Re: [AMC-list] One wire alternator

[tom jennings <tomj@xxxxxxx>]

Jim's right -- the fat alternator connector goes directly to the BATTERY,
absolutely NOT the switched side. Preferably directly to the battery post,
or battery side of the solenoid on a Ford type starter. Putting it on the
switched side will prevent the car from turning off (the alternator output
will run all the loads) and the voltage wont regulate without the battery
connected, it'll be all over the place, and for 3-wire alts that sense wire
MUST be tied to battery -- else the alt will keep raising the voltage output
trying to "see" 13V on the sense wire!

My only problem with the 3-wire alts is that stupid cheap connector gets
loose, the sense wire can't sens and battery voltage jumps around, stressing
all the electronics and lamps in the car.




On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 10:16, Jim Blair <carnuck@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> You're off a little bit on that Frank. The main wire MUST go to the battery
>   solidly. The sensor wire also must be attached (not switched) direct
> battery power. The light wire is the on/off switch to the regulator. The
> power passing through the light is grounded through the connector on the
> Alt.
>    As soon as the Alt kicks in, the feedback   from the Alt negates the
> power on the other side of the bulb and it goes off (2 positives can't make
> a circuit. ) That is unless one side is stronger than the other, in which
> case you get the infamous Alt light glow. That is why a 10 ohm resistor was
> added to the circuit, bypassing the bulb so it only lights in extreme
> pos/neg conditions.
>   The first vehicle to get one of these Alts was the Chev Vega and it
> didn't have the resistor. People complained about the light (who knows how
> many were changed because of it?), but if the bulb burned out, it didn't
> charge at all. My ex-wife's mother bought a vega at a yard sale because
> "no-one could get it to charge".
>   Being an "apprentice" mechanic at the time, I got out my volt/ohm meter
> and started measuring. I found battery power on the 2 leads and traced them
> back to the battery. I added a new ground lead battery to body, because my
> '66 Chev's problem was cured by that. Still no go.
>   When I tested the third wire, it had neither power nor ground, so first I
> tried grounding the terminal. Nothing. Then I put power to it, and I heard
> the Alt kick in. I took the power lead off, and it kept charging till I shut
> the car off. Next time I started it, I had to do it again.
>   I noticed the dash light was out, so I put in a new bulb and the charging
> system started working normal. Then I made the mistake of unplugging the
> connector with the motor running. My voltmeter was attached and I saw it
> spike to nearly 20 and the motor stalled. The Alt had gone full field when
> the sensor wire came off! (that's why it can't be put on switched power)
>
>
> From: Frank Swygert
> To: amc-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [AMC-list] One wire alternator
> Message-ID:
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> The one and three wire alternators are the same except for the regulator.
> The three wire regulator has the two wire plug on it, no plug on the
> one-wire, naturally. One of the wires on the plug goes to switched battery
> voltage, or you can run a jumper from the big battery wire to that position,
> essentially making the three-wire alternator a one-wire. The second wire in
> the plug goes to the dash light. So you can easily use a common three-wire
> alternator.
>
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