Model A's Voltage Regulators - Model T generator life

[AdminJeff]

ok, just to keep this out of Off Topic ( I am one of the forum admins) heres a Model T tip some will find very useful.

If you don't have a Voltage regulator, set your 3rd brush on your generator to 3-5A max charge rate (at 6volts) while driving WITHOUT headlights on and you'll prolong the life of your generator AND your battery. Cutouts just pass along everything coming out of the battery which is why they most often overcharge your battery, and nothing good comes from that. Keeping the charge current lower helps everything. More is not always better!

ANY MODEL A FOLKS OUT THERE?????

I'm looking for "victims" willing to test a new Model A Positive Ground Voltage Regulator I'm about to start mass production on. I've been working on & sold a couple hundred of the 6v & 12v Model T version that is negative ground and those works really, really well. The Model A is a redesign of that version for the positive ground Model A. It also has a screw on the generator tab for the generator output connection.

If you help me, you will get a FREE Model A 6v Voltage Regulator.

Here are the params -You MUST be willing to do the following:

- Own a Model A w/ Positive ground. (original wiring)
- Have a 6v original style generator ( no alternators)
- own a decent volt meter. Analog or Digital is fine.
- live somewhere that you can drive your car NOW. Not Alaska, Not Detroit or N. Dakota.
- be willing to pull up your floor boards, then drive the car and measure the voltages as the regulator is working. Alligator clips help here.
- be comfortable turning a tiny screw on a circuit board to make adjustments as needed.
- send me feedback, call me, talk to me.

I need feedback now. I have orders for several hundred of these and I want to make sure they work on a variety of cars/situations before I order 250 circuit boards. That's a heavy investment.

Every car is different. Some have incandescent headlights, others have LED. Some have been rewired, others are all original. Each of these situations affect how voltages are measured at the battery.

If you're interested, reply to this posting and tell me the following:

1) what year/style car do you have?
2) what (if anything) has been done to your wiring?
3) are you willing to agree to all the conditions I outlined?

I have test regulators I can ship to you right now.

Jeff Stevenson
Model T&A Starters & Voltage Regulators
http://www.modelaregulators.com

[Dan McEachern]

_














_

[AdminJeff]

I'd rather have our members get a crack at this first.

Jeff

[AdminJeff]

Well, I dusted off the Model A yesterday (it was finally 59F here in Idaho), put a charger on it so I could start it, put the new prototype voltage regulator on it and took it for a drive.

Here it is working:
https://youtu.be/nHKD_kWA7g8

Looks like I'll have to update my posts in the vendor forum when I get the new circuit boards delivered!

Getting this working was no small feat. Jon Hunter and I scratched our heads several times during the redesign of the circuit.

[Kurt in NJ]

I have used halogen bulbs in my A for the last 25 years with the generator set at 14 amps, do about 50% night driving.
could set up a sun volt amp tester hard wired
Does the regulator keep the third brush to limit amperage output? ( rebuilt it 50 years ago, just replaced front bearing only)
before the halogen bulbs the generator would get cranked up to 18 amps to make 50 cp bulbs bright.
I never use a maintainer, have always had great battery life ( 16 years out of optima, 7-9 out of regular batteries)
It’s the first generator I rebuilt, it threw the solder off the commutator and was told resoldering would only be a temporary fix—- still testing the limits of temporary.

[AdminJeff]

I'v got 3 solid testers now. I'll let you know if I need more folks!
My regulator simply replaces (and looks exactly like) the existing cutout - no other changes required.

Jeff