Electrical: 47 Champion - overcharging

[avantibngrant]

My 47 Champion was overcharging with a good battery in it. it would go to 35 amps when the engine rpm was fast enough and just stay there. I played with the current and voltage regulator right to the point that I moved the points so far apart that they would not close on both the voltage and current limit relays, and it did nothing. Next I took the field wire off the generator and still the same. I then took the generator off and then took it apart to find the short. Nothing. What I found as I dug more into it is the wire joining the two field coils had a bare spot on it, but only touched the long screw when you put it all back together. I used a spare housing and field coils and it not works as it is supposed to. Ground the field terminal it charges and open no charge. I have a new voltage regulator on order from Canadian Studebaker, so I will just replace it. Looks like the original has been played with before so it will be good to start with a new one. Should be a lot easier on the generator and battery as well as a lot less heat being produced under the hood.
I hope this may help someone else along the way.
Neil

[Captain Billy]

As long as it makes it to Brockville Friday....

See you there

[TWChamp]

Reset the air gaps on the regulator contacts. The gaps are listed in Motors Manuals from the 50's, but usually fall between .020" and .035". To adjust the amps output downward, you should have loosened the spring for the voltage coil inside the regulator. Your regulator can easily be corrected to work like it should.

As soon as you said the amps remained high with the field wire disconnected at the generator, I figured the field wire was touching the long through bolt. Liquid tape works very well on bare wires.

[TWChamp]

Here's a picture of the inside of the voltage regulator. I have the screwdriver pointing to the spring tab that needs to be bent upward very slightly to lower the reading on the amp meter. Be sure to check the meter reading with the cover installed, because the cover can sometimes affect the final reading. Some regulators have screws to adjust the spring tension, and this make the adjustment much easier.

The center coil is the current control coil and should open when more than the generator's rated output is exceeded. If you had a short or a load of over 35 amps, then the contacts on the center coil should open if the generator's rated output is 35 amps, such as my 50 Champion is.

The top coil in my picture is the cutout coil and stays open until the generator puts out more than about 6 to 6.5 volts. This keeps battery voltage from feeding back into the generator and killing the battery and/or burning up the generator.

.

[avantibngrant]

Thanks for the feedback. I watched a video from Chrysler service department fro 1949 explaining the operation and found the settings digging online I think since I ordered the new regulator I will go with it as it is on the way.
Here is the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRk1...layer_embedded
If anyone needs the Autolite settings I have them all pasted in my Excel sheet for future reference.
Thanks
Neil

[avantibngrant]

As long as it makes it to Brockville Friday....

See you there

Hi Bill. We probably will take the Avanti as we know it a little more and the wiper issue needs to be solved on the 47. I have the part, I just need to get under the dash and get it installed.
See you Friday!
Neil

[TWChamp]

A year ago when I bought my 1950 Champion it had a new repro voltage regulator. The ammeter was not showing steady so I took the cover off the regulator. I had to take the regulator in the house to fix it. The contacts were way out of alignment, so they were touching only on half the surface. They were also twisted so the faces of the contacts weren't parallel. And the springs were also out of adjustment. After I fixed the problems the regulator worked great, but I wanted an original Autolite, and finally found one on ebay for about $30. It turned out to be NOS, but needed some cleaning and the cover needed to be repainted due to years of storage.

[avantibngrant]

A year ago when I bought my 1950 Champion it had a new repro voltage regulator. The ammeter was not showing steady so I took the cover off the regulator. I had to take the regulator in the house to fix it. The contacts were way out of alignment, so they were touching only on half the surface. They were also twisted so the faces of the contacts weren't parallel. And the springs were also out of adjustment. After I fixed the problems the regulator worked great, but I wanted an original Autolite, and finally found one on ebay for about $30. It turned out to be NOS, but needed some cleaning and the cover needed to be repainted due to years of storage.

I hear you on the aftermarket quality vs NOS OEM stuff. I have 8 Cockshutt tractors many of which have the Autolite systems. A good OEM voltage regulator is a good find. Much more consistent than the aftermarket one. I am sure if the new one is reproduction or not. I will keep the old one in any event and bench set the air gap and point gap per the specs I found.
Have a good one.
Neil

[TWChamp]

A week ago I drove my neighbor's newly purchased 1950 Champion home for him. It was charging fine for 100 miles, although a bit on the high side, then about 30 miles from home it suddenly quit charging. I took the generator home to check it out, and found it was fine. Yesterday I reinstalled the generator on his car and polarized it. Since I found the generator was good I cleaned the regulator contacts and found the cutout contacts weren't closing when the engine started, but were pulled closed before starting the engine. I pulled the contacts open, then started the engine, and when the cutout contacts didn't pull closed I manually closed them. It started charging and all was fine. I'm still puzzled over this strange occurrence but at least it's working fine for now.

When we first looked at the Champion the battery was in backwards with negative ground, so I corrected that right away. I suspect the contacts might have been slightly damaged by that, but it was charging fine for 100 miles.

[avantibngrant]

My limited experience on these regulators has taught me that the current regulator and voltage regulator points - at least one of them have to be closed to ground the filed to make the generator put out enough to close the cutout (circuit breaker) I know this from my Cockshutt 20 with the after market regulator. It just has the cutout and a current limiter. If the current limiter points are not closed, it will not start to charge. Points sticking on the cutout could be the air gap or point gap is not enough or the spring is too long. Hopefully that helps someone along the Studebaker highway of life! I have the specs for some of the old regulators if anyone needs them.
Neil

[avantibngrant]

A quick update. I got the new voltage regulator from Canadian Studebaker last Friday and put it on last night. It says Made in USA on it. Works perfectly. Charges and then returns to charge just a little after the battery is up in a few minutes. Thanks Russ and good to meet you in Brockville on the week end.