Technical 350 alternator system work with stock gauge?

I've put a 350ci engine with a one wire 12 volt alternator into a 53 GMC. Is there a way to connect the stock amp gauge to check on the charging system? I have a 12 volt to 6 volt converter on the gauges. Thanks.

 

If you wire the truck as it was originally, the ammeter should work. But there are probably better ways to do it...and you'll get a lot of opinions.

 

As Jim says, the ammeter should work. The issue will be if the ammeter can handle the amps the alternator puts out and the downstream load. They are several threads on here about installing diodes and shunts. I'm sure members will chime in.

 

It shows a discharge when starting and once the starter is off goes to zero.

 

can you change it to a volt meter gauge... thats what I did on all mine... amp meters with alt scare me...once burned twice fried..

 

How is it wired now? Does all the current (except the starter cranking) go through the ammeter on it's way to/from the battery? or are there things connected on the battery side of the ammeter? For it to work right, the battery needs to be on one side of the ammeter, and every thing else on the other side. If you wired the alternator directly to the battery, the ammeter will never show charging.

 

Reverse the wires?

Dave

 

What Squirrel said. What I did was find a small volt gauge and replaced the amp gauge with the volt gauge, keeping the factory face. So at straight up is 12 volts and to the right is more than 12, and the left is less. So if the needle is to the right of center I know it is charging as it's more than 12 volts.

 

I wired Papaw just as Jim noted and the stock ammeter works perfectly. I left the stock voltage regulator on the firewall and just use it now as a junction point. I’ll have to go out in the shop and look how I did it if anyone is interested. This is with the 10SI alternator, last year it was mounted on the 216 and this year on the 350.

 

The problem with the original ammeter is it may not be able to carry the output amperage of the alternator.

 

The ammeter doesn't have to carry the output amperage of the alternator, it has to carry the load on the battery when the engine is not running, and it has to carry the charging current of the battery when it is running. The alternator output is divided between the load of the engine and accessories, and the current to charge the battery after it gets drained from starting, or running things when the engine is off.

If you like to run down the battery, then you'll get some significant current through the ammeter, but it won't be anywhere near the rated output of the alternator.

 

I'd be interested Andy

 

What is the amp rating of the dash ammeter of the 53 Gmc?

 

D and C

since it's for a 6v system, it is designed to carry twice the current of a contemporary 12v system.

Probably around 40 amps full scale?

 

I will go out to the shop tomorrow after work and take pictures and get a better description of how I did it.

 

THanks Andy