The gen should put out not much more than 10 amps when measured with an ammeter. You reported 18.5a?

The ACCEL electronic regulators are good, and come with a warranty. They are what i buy.

It may be that the reg is bad, or it may be that there is a short or other wire problem that is preventing full voltage to the battery. I used to get just 13 at the battery; as i fixed various wire setups it went to 13.5, then 14; now i get about 14.5 volts at the battery [until i turn on the headlite then i get the 14].

None of the things that i fixed were dramatic - just marginally loose connections that worked but i did not know they were bad until i repaired them, just in the process of cleaning things up.

Buy the reg; if it does not solve the problem then you have a spare. I always have a spare gen, reg, battery, and solenoid in the shop. Also spark plug wires. All useful for testing typical IronHead problems.

 

Sounds good, I like the idea of the warranty. Gonna check out my indie shop thursday, they carry Accel products.

I did read 18.6 at the gen, with it set at the "DCA 10" setting, which I would think is a straight reading with a digital multimeter unless I need to step it down, then it would either be way too high or very low. It was sold as working though.

I am also doing a slow clean-up of wiring as I go along. Not very far yet, replaced the battery ground, horn wire and the ring terminals that go to the gen.

 

The DC 10 setting on the meter is not supposed to be used for readings in excess of 10 amps - it will damage the meter. We usually use a 0 - 30 ammeter intended for installing in the dash of a car. You can get these for $10 or so.

You may have had the meter hooked up incorrectly. You need 3 jumpers ...

1. remove both wires from the gen
2. install jumper from gen F terminal to ground
3. install jumper from gen A terminal to ammeter +
4. start engine, run at 2000 RPM
5. momentarily jumper batt+ to ammeter-

Polarize the gen when done.
Avoid running the engine with F grounded for extended periods.
Disconnect ammeter from battery before stopping engine

 

Ahh that makes sense now. I also have no basis to trust my multimeter as its an 8 dollar cheapo from autozone. My fancy Fluke one doesn't read DCA, it was meant for hvac trouble shooting. My only basis is that at the same setting, my old gen ran 7.5a and the new is that 18.5.

I rigged up the leads with by clipping aligator test leads from F to ground, from A to to multimeter +ve (alligator clipped) and then hit the multimeter -ve to the battery +ve for a 2 seconds to get a steady read. Next time I go to tractor supply I will pick up the little dash mount ammeter, they didn't have one at autozone (hence i got that little multimeter).

 

in glendora nj right down the blackhorse pike like your going to hilltop there is a rebuilder generaters, alts,starters on stanten ave.the old wawa make right he`s on the right he will check it for free and fix it to for near nothing.it a little builting right off his house just walk in with it

 

Thanks! I got one off a '77 from ebay and it is working well. I found the reason it died, as I banked hard on a right hand turn the battery shifted, the wire that goes from the + tab to the starter got pressed up hard enough against the oil tank that it shorted out. I noticed this by seeing burn marks and a hole in the insulation for the cable, which sits less than an inch away from the tank. Wrapped that sucker in electrical tape and bent my battery strap to better hold it down.

Do they make a rubber battery strap? I am not a chrome fan and dont have the battery box, just using the metal band to hold it down but it does not work very well.

 

Try a hard rubber bungee strap. You may have to replace the hooks on the ends with something else like zip ties. Or put something between the strap and the battery - a piece of rubber floor matt, hard thick foam, wood, thick cork gasket material, whatever.