DIYbanter - View Single Post - 12V Battery charging problem

mike[_22_]

On 12/23/2015 1:06 AM, wrote:

This tractor might have an alternator by the time I finish this repair.
I only had one vehicle (my first car) with a generator, and I remember
having a big hassle with the generator system in that car, and finally
having to get a mechanic to fix it. Of course back then, I did not know
much about auto repair. But this is bringing back some bad memories
about those damn generators. Almost all old farm tractors have had their
generators replaced with alternators, but not this one. I think it's
time! It's easy to wire an alternator in place of the generator, but not
so easy to mount the alternator to fit the space and get the fan belt to
work properly.

My first rule is, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Depends on your objective. Your motivation may be different if you
are gonna keep/use it instead of fixing it up for sale.
Are you gonna run it at night with lots of lights?

First thing I'd do is see if you can get the lid off the regulator
to see if it got smoked in the process of reversing the battery.
Replace the battery,
polarize the generator and see how much current it puts out.

Watch the voltage vs engine speed with all the loads on and see if
it's likely to do what you want.

Check the generator brushes while you're at it.
Another thing is to measure the battery current drain with everything off.
Carbon tracks and other leakage paths need to be fixed.

You only need an alternator if your usage patterns prevent the
generator from keeping up.