[jessee]

Hey guys i have a 74 ironhead electric start and rode it all summer with no issues untill three weeks ago my gen stoped charging, so i got a new drag spec one at a local shop. it lasted a week and stopped charging. put the 2nd drag spec one in and one week later it starts making a high pitched metal on metal sound and put a hole on the tip of the commentator end.
so i said fuck it try a usa made cycle electric gen and reg and i install it and rotate engine and i get that metal on metal sound??

 

[F.St.M.]

Tell me, have all three replacement generators come with drive gears, or
have you been swapping your gear onto them?

If they have been coming with gears, are they the same tooth count as your original?

 

[jessee]

i am using the same gear... The noise is comming from the armature. when that spins makes a squelling sound

 

[shovithead]

Almost sounds like you have the wires swapped on the generator, making it a electric motor, instead of a generator. But only you can tell.

 

[geezer]

In every medium sized town there is someone who repairs generator and electric motors. Find him and be his friend. They are a dying breed and worth their weight in three brush generators.

 

[jessee]

their was one place in town and they said the cand test motorcycle gens. plus this is brand new never run. this happened to the last one ran for a week made this noise.

 

[DopeDog]

Find yourself an N.O.S. drive gear.
Cycle Electric gennies absolutely HATE cheap-ass gears, like those that come from V-Twin, Custom Chrome & (surprise!, surprise!) Drag Spec.

If you run the CE with that piece-of-shit drive gear that killed the other two, it'll give you a VERY expensive lesson in how not to buy & continue to use questionable parts.

Other than wiring it wrong, there's not much else other than a fucked gear that can kill a generator on an ironhead.

 

[jessee]

the generator gear was on the original generator, pretty sure its original. I just kept on using the same one.

 

[DopeDog]

Swap it out anyway.
There's obviously something wrong with it.

 

[pusher]

Almost sounds like you have the wires swapped on the generator, making it a electric motor, instead of a generator. But only you can tell.

+1 to this
is it wired correctly to the regulator

 

[jessee]

it wasnt wired yet just truning engine by hand. but it has always been wired right!!!

 

[1fastfx]

13 tooth gear for big twin 14 tooth gear xl.They work if switched but not for long and not ending well either.
Are you still running the oil deflector/washer.Try it without it,maybe hitting the cam cover.

 

[old.wrench]

their was one place in town and they said the cand test motorcycle gens. plus this is brand new never run. this happened to the last one ran for a week made this noise.

Not that it necessarily applies in your case, but its worth noting that many years ago I had a starter motor go bad in my '66 Mustang. I went down to the local NAPA parts store and bought a replacement, installed it, and went to fire up the motor and. . . . nothing. Well, a bunch of second guessing and head scratching and double-checking ocurred until I finally ran power directly to the the starter and still nothing. I pulled the starter and went back to NAPA and told them the starter was bad. The counter guy said no way could the starter be bad, they are all bench tested blah, blah, and I must have hooked it up wrong and burned it up or something, no warranty on electrical parts etc. I made it clear I wasn't leaving without a replacement and he was going to bench test this one right in front of me. Well, believe it or not, the second one was bad as well, to the counter guys embarassment. The third one however, was the charm, and it worked fine. Sorry for the long winded discourse, this is just my way of saying there are very few things you can take for granted.

Regards,
Geo.

 

[badassbrutus]

++1 on the oil deflector..