[Spridgets] generator/regulator - continuing saga

[Michael Rowe]

I went again to the generator guy, who put his $4K testing machine on the battery.  It looked normal with engine off, and went bonkers with the engine on, just like mine.  He said, "I have never in my life seen that response."  So he poked around with a jumper and finally got something that looked normal on his terster when he jumped the negative battery terminal to the engine.  It's a bad ground, embarrassing to admit.

So rather than fuss with the regular engine ground which is frozen, I cleaned up the firewall ground and added a second battery cable from the firewall to a transmission bolt in a convenient place.  No joy.  I assume the transmission has a gasket, but there are a lot of bolts going through to the engine, plus the normal engine ground is through the transmission via the slave cylinder.  

Back to the generator guy.  "Why didn't you attach it to the engine?  Are you just trying to make it look pretty?"  (Yes.)  "Forget about pretty.  Take this #10 wire and attach it to the starter bolt."

Well, this time I didn't mess around:  I got out my big jumpers and attached one end to the firewall ground and the other end directly to the generator mount at the water pump.  Now I have a direct circuit from the D terminal to the regulator to the battery to the generator frame.  I am still not able to reproduce what the generator guy found.  

It's a Spridget moment.  Time for a beer.  Maybe two.

Michael Rowe