[Mg-t] TD Charging Problem

[Dave and Liz DuBois]

Scott,

> After digging out my manual from the basement, (thanks Charlie) it says to connect a wire to the (removed) D and F wires on the Reg.  Dave's helpful article says to test both at the Gen's terminals and the Reg's D and F.
You can follow either instruction.  I choose to disconnect the wires at 
the generator since there are ring terminals on the wires at that end, 
there is less chance of damaging the bare ends of the wire at the 
regulator end.  Further, my set of instructions have you checking the 
generator alone, without the regulator attached so that you get a clear 
indication if the generator is working properly or not.  Once it is 
determined that the generator is working properly, then the wires 
removed from either the generator or the regulator are reattached and 
the generator/regulator are tested as a system to see if the regulator 
is setting the output voltage at the correct level.

> Also, the manual says to test using the pos wire as ground on the volmeter
That applies if your car is still wired for positive ground.  If the 
polarity of the car has been changed to negative ground, then the 
negative lead of the meter is the one attached to ground.  A digital 
meter is a bad choice for this test as it doesn't show a smooth swing as 
the voltage increases (instead, a digital waits for a sample period 
first, during which time the voltage can increase a considerable amount, 
giving you a jerky response).  If you have a friend or acquaintance  who 
has an analog meter, borrow that to make these tests.  A digital will 
work, but the indication is not as easy to interpret.

> (I have a digital)

A digital meter is a bad choice for this test as it doesn't show a 
smooth swing as the voltage increases (instead, a digital waits for a 
sample period first, during which time the voltage can increase a 
considerable amount, giving you a jerky response).  If you have a friend 
or acquaintance  who has an analog meter, borrow that to make these 
tests.  A digital will work, but the indication is not as easy to interpret.

Cheers,
Dave