Your electrical problem sounds similiar to one I had earlier this
summer. In my case the cause was the voltage regulator. Usually when I
started the car the ammeter would show discharge and then something
would connect and it would work normally for the rest of the drive. I
got away with this for a while but it gradually got worse. Replacing the
voltage regulator fixed things right up.
A simple meter would be a big help for diagnosing these problems. $20 at
Radio Shack should get you what you need. You do not, however, want a
digital meter you want the old style analog meter (with an actual meter
movement, not a numeric readout).
> Howdy Mates
>
> We're getting the old TF sorted out.
>
> Problem 1:
>
> Dynamo-related. One time it charges fine. The next time I drive it shows
>discharge, then back again. Sometimes it will charge while driving, then
>discharge when I get home and keeps discharging even if I rev it up. When I do
>rev it up and it's discharging, the red light gets brighter as I rev it. This
>in partucular doesn't seem right to me. Even if the dynamo was weak, if yoiu
>rev it things should get better, not worse.
>
> Sometimes the light is on while I'm driving. I have not yet experienced any
>battery weakness, but I carry the crank in case.
>
> You may recall that when I got the car the battery was in backwards. I
>reversed it and re-polarized the dynamo but did nothing else. Some said to
>reverse ammeter leads, but I thought re-polarizing took care of that. The
>ground cable is clean and intact, though it is not the skinny MG type.
>
> To me it almost seems like the polarity is reversing back and forth; as if it
>is actually charging both when it shows charge and when it shows discharge.
>
> I don't have electrical gauges to check things out. I'd love to hear some
>opinions on whether I really have a problem and simple fixes.
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