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Steve22
Samba Member
Joined: March 05, 2004
Posts: 1389
Location: the wild unknown
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 Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 6:46 pm Post subject: electrical poser |
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OK, here's the description:
1964 KG (in picture on left) with original 6v electrical system. Below 1G rpm I get a red light in the dash -- not enough juice right. I replaced the starter bushing so I know its not going to ground. PO had done a hatchet job on the wiring in the front fenders, so I've rewired that. Disconnected the clock so nothing should be pulling volts when the ignition is off and checked the voltage at the battery -- no current. Everything sounds good so far? I figured bad generator  , so new gen and regulator installed, same as before, below 1G rpm I get a red light I'm still building the garage so I can do a frame off on this car, and a new wiring harness is definitely in my future, but this is really bugging me  Anybody got any ideas?
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'65 Karmann Ghia 'vert
'73 Super Beetle
'59 Beetle ragtop
'73 Sunroof Transporter |
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coad 
Samba Scapegoat
Joined: September 12, 2002
Posts: 7552
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| Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 8:19 pm Post subject: Re: electrical poser |
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| Steve22 wrote: |
| Anybody got any ideas? |
Tiny piece of black electrical tape over the light? 
You've already replaced the generator and the regulator, so about the only thing left is the simple solution-- turn your idle up a touch. VW generators are designed to start charging at about 1200 rpm (at the generator) which translates into about 850-900 rpm at the engine.
Maybe an additional 50-100 rpm at idle will solve the problem? Since the generator rpm=the rpm of the cooling fan, this is a relationship that VW took seriously when they designed the system.
Although to be fair all generators are inefficient at low rpm. One of the great advantages of alternators is their ability to continue to charge at very low rpms. A friend of mine had an old wooden chris-craft boat that would drain batteries constantly. Turned out he lived at the end of a long canal and the slow speed thru the canal was not fast enough to charge the battery. He switched to an alternator and the problem was solved instantly. |
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peterericb
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Joined: January 11, 2005
Posts: 523
Location: Texas - North DFW
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| Posted: Fri May 27, 2005 6:16 am Post subject: |
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what about a smaller pully? at least untill you can replace the 100s of bad grounds that exist in every unrestored car...
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I love it when a guy covered in tattoos tells me I should keep my Ghia "All Original" |
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EdW
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Joined: January 13, 2005
Posts: 2385
Location: Unemployment Office
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| Posted: Fri May 27, 2005 6:56 am Post subject: |
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| peterericb wrote: |
| what about a smaller pully? at least untill you can replace the 100s of bad grounds that exist in every unrestored car... |
Don't even know if they're available, but you would have to consider the increased RPM of the generater/cooling fan when driving the car in normal conditions. I'd go with Coads suggestion and increase the idle. |
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Steve22
Samba Member
Joined: March 05, 2004
Posts: 1389
Location: the wild unknown
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| Posted: Fri May 27, 2005 7:04 am Post subject: Re: electrical poser |
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| coad wrote: |
| Tiny piece of black electrical tape over the light? |
 Good idea, but not exactly what I was looking for!
The idea of a smaller pulley brings up a question I had not thought about -- is there a difference in size between the 6v and 12v pulleys? At some point, a 12v pulley was installed on the generator.
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'65 Karmann Ghia 'vert
'73 Super Beetle
'59 Beetle ragtop
'73 Sunroof Transporter |
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4ghias
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Joined: May 16, 2004
Posts: 331
Location: Calif. Sacramento Area
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