New Altenator problems

you won't melt the batteries. you'll just cook the acid out of them LOL.

and if your lucky, they might even burst. (had that happen once).

there was another thread. something about grounding a 3rd wire.

someone will come along eventually with an idea for ya.

 

Sounds like you don't have your reference voltage wire connected, telling the alternator to cut out? Whatever you do, don't run it like this until you get the situation rectified.

 

What color are the wires? How do you have it wired to the new alternator compared to the old alternator.

On a Pete the "R" is usually connected to the Tach as a pulse reference signal or feeds a dummy light. The "I" wire or ignition excite wire usually goes through the ignition switch and connects with the backside of the dummy light which acts as a resistor and signals the internal regulator (ignition hot).

It sounds like you are going from a shielded ground to one that is grounded through the housing.

Any certain reason you changed alternator types?

We can make it work. You might have to run an ignition wire.

 

That third terminal is a voltage sense wire. It is designed to be connected directly to the battery so that the alternator can supply a more accurate charging voltage, as it compensates for the voltage drop in the high current wire from the alternator to the battery. You can connect that terminal directly to the output terminal on the alternator and it will work just like your previous alternator. If you want to take advantage of the voltage sense, you will need to run a wire from the third terminal to a positive battery terminal. A 14-16 gauge wire should be sufficient.

 

Yeah that will work. The further away from the battery for voltage drop the better is why many run to the ignition switch.

 

Yeah that will work. The further away from the battery for voltage drop the better is why many run to the ignition switch.

I'm curious where he ran his ground wire.

 

I'd be wary of connecting the sense wire anywhere but the alternator output terminal or a positive battery terminal. The reason being that the voltage at the ignition terminal will fluctuate widely with changing current draw through the ignition circuit. That could cause the alternator to provide an incorrect voltage to the batteries. The batteries require a fairly narrow charging voltage range to be properly charged. While charging outside of that range will frequently work, the batteries' life could be shortened significantly due to chronic over / under charging.

 

I agree with windsmith, not a good idea to run that wire to the ignition switch. The purpose of the wire is to compensate for voltage drops/changes in loads to make consistent voltage at the batteries, which is where you want it. Hooking up to any other place negates the purpose of it. Relocating it to increase charging voltage is a band-aid fix for another issue.