1 wire alternator delco

[Delmer]

So Don, was the alternator working and your ammeter not working?

I've asked Jerry what he is using for a "voltmeter" and still suspect it's the ammeter in his dash...

 

[Don k]

It turned out to be a faulty Ammeter. The alt. was good it had to go through the ammeter to get excited which there was a short circuit in the ammeter so the alt could not get excited.. If that makes sense.

 

[Delmer]

It turned out to be a faulty Ammeter. The alt. was good it had to go through the ammeter to get excited which there was a short circuit in the ammeter so the alt could not get excited.. If that makes sense.

No, not at all. but I think you mean "the ammeter was faulty, it had an OPEN circuit/no continuity. The alternator output had to go through the ammeter and couldn't because of the open ammeter" maybe?

 

[Don k]

Exactly

 

[Tinkerer]

I just wanted to keep it simple and use a warning light to tell what the alternator is working or not for my 580ck 188 diesel that uses a stop pull cord to shut the motor off. No electric solenoids

It would be nice to know if there is an indicator light in the dash.
Jerry says he wants one and it is doable. Whether it is there now or if he wants to add one.
We need to know if there is an ammeter in the dash.
Or if there is just an indicator (idiot) light.
The tractor could have been configured with either one but not both when it left the factory when it was new.
Only Jerry can provide the answers to the questions we have posed.

 

[jerry D enright]

thanks

I'm lost here Jerry,

1) How did they test it? are there two terminals at the black plug that they hooked up to the tester? What makes this a "one wire alternator", where did you get it, how was it advertised?

2) belt tight enough, pulley not worn, engine revved up?

3) Is this Voltmeter a handheld multimeter, or a dash mounted multimeter that says (10-12-14-16V) or an AMMETER that says (-30amps to +30 amps). If it's a voltmeter, what IS the reading?

4) How many wires do you have hooked to the alternator installed on your tractor? how many in the black plug area?

Tinker, Don, NAPA said it was good. I'll keep working on the beast!

 

[jerry D enright]

Delmar Napa said the alternator test was good and in is working as it should....

 

[jerry D enright]

the amp meter gauge in the dash was broken, waiting a new gauge . the idiot light in the dash was already installed original with tiny bulbs painted red (one says alt and the other says Gen ) using my hand held voltmeter to check the wires.

 

[Tinkerer]

I think that the two indicator lights need to be eliminated from your one wire alternator circuit.
One of them can be used if you change your alternator to a three wire set-up like I posted a photo of.

 

[jerry D enright]

I think that the two indicator lights need to be eliminated from your one wire alternator circuit.
One of them can be used if you change your alternator to a three wire set-up like I posted a photo of.

thank you Tinkerer I'll keep ya updated

 

[jerry D enright]

OK guys, battery is dead again..I disconnected the idiot light and broken ammeter, recharged the battery.. I am lost on what to do with idiot light and voltmeter gauge. perhaps I need to start at the beginning ?

 

[Vetech63]

If I were you, I would run a 10-12 gauge wire from the battery post on your alternator to the battery post (positive at the solenoid) on your starter motor. Then run a ignition side wire from the ignition side of your ignition switch to the battery side of your voltmeter.......then be done with it.

 

[Vetech63]

Also, when you think you are done, removed the positive cable from the battery......wait a few seconds then touch the battery post with the terminal you just removed. If you see or here any spark at all with your key off......your getting a current draw that shouldn’t be there.

 

[Tinkerer]

I disconnected the idiot light and broken ammeter, recharged the battery.. I am lost on what to do with idiot light and voltmeter gauge. perhaps I need to start at the beginning ?

Did you replace the broken ammeter with a voltmeter ?

 

[Jonas302]

You very much need to start at the beginning get a multimeter Do you have battery voltage at the battery terminal of the alternator? If not find out why do you have ground on the case of the alternator? If you need to run a set of jumper cables to the battery does the alternator charge now checking with your multimeter? if not does it start charging at full throttle? Alright if we are not charging at this point its either a bad alternator or it needs to spin faster with a pulley change dont care what the napa test says if its not charging that this point we can go no further

In the dash a the indicator light will NOT work with a one wire alternator personally if the alternator needs replacing I would get a three wire and configure it that way as they are more reliable at low rpms

An amp meter and voltmeter are completely different and NOT at all interchangeable we absolutely need to which it is that you have and want to use if it originally had an amp meter that will have heavy wire and be installed in the path between the alt batt terminal and the battery this would be a common point of failure if its disconnected broken or corroded you would have no power to the back of the alternator and hence no charging
A voltmeter is preferred as it simply reads the voltage off the batterys it doesn't go inline and cant break the charging circuit also less high power wire running around to cause trouble

 

[jerry D enright]

Did you replace the broken ammeter with a voltmeter ?

yes I replaced the broken ammeter with a voltmeter..but wired something wrong so now I am going to start from scratch.......starting with step 1.

 

[doghead]

If you installed a voltmeter in the place of an ammeter and started the tractor, you may have destroyed the volt meter.

A volt meter is simply supplied keyed battery voltage and displays it. When you’re running it should read higher than when just the key is on(to show you are charging)

An ammeter has the tractors Electrical load and charging current going through it. It is not typically keyed on or off. It can take the load of everything (electrically ) except the starter.

 

[Tinkerer]

I would recommend that you install a 0 to 30 ammeter. You probably destroyed the voltmeter if you didn't wire it correctly.
Did you change the wiring when you removed the idiot light ? All you needed to do was remove the bulb from the socket.
Did the alternator ever charge while you have owned the tractor ?
I'm thinking something isn't wired correctly on the ignition switch.
Look at that diagram in post # 39. That is what you should have.
One exception is the ammeter wire can go on the starter battery connection post.
There is also an outside chance there is a faulty diode in the alternator allowing a parasitic draw on the battery.

 

[jerry D enright]

Tinkerer, kind of embarrassed ..I don't think the alternator has ever charged because I always needed to recharge the old battery. replaced the battery and same problem. tried to figure out the wiring mess but nothing has worked and now I have a few fried wires....oops ! I need to start from scratch. Case diagram showns #40 RED Harness: 4 wires: yellow, red, pink, brown #41 BLACK harness: 4 wires: white, l/green, black, black w/white stripe. KEY switch terminals S-, B-, Y-, I-, A-, R-, without burning up the tractor and go from there I think.

 

[mitch504]

Ok, like Vetech said, if you are going to use that alternator, you just run one wire from the post on the back of the alternator the battery hot, either at the starter where the battery cable goes, or to the hot post. That's why it's called a one wire alternator! It has to be a big wire, with nothing interrupting it. If you want to use the factory wiring diagram, you have to first buy an alternator or generator that works like the factory one.