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Re: Electrical questions

To: etieseler@sbcglobal.net, triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Electrical questions
From: Dave1massey@cs.com
Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 13:49:22 EDT
In a message dated 8/12/2005 11:59:49 AM Central Standard Time, 
etieseler@sbcglobal.net writes: 
> Ok so I have a '66 Herald that I converted from
> positive ground to negative ground.  Now that that is
> clear, is there anything that I need to do to my
> temperature gauge?  It does not work right now and I
> was thinking that it may be the sensor, so I went
> ahead and replaced it, but still nothing.  Does
> changing the polarity affect the gauge at all?  Also,
> how can I check it to make sure the gauge is still
> good?  

Did it work before you changed polarity?  Assuming that someone didn't modify 
the circuitry, the temp gauge is not polarity sensitive so it should work 
equally well with positive or negative ground.  If a new sender didn't fix it 
may 
be the wiring.  Connect the sender wire to the engine block with a small 
jumper lead and turn on the key.  If the gauge and everything else is working 
properly the gauge should read full scale.  If so then the sender is at fault.  
If 
the gauge reads nothing then there may be a broken wire or a faulty voltage 
stabilizer.  A volt meter will come in handy for further testing.  Measure the 
voltage on the light green wire on the gauge.  It should switch repeatedly 
between battery voltage and zero (with the key in the ON position).

If that's OK check for continuity of the other wire on the gauge and the wire 
at the sensor.

> 
> And my second question involves the charging system. 
> Recently the generator light came on.  Can you give me
> some advise as to how to check the generator to see if
> it is working or not?  And finally, does anyone have a
> recomendation for getting the generator rebuilt?  I
> live in Sacramento, CA.  So someplace local would be
> nice, but I could ship it.
> 
Did the light come on as a result of the polarity change?  Or more recently?

The generator needs to be repolarized when changing the battery polarity.  
The easy way to do this is disconnect the small wire from the generator (the 
field connection).  Using a jumper wire briefly connect the terminal on the 
generator to the hot terminal of the battery.  Just a momentary "touch" will 
suffice.


Dave




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