Any indication dea why my H acts like this.

[Farmerboy72]

Our Farmall H tends to do this when I  have it running. The voltage meter seems to show a 10 volt discharge when running, 20 volts if you turn the lights on. The only way it will ever show a charge is if you tap the black regulator box behind the choke lever. Sometimes it will continue to charge, but most times not. That black box is fairly new, so I wouldn't think it is bad already. 

Not sure why it is that way. Does the battery need to be run down before it would show a  +charge? Or do i have an issue somewhere else? I am unfortunately not that familiar with how these older tractors are to recharge themselves. Any help or advice is appreciated 

[augercreek]

Replace the regulator or clean the contacts.

[jeeper61]

It is a Amp meter that shows the rate of charge or discharge in Amps

As Augercreek said its a mechanical regulator the contacts maybe dirty or it has another issue 

Finding a quality regulator will be the issue

Most manufacture's stopped using them in the early 70'S so everything is aftermarket  

[TomH]

Unfortunately, the quality of new aftermarket parts is not so good. The points in the regulator that control the charging are not closing properly, tapping on it makes them close briefly and you see a charge. With battery disconnected of course, you can try removing the cover and clean the relays with contact cleaner. The left relay, with the terminals facing you should be the one that controls charging. (I think) You could try tightening the screw a little and see if it helps.  You may have to try another regulator, I replaced one on my Farmall 450 I had, and it lasted a week...... Frustrating!

[Farmerboy72]

45 minutes ago, jeeper61 said:

46 minutes ago, jeeper61 said:

Finding a quality regulator will be the issue

 

I was afraid this could be the problem. Thanks

[Farmerboy72]

33 minutes ago, TomH said:

try removing the cover and clean the relays with contact cleaner

I have an old one here yet, I may experiment with that before I try to fix the new one. Thanks for the info.

[Owen Aaland]

When the Delco Remy regulator on my Super C started to malfunction I bought a transistorized replacement thinking it would be a good replacement  since there would be no contacts to cause problems. Worked great for most of the summer and then never worked again. I bought another mechanical one that never worked so I exchanged for another one.That didn't quite make it through the rest of the lawn mowing season. If I grounded the field terminal it would work until the next time the tractor was started. Chased the problem down to find a poor connection where one of the terminals was riveted together. It does not take much resistance from a poor connection to not fully ground the field so the generator will not start to charge.

Dug through my stash of old regulators that had been replaced due to problems and found another Delco Remy unit. I cleaned the contacts and made the adjustments to make it work properly again and it has worked flawlessly now for about 10 years.

[snoshoe]

Pulled this up three times now to reply. Don't know where to start.

Assuming 6 volt positive ground 2 brush generator. If any of that is wrong let me know and I will start over. With that starting point. Remove regulator cover. Jump the field contacts (I usually use the screw driver that took the cover off). If that makes it go every time. Then contacts are the problem. When testing take note of intensity of sparks produced. If bright and lively. You have to much field current which burns contacts in short order. If this should be a three brush setup. Third brush may be set to close. In either case field coil may be shorted between coils. Drawing to much current.

If jumping contacts did not make it go. First make sure regulator has a good clean ground and generator also. I have already assumed that grounding field makes it charge as apparently tapping regulator does.

At this point I would remove regulator. Set a punch up in a vise as an anvil. Find a helper to hold regulator while you use another punch and a hammer to set every rivet you can find that has anything to do with an electrical connection.

Options include using regulator just as a cutout and using a variable resistor in field wire to control output. I have tried this and didn't like it. Set for my normal short run times it was fine but if bush hogging several hours at a time. I had to remember to cut it back. Then if I forgot to set it back up when done. I would endup with a dead battery sooner or later.

Interested in where Owen found an electronic version for a generator. I have found none. My experience with early conversions for alternators was similar to his. Now the electronic version is the way to go. Two seasons on a generator conversion I did that is working really well. That is 12 volt. Haven't seen components for 6 volt.

[Red_Man]

I have a Super MTA that is still on 6 volt, Standard Ignition makes a great 6 volt positive ground regulator that will last a couple of years or more. My local auto parts place will order them for me. The ones made in India last maybe 6 months. 

[Farmall Doctor]

Lately I have been trying to avoid replacing regulators. I clean the points and set the springs. It can be a tedious process, but when they work, they work well.