63 40hp rude generator help

[trump19]

ok let me start by saying hi to all im a first time poster and long time reader. and forgive me spelling bc well i cant so hang on. ok i have a 63 40 hp rude with electric shift. i just bought this motor and never had to work on one with a generator so i dont know how the system works, in the panel box the wires from the gen come in and go into 2 fuses and out to the regulator and they some back in to the fuse block . so u know i am running 2 panel boxes bc i couldn't get the regulator to fit in the main box. i hope this is making sense. so my question is does this generator require 12v to it or should it make its own power on its own. im just confused bc of the 2 wires coming from the bottom of the generator.. im sorry if i sound stupid or ignorant but the only dumb question is the question not asked. thanks for any help

 

[F_R]

Re: 63 40hp rude generator help

Hey, don't feel dumb and stupid because there are few of us old-timers still around that understand how DC generators work. And when we are gone, somebody had better have it written down. I'm 73.

Ok, to try to answer your question. The generator does not have to be externally excited like some alternators do, if that is what you are thinking. The generator has soft iron field pole shoes with the field coils wound around them. The iron holds enough magnetism to start the generating process, but the regulator must complete the field coils circuit to make it put out enough voltage to charge a battery. It does this by grounding the field terminal on the generator (the small one). Once it builds enough voltage to be of any use, a relay within the regulator closes, connecting the generator to the battery and charging happens. There are two other relay sections within the regulator, a voltage regulator and a current regulator. They operate by sensing the output and rapidly opening or closing a set of vibrating points to interrupt the field circuit. The generator doesn't produce enough voltage to close the relay till an engine rpm of about 1500 is reached (slightly above idle). After that, the output is regulated to a maximum of 10 amps at 14.5 volts. Note that is considerably more than the maximum of 5 or 6 amps produced by many modern outboard alternators, so don't let somebody bad-mouth the DC generator system.

You probably don't understand everything I just wrote, but hey I said nobody does, didn't I?