I have a 1953 ford Victoria. I changed the generator to a one wire alternator. I unhooked all the wires to the old regulator. My ammeter shows discharge only. What do I need to do to remedy this? I ran the wire from the alternator to the battery side of the solenoid.
Check the alternator output with a volt meter to see if it is charging. Does the ammeter show a discharge when the engine is running? What about when you rev the engine, does the needle move in any direction? The ammeter may have a large gauge wire looped through the back of it so the gauge can read current. I can't remember if the wire has to run a certain direction through the gauge but I thought if its run the wrong way it will read wrong. Check some of this out.
Many one wire alternators produce 2 to 3 times more than the old generators did and the old amp gauges can't handle that which is why alternator cars went to a voltmeter, there have been cases where this has caused wiring to over heat and start a fire.
1953 originally had a positive ground 6 volt. If you converted to a 12 volt negative ground the ammeter will read as a discharge. You could change the wire direction on the ammeter or, as I did go to a volt meter. I adapted a modern voltmeter to my old ammeter gage and calibrated the needle to show charge. If the needle falls back to middle or below I know my voltage is dropping.
No the system is still a 6 volt positive ground. The needle does not move when I rev the engine. When I turn the lights on the needle shows discharge and when I turn them off the needle moves back to the center with the engine running. Do I use any of the wires I unhooked from the gen and regulator. At this point I would like to use the ammeter. Do you have a step by step to wire the ammeter?
What is the amp out put of the alternator ? if it exceeds the 30 amps of the original generator you won't have a fix. You will probably need a gauge like this as the typical round gauges for 6 volt are rare. http://www.ebay.com/itm/3V-6V-9V-12...747122?hash=item1ea258cb72:g:uCcAAOSw9N1Vw1PZ Ford's did have H.D. 40 amp generator used in police and taxis (very rare) that had a matching gauge.
To determine if the system is working use a voltmeter to measure voltage at the battery not running. should be around 6 volts. Start the engine raise the rpm a little and see if the voltage increases. If it does not your ammeter is correct. If it does your ammeter is wrong.
Jerdan For an ammeter to read correctly, the power must go through the ammeter. You have it essentially disconnected.
Your ammeter will only show discharge as you are not p***ing the alternator charge through the ammeter. Personally I would leave it exactly as it is. The fix is quite involved and the alternators generally have a higher output than the ammeters can handle. To get the ammeter working you need to connect the alternator directly to the ammeter on the load side of the ammeter not the ammeters battery terminal. This way it will show current p***ing through the ammeter. A voltmeter in your situation is a much easier fix.
After changing the generator to alternator, it is charging the battery. But I let it sit for a few days and the battery went dead. I have a discharge some where. Any ideas on what it could be? Did I miss a step in the change over?
After recharging your battery disconnect one cable from the battery leave the other cable connected to the battery. It does not matter which cable you leave connected. Hook a voltmeter with one lead to disconnected terminal on battery and other lead to disconnected battery cable. Depending on which cable you have diconnected you will see a positive or negative voltage. You can turn on your lights and you should see battery voltage. turn off your lights and make sure everything is off and you should see zero to 1 volts. Dont forget courtesy lights they will need to be off also. If everything is off and you still see voltage disconnect the alternator and see if voltage goes back to zero or close. If you still have voltage then it is something else . Check anything else that would have voltage with key off , such as courtey lights brake lights etc.
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