APU Tri-pac not charging batteries

hmmm someone above said you had to use the TK alternator so i guess that was wrong?? o well... I bought a reman TK alternator last week and 1 new battery that was bad.. Im on vacation in Englewood,FL catching sharks so I will put them both on when i get back home and pray it fixes my problems. I cleaned all the connections with a wire brush and it made no difference. My voltage will be at 12.5 when apu starts then go up to 12.7 and stay there pretty much all nite. Not killing batts but I know it used to read higher. My belt was tightened a cpl months prior when i had the oil changed so im not sure it could have stretched or be that loose yet. I am going to crank down on the belt real tight before i change the alt and see if that does anything. Be back in a week or so with an update.

chris

 

The belt is a gates K060490 you can get one a just about any parts store. The Alt is Napa 213-4530. you have to use the fan off of the thermoking unit, I had to put a washer under the pully to keep it from hitting the alt case, ( I'm trying to find the right one for the chevy alt) you might use the pulley off the chevy, the one off the Thermoking is too big around, the one for the chevy is smaller, meaning it will turn faster and develope more amps. The thermoking pulley truns the alt at about 2800 rpm the chevy should turn it about 3500 rpm. the diffirence is about 80 amps at 2800 and 96 amps at 3500. You can use the 3 wire pigtail I don't have the number with me. I'm sure you'll need a smaller belt with the smaller pulley. good luck.

 

Great info...what did you pay for the NAPA alternator? Thank you.

 

about $128.00 with tax, now there is a 130 amp alt for the yukon, i didn't check on the price but i did have one on my yukon.

 

Installed new battery and remanned alternator and voltage read 13.9 with just apu on. Only ran it for a couple minutes as the exhaust was loose and all covers were off. Truck has been sitting for 12 days as i was out of town. Looks to have solved my problem even though I was told by a tech at TK that if the alt was bad that it would throw a code, it never threw any codes. Anyone know how tight the belt should be?? Im not sure its exactly as tight as when i took it off. O well it works, back on the road in a few days......

chris

 

Been looking for that napa alt with no sucess they must of changed numbers. Asked for one for the 1993 Yukon 350 bolt mounting tabs are in different place, still looking for a substitute. Know there got to be one as it is just an alternator, goes round and makes electricity. Very dissatified with the thermoking one, not big enough, to pricy, and dont last been through 3 in 8000 hr.

 

Wow, you had pretty GOOD luck with them! In 9000 hours I'm on my 7th alternator! And each model has been different or revised from the previous one. This one I have on now has lasted 2000+ hours, and I hope is the best.

I took one to my local electrical shop to see if it could be rebuilt or if they had a replacement for it and was told they could NOT do it because there are more wires than a standard alternator.

 

that was a napa number, 213-4530f the number should work, you are right the yukon has the mounting tabs in different places, the alternator is a GM CS base alternator. and the guy at napa used a catalog to get the right mountings. any parts store should be able to cross that number.

 

Im trying to put a bug in the ear of the owner of dbelectrical about these alternators. They build HO alternators for everything else, including thermoking reefers so why not the Tripac too?

 

Kansas, the minute you find out that some else can furnish Tripac alternators at a reasonable price, please let us know. It's disgusting how TK is taking advantage of their customers with the absurd alternator pricing.