> I am getting another regulator from Ebay that I won today so I am
> planning to
> first try just swapping the points and if that doesn't work out
> just swap the
> entire regulator.
Jim, I'd like to suggest just installing the new box ... the regulator
points don't normally overheat like that. It might be that the resistor in
the old box is open, which will damage the new points again.
> What was interesting was I followed the procedure for
> testing the
> regulator and the generator by connecting the wires a1 to a and
> putting the
> volt meter on D and E on the control box (before I cleaned up the
> contacts)
> and the voltage showed a 3-4 and then would spike up very
> occasionaly and very
> quickly to like 14 or 15.
That would seem to indicate both that the regulator contacts were
occasionally working (when the voltage spiked up) and that the resistor is
open (when the voltage fell back to 3-4).
> After I cleaned up the contacts and
> now have a big
> gap there,
The regulator contacts (as opposed to the cutout contacts) should be closed
with the engine not running.
> What is wierd though is that I took it for a
> couple of 15
> to 20 minute drives today and the battery voltage still measures
> at around 17
> volts so maybe the regulator is doing its thing in NOT charging
> an overcharged
> battery. How it could have gotten this overcharged in only 50 minutes is
> amazing to me.
That sounds to me more like your voltmeter is not accurate. It's not
possible to overcharge a lead-acid battery that much, if you try it will
just boil away the electrolyte. You can sometimes get the voltage up into
the 15-16 range, but it would drop back down just starting the engine, let
alone being driven for 15 minutes.
> which would satisfy my ignition demands for the first xx
> minutes of my
> rides but then as the battery wore down I would get the 'running
> out of juice'
> which I felt as 'running out of gas' symptoms as the battery wore down.
Makes sense to me. This is another way points are "more reliable" than
electronic ignition, they gradually degrade as the system voltage goes
lower. With electronics, they either work or they don't, the cutoff tends
to be sudden.
Randall
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