The road to St. Louis, update from Evansville, IN

OK, here we are in Evansville, IN, a.k.a. Chuckville.

Came down from midstate Indiana today with Phil Needham, over some of the most outstanding B roads I've ever been on, and top down on the first sunny hot day in a long while.

Chuck met us at the end of the drive and took us to a generator guy, who tested it in the car and ascertained it wasn't charging. (Well, we kinda knew that!)

Back in the hotel parking lot, Chuck got out the multimeter and started probing. He found, to his satisfaction, that the problem isn't the generator. He was able to jump around the regulator, and got the ignition light to go off and the generator starting to charge.

It seemed like the NEW regulator that Phil brought wasn't working either, so we headed out to pull a regulator from a 67 parts car that Chuck had access to. Brought that back to my B, and that didn't work either.

So . . . something is still amiss. Some kind of wiring problem, perhaps. Chuck's going to study up on regulators and my wiring diagram to try to get a handle on it.

Meanwhile, I should have enough battery power to get the car to St. Louis, where we'll figure it out, I'm sure ... (I hope!)

Have you flashed the fields? Nothing will work if the field shoes have lost their residual magnetism. I know I keep harping on this and it could be something else, but that's the most simple thing that could be wrong. The generator will charge when you jump the fields but will quit again if there is no magnetism. I know I said that jumping the fields will flash them, but maybe not. Try it. Flash from the Bat to the Fld terminals of the regulator, like striking a match, a couple of times.

I did that John, got a nice new weld mark on my screwdriver. She has NO voltage on the field wire, and when I jump the field wire to the Batt connection it starts working. When she revved it up, she melted the jumper wire. I'm gonna have to take one of those regulators apart and see how it works

and Chas got to sit in the same chair where not only Abe Lincoln but Tony Barnhill sat

OK, I'm signing off from Evansville now. Next stop, St. Louis!

Just getting my car to the national show will have remarkable curative powers on it, I know. Plus there will be lots of other posi-ground cars with generators, and maybe being among its own kind will be therapeutic.

And . . . NO RAIN IN THE FORECAST!

no Cougill Curse this weekend

So, the battery cable ends are squeaky shiny clean, and you don't have those cheap replacement ends that bolt on then corrode where the wire meets the cable. The starter end of the cable is clean, the generator is generating, and you cleaned the points inside the volt regulator.
How did Chuck show that the generator was generating when the generator guy was sure it was not?

I jumped the battery power straight to the field on the Gen and the idiot lite went out and it started putting out voltage and the engine luggedd down

I forgot to mention that you don't rev ethe engine when jumping the fields. Just another one of those being so familiar with something I think everybody knows what I do.

Ok, It's the regulator. It did just what a good generator will when you jumped to the field connection.

That's because we are older than the dirt on the fender wells.

And the new v. reg didn't work because it wasn't arced? That would answer much.

Regulator is brand-new out of the package. (I took it out of a sealed plastic bag myself.) That doesn't mean it's got to be OK, of course, but the points sure wouldn't need cleaning, would they?

The battery is brand new, the clamps are brand new, and they are indeed squeaky shiny clean, with terminal protector sprayed on them even.

Tomorrow's another day, and we'll take a good, hard look at all the wires and connections. Jeff Zorn of Little British Car is bringing me another new regulator, so we'll give that a whirl, too.

If all else fails, John will be here on Saturday!

Meanwhile, it's running great. Put 1,200-some miles on it getting it here, ran like a champ. Followed Phil Needham here this morning, and he delights in 80 mph on the interstate. I had no problem keeping up with him, but did have to tell him to slow down a few times, because I can't afford a speeding ticket on top of all the parts I'm buying ...

It's a mystery! At least you're having fun, and that pays for a lot of parts. Compare your ride to what Dysney would charge.
You did arc that first new regulator, and the battery post protector was applied after putting the terminals on? (Sorry, no better than to ask.)

Yep, we arced and flashed and did all kinds of other wonderful electrical sparking things. (Battery post protector was applied when I first put the new battery in back in February. Don't have it with me now, but anyway, the point is the battery connection is AOK and extremely clean.)

I sure want to know what it turns out to B! Save a space for Gary.

It is beginning to sound like a lost ground maybe???????