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regulator?
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jroymcd
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 7:36 am    Post subject: regulator? Reply with quote

6 volt, all the lights work but, very dim. battery holds a charge, newish generator. drains the batterey when the lights are on.
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Jody '71
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 8:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Take the VR out, take the top off of it and look at the innards, and everyting underneath too. Looks fried? Contact points ok? Does the warning lamp in the dash light up?? Brushes in the "newish" generator ok??? Fan belt OK? Sure you don't have a constant drain somewhere? New 6V vr's are getting hard to find at a decent price. CIP shows a new one for $109!!!!
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old_n_slo
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 8:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Got a voltmeter? If not, get one. It's a required tool in your tool box, and just as critical as a 13mm wrench. They're cheap too. Wow your parents, and amaze your friends with your new diagnostic prowess.

1. Basic visual inspection is critical. Lots of posts on this topic. Check 'em out.

2. Measure voltage across your battery terminals. If low, charge! A battery in a low state of charge affects your charge output readings.

3. Measure charging voltage across the battery terminals at a fast idle (approximating driving RPM's). You should get more than 7 volts, less than 8 (were keeping this simple).

4. Scroll down to "tests" in this link.

http://www.vw-resource.com/generator.html

5. Post your results.
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jroymcd
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 12:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

have a volt meter. did some tests

battery was at 5.8 when it would not start, charged it and it held at 6.05 for a few days.

running at idle is slowly drains, with the lights on it drains faster.

was showing 6 volts at idle only 6.1 on the gas. not putting out much charge.

I did the draw test. looked to be a very minamal draw. meter showed .001 M (AC)
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outoftheoffice
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 12:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sounds a little low - As mentioned earlier, I think I get nearly 7 volts under moderate RPMs. Maybe pull the brushes and check them out, possibly replace and see if that makes a difference...
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jroymcd
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 2:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I did have the battery disconected. do I just need to polerize the generator?
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old_n_slo
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jroymcd wrote:
I did have the battery disconected. do I just need to polerize the generator?


No.

Your battery is discharged:

State of Charge Specific Gravity Voltage- 6V
100% 1.265 12.7 6.3
*75% 1.225 12.4 6.2
50% 1.190 12.2 6.1
25% 1.155 12.0 6.0
Discharged 1.120 11.9 6.0

Please post your generator voltage test results based on the link provided in the prior post.
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jroymcd
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 6:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm at work tonite I will re-do the test in the morning.

even if the battery is discharged shouldnt the voltmeter show almost 7 volts when on the gas?
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GTi4lifee
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 6:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

had this problem with mine- Check your voltage out of your headlight switch when turned on. A bad headlight switch causes excessive draw and will not return any to the fuse block. A short in essence.

I replaced mine and I have no issues anymore. I chased my tail with regulators and generators for months. A 20 buck switch fixed it.
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jroymcd
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 12:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

GTi4lifee wrote:
had this problem with mine- Check your voltage out of your headlight switch when turned on. A bad headlight switch causes excessive draw and will not return any to the fuse block. A short in essence.

I replaced mine and I have no issues anymore. I chased my tail with regulators and generators for months. A 20 buck switch fixed it.


could be but wouldnt I still see 7 volts coming from the generator?

even with a discharged betterey the generator should still show 7 volts right?

still trying to do the volt test in the link above. its a two man job.
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jroymcd
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 1:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

genarator passed the test. hooked up the regulator and no charge.

Just got a used bosch regulator and im getting just over 6.8 when I give it some gas


Very Happy
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old_n_slo
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 1:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yet another satisfied Samba customer.

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Jody '71
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 1:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You should be reading about 7+ volts on your battery when you throttle up.
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jroymcd
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 1:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jody '71 wrote:
You should be reading about 7+ volts on your battery when you throttle up.


batterey is showing 6.2 after some more charging. (using a small trickle charger) on the throttle jumps up to 6.82

I think Im just fine

Cool

Plan on satying 6volt. Might just get one of those fancy red top batterys next pay day.
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dakdak
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 2:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jroymcd wrote:
Jody '71 wrote:
You should be reading about 7+ volts on your battery when you throttle up.


batterey is showing 6.2 after some more charging. (using a small trickle charger) on the throttle jumps up to 6.82

I think Im just fine

Cool

Plan on satying 6volt. Might just get one of those fancy red top batterys next pay day.


Just a note on the red top battery. I have one, and had it discharged down to 2.5V overnight on two seperate occasions. The battery had to be sent back to the place of purchase, as my charger couldn't charge the battery below 5.75V

I was chasing an electrical leak/drain and to no avail. I ended up going to an auto electrician friend of mine, and he stated that there was no leak after an exhaustive check, but he had many problems with the Optima red top batteries in the past.

The regulator was tweaked up a bit so that I get about 7V at a cruise speed of 40mph, with no load. This drops to about 6.2-6.3V with lights on. At about 55mph, I'm getting about 7.6V unloaded and about 6.8V loaded.

You may want to get the regulator tweaked up a bit, so that it can keep the red top charged up, as it appears it needs more charging to keep it charged.

The battery holds a charge of about 6.1V to 6.15V overnight or for a couple of days.

Just a thought if you're going to pour $$$$$ into a red top battery.
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