Thanks for the reply - the generator was rebuilt 2 years ago - so I would assume everything was good at that time. The truck really hasn't been running consistently for the last 2 years - I put it in 2 parades and take it for short rides, but other than that - I have been slowly (2 years), trying to figure out why it was having a hard time starting. I think I finally figured all that out with the help of this forum and some research. I don't see an actual "brush" - I can loosen the screw on the outside and it loosens up a metal piece on the inside that I can move around -but it doesn't really move much. I will have to try and take some picutres of what I am talking about. As for your reply on the communtator - If i know what your talking about - there are 3 of them - they all look fine. IF there are not 3 of them - then I am not sure what your taking about and I will have research that more - but the whole thing was rebuilt 2 years ago. Hope that helps.......thanks again. r/dave

 

Okay, so a quick search on commutator - there might be only 1 - but that looks fine also..........

 

Might be 3 brushes, but all of them ride on the commutator. Based on Oldchevy's reply about adjusting the brush for voltage , makes sense. You might want to consider an external voltage regulator unless you want to keep it all original, and I wouldn't blame you for that. One final thing, since it starts, sometimes fine, other times not, did you check the belt tension?

 

Morning, Thanks for the reply. Thanks to OldChevy for telling me about the contacts that could be bad in the kill switch - I took that out and the truck will start consistently now - problem there solved. I was just trying to figure out the generator and the AMPs - before I adjusted the "3rd brush" the amps was reading + 18 - 20 when running and some said that would "boil" the battery. After the adjustment - it is reading about - 2 to - 10 depending on what I turn on and off - so to me that just means that the battery is not being recharged - which I can live with since I am not doing too much w/the truck right now. I car around an extra battery also. I was just trying to get the AMPs to read properly when running so that it does recharge the battery.
I agree with you Kevinkpk - I want to keep it all original as possible - it is coming up on 100 years old and even though it might run better with an upgrade in some systems - I am having fun with it as it is. Neighbors have told me to change it out to a 12 volt, update the bed and side rails and I always say - NO - I will struggle with the issues I have - as long as I understand what they are and how to get around them when I go to car shows/parades or just driving around.
On this Tuesday coming up - I am joining a local classic car group - so I am looking for more help with my issues that are closer to home.

Thanks again for all the thoughts on my issues. I will keep you updated as I move along. R/dave