I assume that isn't the proper replacement LOL.

[Glen]

Hi,
You can make the strips from a sheet of gasket material, from an auto parts store.
I'm not sure if the length of the sheet is long enough, but maybe.
A thickness of material close to the original is good.
The ends of the bands go down, or at the bottom of the starter and generator.

[SwiftAce]

I followed the troubleshooting chart today and it started showing a charge once the F terminal and Bat terminal were jumped. I also noticed before I did the test that when I first started it after cleaning the points in the regulator as best I could with sandpaper(I dont have a thin enough file to file the points) it tried to charge the amp gauge pegged out then slowly died out to no charge again. Thanks Glen for the suggestion using gasket material, I will have to make those bands when I get some free time. Where is the best place to get a regulator, I saw some on Steiner, and I was going to order some battery cables from there anyway. Does anyone have any experience with the regulators on Steiner? Or is there a better place to source one. Thanks for all the help ya'll.

[Bob McCarty]

I think you may get a better quality regulator from Brillman (forum sponsor at the bottom of the page), but I'm not sure how pricing compares.

[tst]

the import ones are junk, part # at a parts store is VR-217

[SwiftAce]

Looks like I can get battery cables and the voltage regulator cheaper from Brillman then I can from Steiner so I will probably go with them.

[inairam]

I get all of my electrical from Brilliman. We make wireharnesses at work and I am happy to pay from them from Brilliman.