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slypig
Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2012
Posts: 64
Location: St Petersburg, FL
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 Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 1:23 pm Post subject: Re: Think I have a short? |
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| slypig wrote: |
| slypig wrote: |
| mukluk wrote: |
| slypig wrote: |
Sorry I'm a bit slow on this electrical crap. Make sure I understand it. With everything connected in the car running take voltage between the spayed on the back of the generator light and ground correct? Then is the brass bar you're speaking of the one that's in the middle where the turn signal warning light is supposed to be?
Thx for your help!
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Correct. If you look at the black plastic assembly you're holding in the pic, you'll notice the center wire brings power in from the fuse block -- where its tab is riveted to the plastic, it is connected to a semicircular brass contact that carries the input power to the other two sockets.
Your GEN light basically works like this... ignition switched ON, power comes from the fuse block to the speedometer cluster, in through the body of the bulb holder, through the bulb, out through the tab at the base of the bulb holder, through the wire to the voltage regulator/alternator, and finds a ground at that location which allows the bulb to light up. Once the engine is started and the generator/alternator starts putting out voltage, the bulb no longer has a ground to complete the circuit and light up -- the wire that it was using as a ground is now a power wire, so no power will flow through the bulb (think of it as you have pressure coming into both the inlet and outlet of a hydraulic motor). If one side of the two power inputs is greater than the other, however, then power will flow through the bulb and light it up... it's dim because the power passing through is a fair bit lower than the 12v it's designed for. |
Thanks so much. I'll ck it out tomorrow |
Ok:
back of gen light = 15.3
Back of brass bar jumps around from 2 - 9...? |
Also with key on
Gen light 1.44
Brass bar 11.67
BTW I just had it on charger to start it. Ran down Batt last night due to charging portable speaker. I forgot to unplug 😡😡 |
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67rustavenger 
Samba Member
Joined: February 24, 2015
Posts: 9770
Location: Oregon
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| Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 1:36 pm Post subject: Re: Think I have a short? |
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What brand of speaker? I have a Bose Sound Linklll  and I can't charge it in the car. I'd like to, but have not found a way to do it yet.
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!
There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo! |
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slypig
Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2012
Posts: 64
Location: St Petersburg, FL
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| Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 2:24 pm Post subject: Re: Think I have a short? |
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| 67rustavenger wrote: |
| What brand of speaker? I have a Bose Sound Linklll and I can't charge it in the car. I'd like to, but have not found a way to do it yet. |
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slypig
Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2012
Posts: 64
Location: St Petersburg, FL
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| Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 2:26 pm Post subject: Re: Think I have a short? |
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[quote="slypig"]
| 67rustavenger wrote: |
| What brand of speaker? I have a Bose Sound Linklll and I can't charge it in the car. I'd like to, but have not found a way to do it yet. |
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mukluk
Samba Member
Joined: October 18, 2012
Posts: 7028
Location: Clyde, TX
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| Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 5:03 pm Post subject: Re: Think I have a short? |
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| slypig wrote: |
| slypig wrote: |
Ok:
back of gen light = 15.3
Back of brass bar jumps around from 2 - 9...? |
Also with key on
Gen light 1.44
Brass bar 11.67
BTW I just had it on charger to start it. Ran down Batt last night due to charging portable speaker. I forgot to unplug 😡😡 |
Time to start cleaning connections on the fuse block side of the circuit then -- tab in the socket, connection at the bottom of the speedo housing, connection at the fuse block, connection going toward the ignition switch.... you get the idea.
_________________
1960 Ragtop w/Semaphores "Inga" |
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slypig
Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2012
Posts: 64
Location: St Petersburg, FL
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| Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2016 6:46 pm Post subject: Re: Think I have a short? |
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| mukluk wrote: |
| slypig wrote: |
| slypig wrote: |
Ok:
back of gen light = 15.3
Back of brass bar jumps around from 2 - 9...? |
Also with key on
Gen light 1.44
Brass bar 11.67
BTW I just had it on charger to start it. Ran down Batt last night due to charging portable speaker. I forgot to unplug 😡😡 |
Time to start cleaning connections on the fuse block side of the circuit then -- tab in the socket, connection at the bottom of the speedo housing, connection at the fuse block, connection going toward the ignition switch.... you get the idea. |
Got ya Sir! Thx |
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slypig
Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2012
Posts: 64
Location: St Petersburg, FL
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| Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 4:06 am Post subject: Re: Think I have a short? |
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| mukluk wrote: |
| slypig wrote: |
| slypig wrote: |
Ok:
back of gen light = 15.3
Back of brass bar jumps around from 2 - 9...? |
Also with key on
Gen light 1.44
Brass bar 11.67
BTW I just had it on charger to start it. Ran down Batt last night due to charging portable speaker. I forgot to unplug 😡😡 |
Time to start cleaning connections on the fuse block side of the circuit then -- tab in the socket, connection at the bottom of the speedo housing, connection at the fuse block, connection going toward the ignition switch.... you get the idea. |
BTW thank for your help. I cleaned up connections and soldered some. Now things work wonderful!
Thx again.
Steve |
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slypig
Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2012
Posts: 64
Location: St Petersburg, FL
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| Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 6:37 am Post subject: Re: Think I have a short? |
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| slypig wrote: |
| mukluk wrote: |
| slypig wrote: |
| slypig wrote: |
Ok:
back of gen light = 15.3
Back of brass bar jumps around from 2 - 9...? |
Also with key on
Gen light 1.44
Brass bar 11.67
BTW I just had it on charger to start it. Ran down Batt last night due to charging portable speaker. I forgot to unplug 😡😡 |
Time to start cleaning connections on the fuse block side of the circuit then -- tab in the socket, connection at the bottom of the speedo housing, connection at the fuse block, connection going toward the ignition switch.... you get the idea. |
BTW thank for your help. I cleaned up connections and soldered some. Now things work wonderful!
Thx again.
Steve |
Crap doing it again. The dim gen light came back and is brighter with headlights on. Does that mean I'm gonna be left with dead battery if driven at night? |
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mukluk
Samba Member
Joined: October 18, 2012
Posts: 7028
Location: Clyde, TX
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| Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 8:37 am Post subject: Re: Think I have a short? |
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| slypig wrote: |
| Crap doing it again. The dim gen light came back and is brighter with headlights on. Does that mean I'm gonna be left with dead battery if driven at night? |
You're not going to end up with a dead battery from this. The gist of the matter is the power coming in from the alternator to the light in the speedo is sufficiently higher than what's on the fuse block side that you're getting enough current through the bulb to make it light up -- in essense the fuse block is being fed/supplemented by the input from the Gen light, that's why the light gets brighter with the headlights on as that increases the electrical load on the system. I do question why it's putting out 15 volts, 13.5 to 14 is normally what one would see for the charging system output, and in this case it is a contributing factor toward your issue but not necessarily the cause. Since the alternator seems to be putting out 15 volts, that should also be what is being sent to the battery and onward to the headlight switch, fuse block, and ignition switch, so to see a fair bit less than that coming in from the fuse block side to the speedo tells us that there are still voltage drops that need to be fixed -- possibly all the way back through the battery back to the alternator itself.
_________________
1960 Ragtop w/Semaphores "Inga" |
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slypig
Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2012
Posts: 64
Location: St Petersburg, FL
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| Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2016 9:52 am Post subject: Re: Think I have a short? |
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| mukluk wrote: |
| slypig wrote: |
| Crap doing it again. The dim gen light came back and is brighter with headlights on. Does that mean I'm gonna be left with dead battery if driven at night? |
You're not going to end up with a dead battery from this. The gist of the matter is the power coming in from the alternator to the light in the speedo is sufficiently higher than what's on the fuse block side that you're getting enough current through the bulb to make it light up -- in essense the fuse block is being fed/supplemented by the input from the Gen light, that's why the light gets brighter with the headlights on as that increases the electrical load on the system. I do question why it's putting out 15 volts, 13.5 to 14 is normally what one would see for the charging system output, and in this case it is a contributing factor toward your issue but not necessarily the cause. Since the alternator seems to be putting out 15 volts, that should also be what is being sent to the battery and onward to the headlight switch, fuse block, and ignition switch, so to see a fair bit less than that coming in from the fuse block side to the speedo tells us that there are still voltage drops that need to be fixed -- possibly all the way back through the battery back to the alternator itself. |
Ok here goes I guess.....I ran into a thread with steps to check voltage drops.
Thx again for you help. |
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DaveOBrien
Samba Member
Joined: April 21, 2008
Posts: 122
Location: San Diego, CA
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| Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2016 10:46 pm Post subject: Re: Think I have a short? |
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| Can you share the link to the thread you found? Sounds helpfull. |
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slypig
Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2012
Posts: 64
Location: St Petersburg, FL
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slypig
Samba Member
Joined: May 27, 2012
Posts: 64
Location: St Petersburg, FL
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| Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2016 6:11 am Post subject: Re: Think I have a short? |
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| slypig wrote: |
| mukluk wrote: |
| slypig wrote: |
| Crap doing it again. The dim gen light came back and is brighter with headlights on. Does that mean I'm gonna be left with dead battery if driven at night? |
You're not going to end up with a dead battery from this. The gist of the matter is the power coming in from the alternator to the light in the speedo is sufficiently higher than what's on the fuse block side that you're getting enough current through the bulb to make it light up -- in essense the fuse block is being fed/supplemented by the input from the Gen light, that's why the light gets brighter with the headlights on as that increases the electrical load on the system. I do question why it's putting out 15 volts, 13.5 to 14 is normally what one would see for the charging system output, and in this case it is a contributing factor toward your issue but not necessarily the cause. Since the alternator seems to be putting out 15 volts, that should also be what is being sent to the battery and onward to the headlight switch, fuse block, and ignition switch, so to see a fair bit less than that coming in from the fuse block side to the speedo tells us that there are still voltage drops that need to be fixed -- possibly all the way back through the battery back to the alternator itself. |
Ok here goes I guess.....I ran into a thread with steps to check voltage drops.
Thx again for you help. |
Ok it's corrected!!!!!! Apparently the by pass of the regulator under the backseat had a bad splice that finally worked less than perfect.
On the road again. Thx all at Samba that chimed in. I appreciate thx mukluk  |
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