Need electrical help

JOHNR2830 · #1 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 10:16 AM

Anyone had this problem/issue.
had a dead battery. Put in new battery and the alternator was not charging battery so changed out alternator and checked regulator. So i now have a new battery, alternator & regulator but the battery is still not receiving a "charge". I have taken the regulator out of line and the battery is still not receiving a charge. Any thoughts Johnr 2830

computerworks · #2 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 10:49 AM

Moved to Shop Talk for more visibility.

ron
ClubCobra Moderator

petek · #3 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 11:49 AM

Off the top of my head, I believe that in an alternator with an external regulator, the regulator is required as it sets the field winding current (and there-by adjusts the output voltage).

How do you know that the battery is not being charged? Do you have an ammeter on your dash? My thought here is that if you believe the battery is not being charged because the battery is discharged every morning, you might have something drawing current from the battery all night (rather than a charge problem).

JOHNR2830 · #4 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 12:19 PM

thanks . I have a ammeter on dash JR

computerworks · #5 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 12:20 PM

Hello John...

Welcome to the club.
I got your e-mail.... I moved this thread to Shop Talk, where more people would see it.

It was originally posted in the Testing Area, which is a "back alley" for members to test and experiment with posts...formatting, attaching pics, etc.

Use this link:

http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/

...to locate the most appropriate sub-forum for your new threads

ron
ClubCobra Moderator

petek · #6 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 01:25 PM

Great, the ammeter will really give a good indication of current draw.

Are there two cables leading from the positive terminal of the battery or a single cable? What I would like to establish is how many potential paths for current there are from the battery.

There should be either one or two cables leading from the positive terminal. In some cases a single cable leads to the starter motor and then another, smaller cable leads to the ammeter. In other cases the large and small cable are at the positive battery terminal.

Also, when the car is running what does the ammeter read?

Ron61 · #7 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 01:28 PM

John,

To test and be sure if you are getting any charge, use a voltmeter and measure across the battery terminals. I like my voltmeter better than the amp gage. If the alternator is charging you should read around 13/15 volts when you have the engine running. Another thing you can do to see if you have something like Pete said that is drawing the battery down at night. Take the connector off the battery terminal and then touch the terminal with it and see if you draw a spark with everything turned off. Also have the new alternator tested to be sure it isn't bad. I got a brand new one once and spent a day trying to find out why I wasn't getting any charge and finally took it to an alternator shop here and they tested it and it was no good.

Ron

lnfletcher · #8 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 01:33 PM

From experience, make sure your ground to the regulator is good!

jarendall · #9 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 02:04 PM

make sure you have a complete field circuit, it depends on the type of circuit you are using, GM Ford and Dodge all use a different system

JOHNR2830 · #10 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006, 04:14 PM

Ammeter is straight up at "0" no + no - with engine @ 1500 rpm One wire frm post side of battery..good ground...unpluged regulator and got no spike of juice to battery---no charge going to battery---new alt checked b 4 we put it on--everything turned off and no spark. putting it on the trailer and back to the dealer saturday AM. Really appreciate the info.....will let everyone know what the fix was... JR

petek · #11 (**permalink**) 12-01-2006, 02:35 PM

Ammeter at 0 with the engine running says that the alternator is working. The current draw for a running engine is well over a amp (assuming you don't have a magneto). If the ammeter is wired in correctly, I'd expect the battery to be charging.

As Ron asked, what is the voltage at the battery without the engine running and then with the engine running?