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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Voltage regulator

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Discussion Topic: Voltage regulator -- page: 1 2

silverchief

07-05-2018 @ 6:38 PM

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Tom,

I am going to follow your suggestions to see what checks out.
However, I take the car to coffee about every morning when the weather is nice, and the total distance is just under two miles, so you may be right that it does not recover enough charge to make up for that used to start the engine.

TomO

07-05-2018 @ 8:55 AM

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Bill sent me a PM that said he checked his meter with another meter and they both read the same.

I would follow this plan of action:

Disconnect the ground cable.
Charge the battery with the battery charger for 24 hours.
Remove the charger, turn on the headlights for 30 seconds.
Check the battery voltage. It should read at least 6.3 Volts. If it does not, go back to step 1.
If you are here because you charged the battery for 48 hours and it is still low, your battery is bad.
If the battery reads 6.3 volts, leave the ground cable disconnected and let the car sit for 2 days.
Check the battery voltage, if it is low, the battery is bad.
If the voltage is 6.3 or above, connect the grounding cable to the battery, remove the clock fuse and let the car sit for a couple of days. Check the battery once a day to see if it is discharging.
If the battery is discharging, you have a drain on the battery. Go through the isolation procedure that you have done in the past to find the drain.
If the battery maintains its charge, drive the car and check the battery when you park it for the night. If it is below 6.3 volts, you either have a charging problem or are driving short distances that do not allow the battery to recover from starting.

Tom

TomO

07-03-2018 @ 8:20 AM

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Bill, the Optima is an AGM lead acid battery and can be charged just like any other lead acid battery. read the charging instructions for a 6 volt red top battery here:

https://www.optimabatteries.com/en-us/support/charging/charging-tips

Tom

silverchief

07-03-2018 @ 7:46 AM

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Thanks Tom - never suspected that the meter might not be accurate, it is an analog, and is over 30 years old.
I will have my buddy run the same checks with his meter, and if there is any question
I will buy a new high quality meter....just to be sure. A good investment.

The engine was starting to turn over very slow, so I have the battery on my 6V charger now. It shows it is charging 3 amps, and will never drop lower than that. I am not surprised because I understand any home charger will not bring an Optima battery up to full charge. After a couple of hours of my 3 amp charging it is strong again.

Still, I can't believe the battery is bad. It checked fine at the vendor two weeks ago, and afterwards when I install it, it is strong for about ten days, then the engine starts with the slow cranking. After a couple of hours of my 3 amp charging, it is like new again. I have tested repeatedly for any drain at the battery by
connecting a test light between the negative post and it's disconnected cable. There is none.

I will let you know what happens.

This message was edited by silverchief on 7-3-18 @ 7:49 AM

TomO

07-03-2018 @ 7:01 AM

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Bill, either your battery needs a charge or your meter needs to be checked. A fully charged battery will read about 6.3V. I suspect your meter is not accurate.

I bought a very impressive looking multimeter at a swap meet a few years ago. It had a nice case and I needed one to keep my Craftsman meter, that I carry in the trunk, safe from damage. The meter reads 0.5 volts low on the 10 volt scale, reads a short on any condenser that I try check and reads 105V an my 115AC at an outlet. I do use the nice case to protect my Craftsman meter, while it is in the trunk of the car.

You can do a rough check of the meter by having your battery charge checked at AutoZone or Sears and compare the reading that they get with your meter.

To adjust or check the operation of the voltage regulator, a good, accurate analog meter is required. A digital meter will give an indication of the voltage range that the regulator is regulating and can be used to check if the regulator is allowing the generator to charge the battery. If you are getting 7.2-7.4V at 1500rpm, the regulator is putting out enough voltage to charge the battery.

Tom

ford38v8

07-02-2018 @ 10:19 PM

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Darn it, Bruce. You take all the fun out of it.

Alan

cliftford

07-02-2018 @ 7:31 PM

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Please excuse the multiple entrys

07-02-2018 @ 4:16 PM

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cliftford,

Can you repeat that?....

Sincerely,
MG

cliftford

07-02-2018 @ 4:09 PM

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Assuming all wires and connections are good, and reg. well grounded, I would pull the gen and check it over.

cliftford

07-02-2018 @ 4:09 PM

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Assuming all wires and connections are good, and reg. well grounded, I would pull the gen and check it over.

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