"F" is the GROUND... not connected to battery...

POS ground... so you mean the NEGATIVE terminal goes to the amp meter....other terminal to "BAT" on the regulator as you said...the drawing above is correct..

if your amp meter is BAD, or you think it is... just bypass and run the "BAT" terminal of the regulator to the NEG bat post.... for a test..

The high voltage spikes COULD be the quality of your volt meter.. but at the same time your AMP meter is not working... so i would assume the regulator is not "flashed" or the generator is not putting out any voltage...

rilenz wrote: yes the 12 to 19 is volts. with lights off the ammeter stays at around -1 and with lights on it stays at -15 does not vary with engine running idle or wide open

Where, exactly, are you taking this voltage measurement?

As Steve mentioned above, running a generator 'open circuit' can cause it to read quite high. I suspect something isn't making connection somewhere.

rilenz wrote: ...   I have a 6 volt positive ground CA...

We are assuming this is a stock, original third-brush type generator for a CA. My service manual shows this as originally having only a cutout relay on the generator and using the light switch which has a built-in resistor for regulation.

You have stated that you are using a regulator in conjunction with this generator, which is not a bad thing. Is there also a resistor-type light switch still in this circuit?

rilenz wrote: I wired it like steve (ill) advised I put new 6 volt reg. on

Again we are  assuming it not marked as a 12 volt unit

rilenz wrote: ...had my generator check out cleaned all grounds put new ammeter on but when I start it up it reads 0 then when I turn lights on it reads -15...

With the engine not running, turn on the lights; what does the ammeter indicate, and which direction does it move?

rilenz wrote: I checked battery with volt meter before startup it was 6.22 when running it goes from 12 to 19 and eveything in between rapidly.

I would suggest disconnecting everything at the light switch/ammeter area and just run a jumper wire from the regulator to the battery, then test the voltage at the battery, running and not running. This will narrow down the variables.

rilenz wrote: when I look in the back of generator i only see two brushes and no there is no resistor light switch it's just an on off switch with a seperate kill switch that goes between battery and coil

Hmmm... a two-brush generator needs a different regulator than the third-brush type.

The third-brush type uses the third brush positioning to control the amperage and the regulator then has two coils, one to control the voltage and the other coil is the cutout relay.

The two-brush units need a three-coil type regulator, of which one coil controls the amps, one to control the voltage and the other is the cutout relay.

I am curious as to which regulator you have, it needs to match the type of generator.

Did you try turning on the lights with the engine not running and note the ammeter reading?

Here is what I would do in this situation of not knowing if the components are correct.

1. Disconnect the generator from EVERYTHING.

2. Connect a suitable voltmeter to the battery.

3. Start the engine, let it idle at lowest practical speed.

4. Connect a jumper wire (at least 12 ga.) from battery neg. to generator Armature.

5. Observe voltmeter (it probably will not be charging yet).

6. Connect a jumper from field on generator to ground, be prepared to quickly remove it

7. If voltage rises above about 8 volts, disconnect field jumper, voltage should drop.

8. If voltage does NOT climb with field connected, slowly increase engine speed until it does. If the generator is good you should be able to find a sweet spot of engine speed that will raise the voltage level in combination with connecting/disconnecting the field.

9. If all of that checks good, then shut it down and re-connect the regulator. If it still goes bonkers then you have found the problem.

It does sound like you voltage regulator has an internal problem... or is the wrong type to match your generator.

Grounding the "F" and having the amp meter jump up to 12- 15 amps tells you the generator works, and the amp meter is responding.

rilenz wrote: I did turn lights on without tractor running and amp meter read neg. 6 or 8

Good. That tells us that your ammeter is good and wired correctly.

rilenz wrote: I have a regulator that has lights, bat, field and on the other side Gen. It is 6 volt.

I am suspicious of that regulator possibly being the wrong unit. My shop manual shows a totally different generator which uses the light switch/resistor for regulation; do bear in mind that my shop manual may be an old one that may not cover newer models.

If you verify your generator for proper function as outlined above, then either the regulator is at fault or you have connectivity issues.

Best wishes on your project !

trace your two wires from the generator and make sure you dont have the "F" and "G" (A) wires reversed..

rilenz wrote: I have a regulator that has lights, bat, field and on the other side Gen. It is 6 volt.

I am still pondering on this.

If a 12 volt regulator happened to be installed in a 6 volt system it seems to me that it might behave in a similar manner to your symptoms.

The regulator will see the 6 volt battery as being under-voltage and would then attempt to drive the generator to maximum voltage (and current). The voltage limiting relay would probably not reach its limit, but the current limiting relay probably will, causing it to break the field circuit, which will then cause the current to go to zero and the voltage will drop to ~6 volts.

The voltage coil will then see a perceived under-voltage situation and will close the field circuit, once again driving the generator to maximum output causing the current limiting coil to open the field circuit, etc. etc. etc. Thus rapidly cycling the voltage high-low-high-low-high-low.

A cheap digital meter will attempt to follow those fluctuations giving bewildering readings.

I dunno. Just speculating.