Hot ammeter wiring

[David BB 33]

One of the unexpected 'benefits' of this crazy Boston winter has been the chance to think back about the things I might have done wrong on the truck last season. Or about things I didnt quite finish. The most troubling thing happened on the last day before I put the truck "to bed" for the winter. I had run the truck for maybe 20 minutes or so, part of the time driving it around the orchard, and part of the time just idling. It was the longest that the engine had run since I put the truck back together. I noticed a burning-type of smell at the dash, and the ammeter wires were hot to the touch. I shut it down and disconnected the positive cable. I wasn't thinking clearly enough to check the other wiring, so I don't know if other wires were hot or not. The ammeter had appeared to be working fine until then, and the generator had been rebuilt at an automotive electrical shop.

If the snow ever melts and I can work on it again, where should I start looking?
Thanks, David.

[tbirdtbird]

loose connections
start at ammeter

[Mitch//pa]

make sure the terminal box screws that the wires attach to are not grounding out on the body, very common..
the last few repo terminal boxes i installed were designed differently which corrected the problem from the earlier boxes which were prone to grounding.
the ones i got were from Brattons

[Tom Wesenberg]

I've seen two generators that were "rebuilt" by generator shops and they were both burned up because the generator shop had the field and output wires on the wrong brushes. The field wire goes to the MOVABLE brush, and the output wire goes to the INSULATED NON MOVABLE brush.

[David BB 33]

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Thanks tbird, Mitch, and Tom. I will check out all those things when the 'season' starts here. I'll post what I find.

David