generator & regulator

[philby26]

Hi guys
just a question on the grey motor generator & regulator
are they a matching item or not ? my brothers car(fc) had problems so he took the generator to an auto sparky
and they are telling him he needs to put an alternator in, as the generator & regulator  are a set pair "i thought it was rubbish"
so i thought i would ask you guys 
so a bit of advice would be greatfull

cheers Phil

[mc54]

I have a ACDelco regulator in my vehicle with a Bosch generator. Everything works fine.

Mike

[CraigA]

I am guessing that he is referring to the fact that the regulator is set up to suit the generator.

If you change the generator you would need to recheck regulator settings - and vice a versa.

Just put an alternator on and chuck them both away  ;)

[FC427]

I remember when fitting a new regulator for a generator that the Auto Electrician had to Polerise it to suit if it was a + or - earth car or was that only pommy cars  ??? ??? ??? ???  must be having a senior's moment ......FC427....

[EffCee]

FC 427

I once had a Ford Prefect that was converted to 12 volt, the issue with most Pommy cars is that they were positive earth and not neg earth.

I had the Prefect "polarised" so that i could fit niceties like a radio etc

Keith

[mcl1959]

Generally you should use a Bosch regulator with a Bosch generator and a Lucas regulator with a Lucas generator etc.  They are not matched as a pair.  Sometimes you can get away with mixing them but voltage and current outputs will not be optimum. The worst case scenario with a mixed set is that the battery overcharges continually. On the other hand, undercharging will result in shortened battery life.

Ken

[philby26]

Thanks guys

I will look into it then and see what we come up with.

cheers Phil

[fcv85l]

mcl1959 is right