Generator testing

[porkchop]

It seems that my gen has decided to die on me. When running it is half in the yellow and the batteries won't charge. I tried to adjust it but no luck. I have another one in the garage but not sure if it is good or bad. Can it be tested without running it on the truck? My back is in no condition to work on the truck, but I might be able to convince some of my Marines to come over and help me. Thanks.

[brute4c]

A good alternator/starter rebuilder should be able to run it on there equipment and test it...

I would think someone in the motor pool would hve such a tester....getting it there might be the problem...I know they arent the lightest pieces...

[randyscycle]

Years ago, my Dad's shop used to rebuild starters, alternators and generators. All they used was an old electric motor with a belt and pulley to run the generator to test output. You can do the same thing with the engine running.

After it was found to need anything, and disassembled, you then needed a few special tools to do the testing of the armature. To test the armature you needed a growler, which is a big electromagnet to test for shorts and it also had two leads to check for continuity like an ohmmeter. They also had an undercutter to cut the mica between the segments on the commutator as the copper wore away and the grooves filled with copper residue, shorting them to one another.

The case windings could be checked with an ohmmeter.