# tractor not charging



## pie (Mar 24, 2018)

having trouble with charging system on 6n. with positive hooked up to ground on generator,and negative hooked up to field on generator, it makes the magnets inside the generator activate. with tractor running the output of generator is 15 volts. but when I hook it up to voltage regulator.it only puts out 5 volts to battery. everthing ive read says it should be 7 -8 volts . and my autometer on tractor stays at 0.(it is a 6volt system) any help would be great


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## pie (Mar 24, 2018)

and the regulator is new


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## FredM (Nov 18, 2015)

take the regulator to point of purchase and have them test it, or adjust the regulator yourself


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## pie (Mar 24, 2018)

if the battery is at full charge well it stop charging until it drops charge


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## FredM (Nov 18, 2015)

been to long to give you the actual voltage when a battery is fully charged, but there will be equal or slightly more charge coming to the battery when the generator is working.

I could do a search on some of my older electrical books, but someone else will tell you the charge rate.


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## pie (Mar 24, 2018)

I have no amps on my ammeter. and my volts are 5 1/2. the generator is good it puts out 15 -25 volts when I bypass regulater . put load tested on battery and it was good its at full charge 6.25 volts.


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## FredM (Nov 18, 2015)

have you checked the amp meter circuit to see if this is still intact ?, when you turn on the ignition, does the amp meter show a slight discharge ?, if you have a multimeter you could check the amp meter to see if you have voltage across the poles, do this check with the ignition on and engine not running.

If the system is ok, when you start the engine there will be a drain on the battery and when the engine starts, you should see an amperage output on the positive side to replace the current drain on the battery when starting.


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## RC Wells (Dec 26, 2008)

Have you polarized the regulator so it will charge the battery? This requires a quick jump. Here is a handy guide: http://www.ntractorclub.com/howtos/pdfs/Testing-Replacing-Polarizing-8N-Voltage-Regulator.pdf

The original Ford ammeter uses an internal shunt. When the shunt burns out or breaks the ammeter will not pass current to the battery.


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## willys55 (Oct 13, 2016)

RC Wells said:


> Have you polarized the regulator so it will charge the battery? This requires a quick jump. Here is a handy guide: http://www.ntractorclub.com/howtos/pdfs/Testing-Replacing-Polarizing-8N-Voltage-Regulator.pdf
> 
> The original Ford ammeter uses an internal shunt. When the shunt burns out or breaks the ammeter will not pass current to the battery.


this is what I was thinking


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## pie (Mar 24, 2018)

.yes ive polarized it at regulator (touch the arm and battery terminals watch for spark).rewired the whole thing all new wires 10 and 12 awg . yes the meter does show a slight discharge. about -4 amps when running it goes to -1 and 0 and stays there. its like the regulater is not activated the magnetic field in generator. when I bypass the regulator with jumpers and activate magnetic field it puts out 20-25 volts. think it might be a bad regulator but its new. when I put meter to battery with every thing off it shows 6.24 volt when running same thing. checked armature with wires off generator and engine running (meters pos to armature neg to battery negative , got 5.33 volts.) and with wires hooked up same reading. its like field circuit is not working.
that's why I was woundering if battery is at full charge it would not charge battery till battery voltage droped.


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## pie (Mar 24, 2018)

that's everything ive done.


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## willys55 (Oct 13, 2016)

just for the hell of it, after reading your post I went out to my willys truck (also 6 volt) started it up and put a meter on the battery, charge was reading 6.38v.....battery is fully charged and I have not had any issues with lights not working ....also not sure but it looks like my amp gauge never moves till I turn on the heater...then it pegs -10


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## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

pie said:


> having trouble with charging system on 6n. with positive hooked up to ground on generator,and negative hooked up to field on generator, it makes the magnets inside the generator activate. with tractor running the output of generator is 15 volts. but when I hook it up to voltage regulator.it only puts out 5 volts to battery. everthing ive read says it should be 7 -8 volts . and my autometer on tractor stays at 0.(it is a 6volt system) any help would be great


If this is a Ford 8n, 2n, or 9n if you have the battery hooked up positive ground you need to change it. All of them I ever saw were negative ground.


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## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

deerhide said:


> If this is a Ford 8n, 2n, or 9n if you have the battery hooked up positive ground you need to change it. All of them I ever saw were negative ground.


I saw and owned plenty of 'em but I could be wrong(I never saw 1 pos. ground, 6v or converted to 12v....................


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## pie (Mar 24, 2018)

every thing ive read said 12 volt is negative ground.


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## pie (Mar 24, 2018)

ill try to make it a negative ground. the reason I started looking at the charging system is I would go tru a battery every year. and battery was put in as negative ground . this is before I knew anything about the tractor. or repolarizing the generator.


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## pie (Mar 24, 2018)

think the only thing I have to change coil connections.


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## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

If it has an alternator it would be 12v neg. ground. I guess if it had a 12v. generator(dynamo) it could be neg. but unlikely. I found if the old tractors had good compression; either by new rings and sleeves and/or just new rings and grind the valves, they would start on 6 volts just as good. Then you didn't have to change the lights or make other changes. IMO the 1 thing that would of made the n series better would be a double clutch.


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## Vic Bunn (Jan 21, 2018)

deerhide said:


> If it has an alternator it would be 12v neg. ground. I guess if it had a 12v. generator(dynamo) it could be neg. but unlikely. I found if the old tractors had good compression; either by new rings and sleeves and/or just new rings and grind the valves, they would start on 6 volts just as good. Then you didn't have to change the lights or make other changes. IMO the 1 thing that would of made the n series better would be a double clutch.


By having a double clutch making n series tractors better do you mean that it would give them a live power takeoff?
Vic


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