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It also looks like it could be used for positive ground by using a diode of a different polarity or even a 6 volt by using a different regulator. Hats off to the guy that made this. Makes me think I should have thought of it long ago.
No, but he said it will work just like the electro-mechanical one. Still safe to polarize the generator from the BAT/ARM tabs. 90 day warranty. I am going to charge my battery to full tonight and be real careful though.
Very interesting. It looks like it would be doable to reproduce that ss regulator.. I wish I had it in hand for a closer look. Pretty sure I see what it is doing. Would like to see how the base for the reg and diode is supported from the ground base of the regulator. The black wire is the reg ground to the OE reg base. I think the red wire becomes hot when the gen starts charging from residiual magnetism. . Blue wire is field. Diode serves as a cutout with feed for red wire on one side and battery feed on the other. Pretty sure the red and blue posts are using insulated screws to prevent them from touching the new diode and reg base. Gen/Arm wire is connected to the bottom of the diode.
The regulator is a self exciting reg and would normally have a slight standby or parasitic drain, but it looks like the way this is made there would not be any drain. Being this is for aircraft a drain would not be a problem as aircraft have a master switch. I think the gen will have to have residiual magnetism for it to work. This can be done by polarizing the generator which should be done anyway. Just a guess, but I suspect the company that made this reg would want the field wire to be disconnected from the reg when polarizing the genny. Were there any instructions sent with this regulator? Pictures of the area between the diode / reg plate and the OE reg base would be great. I'm pretty sure I could reproduce these for a good bit less$. Gonna have to get my hands on one if there is a market for them.
I post a couple more pics later of the base/isolator.
That is how I saw ittoo. I was wondering if there was possibly another small diode in the blue line going to the field . I thought possibly there was one but could not tell from the picture.. How is the plate the diode and regulator sit on insulated and mounted to the original regulator base? Thanks
That's really nice workmanship, I like it except for that one little piece of wire on the ground point in the first photo of the preceding post. I wonder how much they have invested in parts on their end. I bet most of the cost was in engineering, design, and manufacture, especially if yours is one of the first they have done (specific model). I used to work for a small company that manufactured dive computers, they were not very competetive price wise with other manufacturers because they were small and just didn't make enough to absorb their overhead costs. We made a nice product that was very well made with a good warranty but in the end they really weren't in the race.
That's really nice workmanship, I like it except for that one little piece of wire on the ground point in the first photo of the preceding post. I wonder how much they have invested in parts on their end. I bet most of the cost was in engineering, design, and manufacture, especially if yours is one of the first they have done (specific model). I used to work for a small company that manufactured dive computers, they were not very competetive price wise with other manufacturers because they were small and just didn't make enough to absorb their overhead costs. We made a nice product that was very well made with a good warranty but in the end they really weren't in the race.
Yeah, I cleaned up the external terminals a little too, there was some flash from solder flux or something, could have been a little cleaner. I will install tonight and test over the weekend.
Very nice photos. Thanks. It looks pretty much like what I expected to see. The only part I don't understand is the piece that looks like wood attached with 2 screws to the aluminium heat sink supporting the reg. It looks like wood, but I suspect it is metal and probably for a little added support for the white reg. Clarification on what you think it may be and for what purpose would be appreciated.
I will be changing a 1946 jeep generator from 6 volts to 12 volts for a guy soon and I may set up one of these on the test bench without the original reg body just using jumper wires to see how it works. Unfortunatley, I don't have any old regulator bodys to use, as I threw them all out when I was cleaning up in the fall last year. I hate it when the wife says throw some of this junk away, you haven't touched it in years.
Dan, probably less than $50.00 in parts. As you said it is nice work and neat work. Do you have one of the dive computers laying around that you want to give away? Just kidding. I probably won't dive anymore since the lung surgery. This spring, I'll bet the wife says get rid of that scuba stuff, you haven't used it in years.
Went ahead and installed today and drove about 15 miles. It performed really well. Seemed more steady and gave me a touch of positive amps at idle in neutral, so probably more efficient use of the generator. Of course, the generator isn't making more power and in drive it dips into the negative at idle, but I give it a full thumbs up. I really like keeping the car original looking with a functional amp gauge. I am happy. Less the Diehard battery and my 100A inline fuse (I can just remove for shows) pretty original looking!
Last edited by madmax442.com; Mar 1, 2024 at 04:51 PM.
Went ahead and installed today and drove about 15 miles. It performed really well. Seemed more steady and gave me a touch of positive amps at idle in neutral, so probably more efficient use of the generator. Of course, the generator isn't making more power and in drive it dips into the negative at idle, but I give it a full thumbs up. I really like keeping the car original looking with a functional amp gauge. I am happy. Less the Diehard battery and my 100A inline fuse (I can just remove for shows) pretty original looking!
That's a simple VR, but I see a possible flaw in comparison to mechanical units. The current regulator is the big diode, and the one on the wiring diagram is rated at 70 amps. If your battery is low in charge or you put halogen headlights on the vehicle, chances are your ammeter will burn up. I would use either F4 or F5 Diodes which are rated at 37 and 45 amps respectively.
I would not go with a lower rated diode. If you want to protect the ammeter, Delco made a fuse that connects between the Reg B+ terminal and the B+ wire. The lower rated diode would be operating at max capabilities, causing stress on the diode. The diode generates heat which is a main cause of diode failure. If the diode should fail due to an open in the diode it would not be a problem, except the unit would quit working. If the diode should short internally the generator armature would get smoked. As it is the only cooling provided is the aluminum block the diode is bolted to with no air flow. I would definitely stick with the more robust diode.
I would not go with a lower rated diode. If you want to protect the ammeter, Delco made a fuse that connects between the Reg B+ terminal and the B+ wire. The lower rated diode would be operating at max capabilities, causing stress on the diode. The diode generates heat which is a main cause of diode failure. If the diode should fail due to an open in the diode it would not be a problem, except the unit would quit working. If the diode should short internally the generator armature would get smoked. As it is the only cooling provided is the aluminum block the diode is bolted to with no air flow. I would definitely stick with the more robust diode.
Why not use a switch mode regulator that controls both the voltage and current? And for cutoff, you can monitor the armature voltage and use to enable the regulator output. These regulators can be configured for 6 or 12v and either pos or neg ground. And with an extra component, it can run either Ford or GM generators. Pretty reasonable in price.
