Cub 127 charging issues.
 

Hi guys. I hope that I'm doing this right as it's my first post. I live near Johnstown PA and I have a cub 127. I'm having issues with the charging system. I replaced the battery with a new one and it started fine for awhile but then went dead. Recharged it.....same thing. I then had the generator checked and the shop replaced the bearings and brushes/springs etc. I reinstalled it and noticed that the charging meter wasn't moving after starting the cub which was probably the case all along. I checked the wires and connections the best that I could and they looked old but intact. I then carefully relaced the voltage regulator square thingee but same thing. The charge meter doesn't go up. Now the meter will go down if I turn the headlights on while it's running but when I turn them off it goes right back to the middle. I'm going to buy a volt meter tomorrow but I'm not exactly sure what to do with it as I'm better at replacing things than troubleshooting but it's an expensive way to fix things. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

On your Starter/Motor on the right hand side of your engine, there are two terminals on it. I beleive the one marked "F" has a small wire attached to it, while the other terminal has the battery cable. when the engine is running, take a test light, find a good ground, and see if there si current at the "F" terminal. if the S/G (that is the short way to say Starter/Genorator) is working proporly, then you should have power here. the wire from there runs to the "F" terminal on the Voltage regulator. find the "F" terminal on the V/R, and see if there is power there. after that, I'm not sure, as I'm not too familiar with the old charging system. maybe someone else can come along and give a bit more info

Check out our technical section on this site. Good info on testing the starter/generator. http://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/s...18&postcount=1

I think you have either a bad armature in the starter/generator or a bad field coil. The easiest way to test this is to temporarily (as in no more than a few seconds) ground the "F" terminal on the S/G while the engine is running. If it pegs the ammeter to the charge side, it's not the S/G and you have some other problem. If it doesn't do anything, you have a faulty S/G.

Also, you can put your voltmeter across the battery while the engine is running. You should get something like 14.5V. Less than 13 or so, and it isn't charging right.

It sounds like you need to find a new S/G shop if they just replace the bearings and brushes and don't actually check the darn thing....

Another thing to check.....is that the Voltage Regulator HAS to be properly grounded to work.

Make sure there is a good ground from the V/R case to the battery Negative ( - ) terminal.

As a Test....Find a wire long enough to run between the Battery ( - ) terminal and touch the V/R case. If it charges, then find the poor ground connection.

Wow. Thank you guys for all the replies. What a nice place with good folks. So rare today. I guess owning a Cub brings out the best in people. I'll print out the suggestions and spend the day tinkering. I'll let you know how I make out. Thanks again.
Dale in Pennsylvania

I finally figured it out thanks to you guys. I did all the tests and found that the terminal on the voltage regulator that says "battery" was only getting power if I jiggled the wire. I replaced the bad part of the wire and was so happy when I saw that the meter was charging. I never could have done it without you guys pointing me in the right direction. Thank you so much.
Dale in pennsylvania

goat_poker you're right, there are a bunch of good people here, they even help out an old knuckelhead like me when I need it!