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Tue Nov 08, 2011 3:38 pm

GEN light is on, battery is good, gen checked out per all the tests. Looks like the regulator is the culprit.......again.

Got the first one, hooked it up, and it was junk. Returned it for the one that's installed currently, and it hasn't held up either. Just changed this thing out about a month ago and maybe put 10 miles on it since. After more research, the cheap ass auto zone one wasnt the way to go. Ratwell fired off some info about a Bosch solid state regulator with part number 0 192 062 007. The trusty google search didn't return any hits that I could tell to buy one.

I did verify I have a 38A Gen, which is cool. I've been told they are kind of hard to come by. Is the 38V regulator worth a tinkers damn off busdepot or should I be looking else where? Any links for purchase would rule.

http://busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=211903803E

Tue Nov 08, 2011 4:00 pm

Interesting, I thought they were NLA....

The German Bosch is the way to go, or you can use a 30A reg from the FLAPS but the gen will only produce 30A. Got the ground wire between the gen and reg installed?

Tue Nov 08, 2011 4:06 pm

well, don't get your hopes up. i went this route about 2 years ago, bus depot and german supply. both sites said in stock, when i called, none were to be had. i also called my workpac rep, imc, and save (all suppliers to us at work) it was like i was telling jokes. everyone i spoke with laughed at me. let us know if they are available new. i have 3 good tested and 18 i need to test

Tue Nov 08, 2011 5:31 pm

Busdaddy.....what is this ground you speak of?? I just ran out to look at the setup....I have the DF and D+ from the gen to the reg. B+ to battery, and 61 to the dash. I assumed that the reg was grounded to the frame where it mounts? Maybe this isnt the best solution and I should attach a ground from the battery to the regulator the more I think about it...it doesnt appear that the gen has a ground wire coming off it that I can see. If it doesn, its somewhere behind the fan shoroud??

Tue Nov 08, 2011 5:43 pm

This was all discussed yesterday.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=264308&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Tue Nov 08, 2011 5:49 pm

There should be a brown ground wire that screws into the top of the generator case at roughly 12 o'clock near the front. This runs down and over to the frame of the voltage regulator. There should be a screw there for it.

Tue Nov 08, 2011 6:01 pm

Aero....man I sure dont see any where on the gen for a ground wire. Bus is a '69 if that makes a difference. I followed Desertbusman's link from yesterdays discussion. Reading through that thread "sister bus" made the following comment

"nothing on it says D-... loking at my "hayes" manual the 68-69 diagram shows it grounding to the mount same as the reg grounding to frame. i turn the page and it jumps to 72 and up diagram and that one shows a ground wire between the two. weird... there is no "71" diagram...."

I looked at the wiring diagram again in the Bentley and it doesn't show a wire between the two. Looks like they each ground through the chassis as mentioned above. Am I wrong on this one?

Tue Nov 08, 2011 6:16 pm

Brown wire shown between generator and regulator is a ground wire. Don't know how necessary it is, but it's there on many rigs.

Tue Nov 08, 2011 6:51 pm

@Wildthings

Here's the scan out of my Bentley for the 68 and 69. Hope it shows up good enough. No Brown wire between the two.

Across the top of the page it says VW Type 2 -- from August 1967 (1968 and 1969 models).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68151142@N07/6327751126/in/photostream

The next page says VW type 2 -- from August 1969 (1970 Models)
It shows the wire between D- and the Regulator.

Since I have a '69 Westy, the first diagram is the correct one right?? Maybe in '70 something changed or they realized running a ground between the two components made it a sure ground....hard tellin. I can't find a thing on my gen labeled D-

Tue Nov 08, 2011 7:00 pm

Dude,
See that T looking thing in your diagram that's at the top of the GEN. That's a ground. Look to the left at two other items. They have the same T meaning ground. Trust me on this. You won't find it labeled on the GEN. There is a threaded small hole at 12 o'clock on the GEN case towards the fan housing. That's where the ground wire hooks to.

Tue Nov 08, 2011 7:18 pm

aeromech wrote: Dude,
See that T looking thing in your diagram that's at the top of the GEN. That's a ground. Look to the left at two other items. They have the same T meaning ground. Trust me on this. You won't find it labeled on the GEN. There is a threaded small hole at 12 o'clock on the GEN case towards the fan housing. That's where the ground wire hooks to.
And the gen and reg must be linked together with thier own wire, bad contact between the gen and pedestal or any number of other connections can fool the regulator into thinking it needs to charge more which often ends in a melted generator. VW put a ground wire on it when it left the factory and they weren't exactly in the habit of adding unneeded superficial parts :wink:

Tue Nov 08, 2011 8:14 pm

First off you've confirmed it's a 38A gen. And being a German Bosch it should be 211 903 031D. From Bentleys diagram for the '68-9 models the "T" symbol indicated the bodys of the Gen and Reg are directly grounded to the bus chassis. The '70 and '71 model diagrams show an actual grounding wire between the generator and the regulator and identified as connecting to D- terminal. That's in addition to the actual grounding of those items to the actual bus chassis. Evidently that's to insure a good ground if the bodies of the gen and reg have bad grounding which can easily happen. I think all style regulators have a terminal tab on their base to connect a ground wire.

If your gen is dirty you might not see the real small ground hole screw. It's about 1/2" ahead of the gen clamping strap which might be hiding it. It's also about 1-1/2" from the fan shroud/gen mounting tin. And it's inline with the left end of the top brush access slot. I don't see any stamped identification on mine, or on the same location grounding hole on a 30 app gen. Look at Fig 6-5 in Bentley electrical and you can just barely see the small screw head. Now if your gen is not installed right and is rotated 90 degrees then you won't see it.

Sister Bus was talking about a ground wire attached to the gen mounting strap. That's no good. On mine the gen is painted and also I have a insulator strip under the strap and also the gen mounting stand is painted so forget about the strap being a good ground. Then the gen mounting to the 4 bolt plate and then that mounted to the fan shroud is not any ground that you could depend on.
So if you can't find the ellusive grounding screw hole at least get a good ground wire from somewhere on the gen to the reg base.

Tue Nov 08, 2011 10:05 pm

also check the battery to be sure you don't have a shorted cell. That lowers the battery resistance and voltage, and makes the VR think there is more electricity needed so the whole charging system works harder.

I found a new one for sale in the EU for about $110 - $150 on their ebay. I guess they are getting rarer by the day.

Napa Auto parts has one (38 amp) made by Alltrom. Don't have a clue how good it is.

Wed Nov 09, 2011 9:00 am

https://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Result.aspx?Ntt...74+2074027

I installed the ECH VR502 on my '71, 38 amp, a couple months ago, seems to be working fine.
Had trouble on a road trip and found it on the shelf in Jackson, WY,
Was unavailable from Bus Depot.
My generator was listed in the NAPA info for that regulator.

Wed Nov 09, 2011 11:23 am

From the archives:

Wed Nov 09, 2011 6:01 pm

Here is a picture of my 71s 38 amp generator. You can see the ground wire where Gary and DBM say it is.

Wed Nov 09, 2011 6:04 pm

Brionp wrote: Here is a picture of my 71s 38 amp generator. You can see the ground wire where Gary and DBM say it is.

Your engine gives me a woody

Wed Nov 09, 2011 6:05 pm

VW Porn....

Wed Nov 09, 2011 6:07 pm

where's my silicone grease... ohhh.

Wed Nov 09, 2011 7:18 pm

Um, no rear tin?