Went out to check on my cousin's WD-45 I got running a few weeks ago, and it wouldn't start as the 6V battery was now too weak. Put it on the charger and got it back up to snuff. It spun over really good once fully charged, and I had to choke it a bit more than usual, but it fired right up, with the usual flutters and pops that tractor does.

However, I noticed the ammetter was not showing a charge. I played with the switch position, but never got the needle to move at all while playing with it. I don't have a 6V on my tractors, I have an 8V battery w/ generator or a 12V battery w/ alternator setup, so I am used to how those show charging.

So I'm not really sure what I should be seeing, or if I needed to rev the tractor up more, or if there's something else I should be looking for to see if the generator even works? I did put a few drops of oil in the front spring loaded flip up on the generator while I was out there.

Steve@B&B

Dusty MI wrote: First check to see if the cutout on the generator is closing, and if it's points/contact is good.

Easy way to check this? I have a volt meter if needed.

Steve in NJ wrote: Sometimes if the Battery is fully charged, you may not see the ammeter move hardly at all because its not low enough to where the Gennie needs to do its job. Also, if the Tractor sits a lot, you might have some rust or corrosion in the Ammeter box where the three position switch is located. Those switches are a self-grounding switch, and need to be grounded well to the instrument box in order to increase the ground to the Gennie to charge. Something else you might want to check also. Check the wiring also, to make sure the Varmits didn't have Breakfast one morning....  HTH Steve@B&B

That's pretty good to know about the needle not moving after a full charge, since the battery had been fully charged up to right before I cranked on it (due to it being flat). Maybe will just need to run it for awhile and see if anything changes. Need to double check the manual for the ammeter "light" switch positions for charging as on my WDs I set them and never move them (headlights have been broken for years). And will definitely check the instrument box wiring for corrosion, good call there.

AC720Man wrote: There is a small screw at the lower left of the housing that holds the ammeter and light switch housing. You remove it to slide the housing up to change the fuse or make a repair. That area needs to be cleaned so it grounds when the screw is installed and tightened down. This will also cause the ammeter to not function.

This is good info, thanks!!

Steve in NJ wrote: Three position light switch works like this: All the way in first position- No lights/low charge through 3 Ohm resistor (approx 2-3 amps) Second position- Lights ON/Ground increased, resistor bypassed (full charge-4-7 amps-depending on where the third brush is positioned) Third position- Lights OFF/Ground the same as position 2, resistor bypassed (full charge- 4-7 amps- again depending on where the third brush is positioned. The third position was the one that always gets forgotten about if the Battery was low and the driver pulled the switch all the way out to charge the Battery. If left in that position, and work was started, with a charging system in good working order would actually boil the Battery. The smell of Battery acid is the first indicator of Holy S**t I forgot to push the switch in!! You don't want to do that to many times....  LOL! Steve@B&B

This is awesome. I actually had no idea how this worked. Not sure how it is setup on my 12V alternator tractor. And on my 8V tractor, I think it is set out to high charge all the time due to the voltage difference? It always shows a high charge amount. I've never moved either one since I've gotten them.

But on this 6V tractor, this is good info to know. Are there distinct "clicks" when moving the lever? I didn't really notice one moving from all the way in to all the way out. Maybe I didn't pull hard enough?

Steve@B&B