Had a generator rebuilt by an old local guy who knew his stuff but passed away before he could get it assembled.
It looks really good but won't work.
The only thing I can think of is maybe the field wires are hooked up wrong.
I know the originals were crossed and I heard that some repops weren't supposed to cross.
How can I tell if they're supposed to be crossed or not?
I crossed them when I put it together.
Thanks for any help.
Check the brush insulators. It's common for the third brush holder to be shorted to ground because someone tried to "rebuild" it with tape or chewing gum.
The drawing below show how wiring is supposed to be but if the field coils weren't assembled correctly (like some re-pops) the field connections will need to be reversed.
This picture shows how to check the field coils for proper assembly using a compass.
Thanks Ken...I appreciate it!
A problem I had many years ago with a Model A generator was that the commutator had been turned down so much that the brushes were not making good contact with it. Be sure the brushes are long enough, the springs good and that the brushes move freely in their holders. Also when you install a rebuilt generator, sometimes you need to "flash" it. You do this by connecting for a very brief time a wire from the battery side of the cutout to the generator output terminal. I have been told that flashing will damage a voltage regulator, so if you have a voltage regulator, take it out of the circuit before you flash. It won't hurt a cutout or diode.
Norm