Got this used, "works!". Thought it was a one wire job. Put it on my heap, nothing out of the stud, well maybe .5 volts. My friend came over, pulled off this rubber plug and says I may need to run a wire from the ignition switch to one of the terminals to 'excite' it. I don't see any markings on the terminals. Help!
I went from the bolt on the back to the battery. One terminal gets jumped to the back of the alternator and the other is a warning light that goes to the dash. Pretty easy set up. Goolge GM one wire set-ups and you will get some good info oon how easy it is. I am sure it has been covered on here as well.
Click SEARCH and read what the replies were on the last 125 threads like this. It's right there next to preseving patina and washing a barn find.
I had one that didn't seem to work.Was told it needs to have the chrome ground off the mounting boss for grounding.Havent tried it yet to see if that's the case.
The spade closes to the battery terminal will go to the light the other one can be hooked up to the battery terminal or the ignition switch.
Last time I checked, chrome is electrically conductive... somebody doesn't know what they're talking about.
If it had a rubber plug covering the regulator studs it probably is a one wire.They will not begin to charge until you rev the engine to about 1800. Did you try that?
Kind of.. I read about the higher revs needed for kick in, then I also read they typically spin at 3x crank speed. That may be the problem because I took the fairly small pulley off it and put the pulley for my flathead (wide belt) on, which is not much smaller, if any, than my crank pulley. So I'm not spinning it much faster than crank speed. And the flatty is no revver to begin with.
One wire will not need to have the exciter wire. You can get a one wire regulator that will excite easier. Chrome plated alternator does not need an extra ground. Unless you have it in a powder coated bracket. Then you might need to grind thru the power coat. If your turning the alternator slower with a bigger pulley you will have to turn the engine faster to get the alternator to excite. If your not sure about the ground just use a jumper wire and see.
I checked both powermaster and tough stuff just for the heck of it and they do recommend a separate ground from the stud on the back to the frame.Come to think of it my alternator bracket is a chunk of aluminum bolted to the engine block.
There is a ground bolt on the back of alternator,I myself always run a separate ground wire #12 to the battery from that bolt. Pete
I've reverted back to a '60s GM alternator and separate mechanical regulator. Here's the wiring diagram. Right now I just have a jumper wire going from the 4 terminal on the regulator. With the truck running, when I connect the jumper to battery +, it charges. When I turn the key off it stops but there is still a drain on the battery until I disconnect the jumper. So why can't I just run the wire from 4 to the ignition switch instead of a resistance wire? I guess I don't understand the resistance necessity.
DON'T buy one of his rebuilds. Cosmo P.S. NAPA have the plug w/pigtails for internally regulated alternators. Buy one. The large gauge wire goes directly to the screw terminal. The other goes to the non-power end of the idiot light, the other side being power, natcherly. This (or a resistor) is necessary to avoid feedback which will feed power in a loop, and you will not be able to shut off the engine. There are ways around this, but they all add complexity. Cosmo
I believe that's so if the indicator light burns out you still have power going to 4 which is the field relay (not the field terminal which is marked F). Make sure your using the correct terminals on the ignition key. With the key off you should not have power on acc.
From what I was told is that the alternator is charging your battery so the least resistance would be to have a ground (copper wire) directly to the battery from the alternator. (makes sense in my head).Also was told to run a ground cable directly to the engine from the battery then to the frame and so on. Probably overkill but rules out any ground issues thru the motor and frame. As far as OEM's its probably cost of the wire and labor on thousands of cars. Pete
Your wiring diagram is for a externally regulated alternator so I would ***ume that's what your working with. The NAPA harness is not intended for that application. Are you sure you have an externally regulated alternator. As for the resistance wire... the light will still come on without the wire but if the bulb burns out it provides an alternate way for the current to reach terminal 4 the field relay in order to excite the field.
Yes, I ditched the chrome 1 wire alternator yesterday for '60s stuff, external regulator. So the light wire goes to the ignition pole on the switch and the resistance wire to the acc. position? Why is that? Why can't standard wire be used instead of resistance wire?
Just put a jumper from the righthand terminal (as you view it from the back) and the other end on the main battery terminal on the back. Then a #10 from main battery terminal to the battery. It's a 10SI, and the jumper will convert it to a one wire. If it wasn't chromed you'd see the two terminals marked 1-2 on top by the two prong plug.
If the bulb burned out you would want the same voltage drop going to terminal 4 of the regulator as you had going through the bulb circuit when the bulb was working. That's what the regulator expect to see on the field relay. A would think that a straight 12 volts would damage the field relay in the regulator. If you didn't have some sort of backup power being supplied to terminal 4 the system would not charge if the bulb burned out.
I just put 1 of these on my 59. All I did was run the the battery wire from the voltage regulator to the batt term on the alternator. Then ran a jumper from batt term to R term and ran the field wire to the F term on the alternator. Doesn't seem to be charging Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
If I run the wire to the acc terminal then the relay is energized if I turn the key to acc to play the radio or whatever, and draining the battery, right? That doesn't sound good, even though the diagram shows it. ??
I'll throw my .02 worth in here.... I've ran into the same problem on Ford alternators; if using the OEM idiot light, you need to have that resistance in parallel with the light, as the light by itself doesn't give enough load to 'signal' the regulator. You don't need the OEM 'resistance wire', but do need a equivalent value resistor (in the case of Fords, 15 ohms). Where it's hooked doesn't matter as long as it's a switched 12V source, but the ignition terminal is the best choice. But if you're NOT using a idiot light, they wire quite differently (at least the Ford alternators do) and won't charge if hooked up without the light OR the resistor. Find a OEM diagram for a ammeter-equipped vehicle and follow that; on a Ford, that fourth regulator terminal isn't even used.
Hey guys maybe someone can help me. I changed over from a generator to an gm 1 wire. My question is this what would cause my gen light to stay on when I turn the key off? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Hey I was here first! I pulled a wire from #4 on my regulator to the ignition terminal on my switch, now the engine doesn't turn off. I guess it's back feeding. But it is charging. Diode?
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