12v generator field 46v?

[mattybobatty]

long story short, building a buggy and bought a used engine. 1600 dp, unsure of year.
trying to get a charge on the battery, installed a new voltage regulator and no charge, charge light still on. if i perform the field test, its pushing 46v around 2000rpm. is that too much for the regulator?
i need to post pics on what i have, but the gen has junkyard writing on it stating 45amps.
i have d+ and df on the gen, thats it, and when i bought the motor it had a bus style 3 wire regulator hooked up to both terminals. i cant find any diagram that shows how the p.o. might've had it hooked up.. sort of think maybe it wasnt..

just need to know if 46v is too much for any regulator to work correctly? before i buy another regulator, and before i buy a conversion to 12v alternator
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junk

[mukluk]

If you're talking about the check where you ground the DF and measure the generator output voltage and the 2000rpm you mention is crankshaft revs, then 46v is perfectly normal. Take note that the unregulated generator output specs listed are for generator rpm, not engine rpm, so revving the engine up to 2000rpm will result in a rather high voltage reading. A properly functioning voltage regulator rapidly cycles the ground path for the DF on and off to maintain a normal ~13-14v output from the generator, regardless of engine rpm, provided the generator is turning fast enough to create at least that much voltage.

As for the generator having writing on it stating 45amps, I would ignore that for now. What you're most interested in looking at is the information that is stamped into the body of the generator. There should be a part number, and more importantly, a voltage and amperage rating -- a normal 105mm diameter 12v Beetle generator should say 14V/30A. If yours is stamped with anything other than that, a normal Type 1 12v regulator isn't the correct one to use.
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1960 Ragtop w/Semaphores "Inga"