Triumph Repair: chargins gremlins, jumper wire, long jumper

Question
Hi,  We have a 67 TR4A which sat for some 15 years before we bought it, so we have replaced many things in the past year. The generator quit about two months ago, replaced with a new one, worked great, until a couple weeks ago, when suddenly the ammeter redlined itself, and the generator got hot.  I unplugged the generator wires, and drove home on the battery.  The regulator is an aftermarket item, without any adjustments for regulator or cutout, so I bought a new regulator and installed it, however the result is the same; at about 2000 rpm, the ammeter goes to the peg.  HELP!!!
Thanks,  Peter

Answer
Hi Peter,
To test the generator just disconnect the two wires and make a long jumper wire of a 12ga wire that will reach from the generator to the battery. Then add a short jumper to one end (this can be a 14ga wire. It would be best to put a wire end on the one end of the long wire and one on the short wire to fit the two posts of the generator. Now connect the short jumper to the end of the long wire so you have a long 12ga wire with a large connector and the small jumper on it and a connector on the short wire. Now connect the large wire with the small wire (pig tail) attached to it to the large post on the generator and connect the short wire to the small connector on the generator. Put a volt meter across the battery posts and read battery voltage (12.5+v) start the engine and set the RPM at about 1500 RPM and just touch the negative (-) post of the battery with the long 12ga wire and note the volt meter reading. DO NOT LEAVE IT CONNECTED LONG, JUST LONG ENOUGH TO READ THE VOLT METER!!! It should not read more than 15v. If it does the generator is bad. If it reads close to 15v then you must start checking all of the power (-) cables and the ground cable ends (+) for bad connections and replace the regulator. This car is (+) ground.
Don't just feel the cable ends to see if they are tight, you must remove each and clean the contacts including the strap from engine to frame.
Howard