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Got the burb, Got issues with it.

Kenny,
That is an externally regulated alternator you had on there and by looks of things a true hot rated unit. So somehow when you hooked up wiring full unregulated voltage was getting to the field input of the alternator. My guess would be that it was wired properly but the external regulator had failed not unknown and they can fail to give a constant full field output. The solution by the FD was to pull the power feed to the regulator that you temporarily reconnected. Interesting IIRC that you mention it is a rebuilt unit odds are they unwittingly rebuilt the alternator, when the issue was the external regulator. I have to have clients do some tests or send me both items when failed as more often than not with a well built true hot rated unit the failure normally is the regulator.

My guess is your glad to get rid of it and have no need for a high output but that would be a nice thing to have on your truck. Let me know I'll happily take it off your hands, regulators for these are fairly generic and I should have a good used one here somewhere that will run it.

Cheers
Nobby
 
Kenny,
FYI that looks like it is very possibly an Amptech unit, what is the name on the black box regulator? If it is an amptech then you have the Dogs Bollocks of HD alternators, these are the units that I install for true hot rated applications and sure do put out. I have 300 amp units in the field that work every day at 200A+ and 5+ years on still going strong. These are hand wound, hand built and pretty much the creme of the crop when it comes to service vehicle high output units. Of course the caveat here is that it was rebuilt by an indie outfit so no knowing now what is inside it but odds are the stator and rotor are original, looks as though the original sticker got pulled off at some point.

Also the way that is clocked did it use an adapter bracket to bolt up?

Just some food for thought.

Cheers
Nobby
 
Yes it uses an adapter bracket. That was not the name of the alt but I will look again. It was Power...something Powerline I think. Yes I suspect that the black box under the dash was the regulator and also somehow converted the signal for the tach drive. Not sure what I want to do with it yet. I still have o pull the reg box out. I will be spending days removing all the extra butchered wiring. As fas as it being disconnected it is possible I did that when R&R the batts. It is a nifty looking item. What I am wondering is if I could use it on my CUCV and then use the tach signal from the box for a tach. Not sure how to make that signal work with say an Autometer tach though.
 
BTW I'll have another W/T grill soon...:D
I grabbed a wiring harness Sat to convert to composite headlights but the headlights on the truck were way too cloudy. Gonna buy new ones.
You are correct, IMHO it is way more alt than I need for a DD and putting the factory setup back on solves the problem quickly and easily and if my alt dies somewhere on the road traveling , I can replace it easily from any parts store.
 
Nobby,
You seem to know these pretty good. will that work on my CUCV if it bolts up ? It looks like it will but here is what will make it interesting. CUCV's use 2 12v alts wired in series. Could I replace one of them with this alt and also pull a tach signal for an aftermarket tach ???
 
Nobby, not to get too far off topic here, but enlighten us on alternator upgrades. My stock unit barely holds up during plow season on my 99 Sub. I tend to not let others drive it, as I know to avoid what I have learned to refer to as 'happy hands', also avoid needless lights, etc.
I've considered the CS 144 which I believe would fit in the stock location, just have to reclock from a gasser. These seem to be readily available and cheap. Last one I got used from the wrecker was $30.


John
 
Kenny,
OK it's a powerline, another HD service vehicle make, not intimately familiar with their quality but have heard nothing bad about them.

Food for thought, your regulator maybe OK. Some of the powerline regulators have a voltage output adjust screw, turned up to high this will cause overcharging. Or the regulator will have a separate wire going back to the battery (voltage sense) which the regulator uses to gauge state of battery charge and hence alt. output a bad connection can trick the alternator into charging to high.

Tachometer, this normally is taken from the alternator itself on powerline it is often labeled R on the back of the alternator, in your case assuming a non isolated unit it is the lower vertical spade if the output terminals are facing up 1200. Tachs take their signal from the stator before the rectifier hence it is an AC signal of frequency that the tachometer is calibrated to interpret as RPM. Obviously the frequency output of the Alt will vary with RPM. Factory installed tachs will be calibrated to work with the factory installed pulley sizes. Aftermarket tachs designed for use with alternator signal are normally programmable with dip switches to encompass a range of alternator pulley to crank ratios. Now powerline do have a regulator that has an output for a tach right at the regulator but I doubt you have that one, I am not sure if this is a direct connection through the regulator to the stator but I suspect it is.

Hmm interesting setup on the CUCV if I understand correctly from the following referenced link you have an Alt charging the front battery only and the second charging both front and back battery? I am not personally familiar with the wiring but as I understand it you could use this alt along with the other one and makes sense that you use it in place of the one that charges both front and back battery. This is kind of a kooky hybrid system that they did. The referenced material makes a good case for converting the CUCV to straight 12V, sound like a good idea to me and in that case just use your HD Alt. No point using the 2nd in this case as two alts in parallel need a single regulator otherwise one just does not do much work, that is kind of why I call the CUCV system kooky as you have the two alternators series between the two batteries with both paralleled onto a one of the batts also.

Links to some bedtime reading:
Some good info and interesting case for a 12V conversion
http://www.roscommonequipmentcenter.com/news_notes/nn10.pdf

Manual on what I believe to be your unit:
http://www.hdpsi.com/PDF Documents/23HD-&-24HD TG.pdf

Cheers
Nobby
 
Oh yeah is that W/T front a GMC grille, if so I'm interested the Chev grill you sold me is fine but I'd like to keep my gal true with a GMC grill as she is a GMC plus I personally prefer the GMC grill.

Cheers
Nobby
 
John,
Upgrading to what I call an automotive style alternator such as the 144 normally suffices most peoples wants. What Kenny has and what I install in the marine field are true hot rated units, that is they are heavily built to crank out the amps, get hot and make power at lower rpms where cooling will become a big issue for an automotive style unit.

Yes the manufacturers are making better and better more output/reliable automotive units but as far as I am concerned they are still a compromise and not a patch on a true service vehicle/marine hot rated unit. But of course these units come at a price and normally require extra wiring and an external regulator.

In all reality an automotive unit is only really capable of putting out up to 2/3rds of its rated output, whereas an Amptech rated at 300 amps will do just that at the specified rpm. Normally you size with the 2/3rds factor also for longevity but they are technically capable of doing as they performance curve states.

Cheers
Nobby
 
Sorry Kenny I forgot, Re the pulley just change out the serp for a v belt pulley no biggy there.

Cheers
Nobby
 
Thanks. I want to keep the 24v system though I think on my CUCV. Nothing beats that 24v starter in the winter. I loosely toyed with the idea of converting the truck to 12v and then using a series parrallel switch for the 24v starter.
The tach singnal comes from the regulator on the FD setup on my burb. I am sure of that. The factory tach wire is interuppted and sent back to the regulator box and then a wire comes out from it and ties into the tach wire heading into the cab. That was what gave me the idea of using it on the cucv for a tach signal. Pardon my ignorance but what is a dip switch ?
 
Kenny,
A dip switch is a tiny circuit board switch set up that normally is in a line (group) and by being either off or on can then in different combinations provide a program set up. They are often used to replace the jumpers on the VSSB board to allow for easy reprogramming when tire sizes change.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIP_switch

Out of curiosity what is the model number of the regulator, I am not sure why the tach wire goes via the regulator. It may well be as simple as the fact that sometimes regulators take an input from the stator (where you usually get the tach signal) and to ease wiring they just then jumper that stator input as an output for the tach to save running extra wire to the alternator stator or to avoid attaching 2 wires to a single spade output on the alternator.

Cheers
Nobby
 
well, I remote mounted the PMD but the truck is running a little weird. It sounds good when first started but as it warms up it sounds like it's getting diesel knock. I don't know if the timing has ever been messed with but I doubt it. It seems to run fine. IDK. It sounds like an old Detroit after you let it idle too long and it starts feeding on it's own oil. Truck has very little blowby at all if any. No smoke. Maybe INjs ?? I think I have to break down and get a scan tool. I guess AE is the best for the money. AE with enhanced GM module is about 450$. Anyone know if AE can do cyl kill ?
 
with all the idling that truck's done i'd say it would need injectors probably 2-3 times over. Hopefully it was a high idle all the time. Friend of mine bought his truck with an engine that :suicide: itself from constant base idle day in day out. Not sure what the excessive base idle killed but the pan was full of shavings. It was owned by a welder who let it idle all day.
 
Kenny,
The only thing that I found on my AE is that in 1999 there is a test command feature "Cylinder Power Balance" can be set to any of the 8. Nothing like that for prior years.

Make sure you get the Pro-Line connector, I think it is all they offer now, I had an earlier one and had to spend extra dollars changing up in order to access the 4WAL (ABS) support.

Shoot if I wasn't so busy this weekend I'd take a trip across the Sound, oh well.

Based on her history a set of injectors wouldn't go amiss without any form of appraisal on their condition. As far as I am concerned engines with hours on, new injectors is never a waste of money it's just one less thing to worry about.

Cheers
Nobby
 
Aces,

Can you test the injectors? I'm totally sold on having your local injection shop just rebuild the ones you have. New/ebay/aftermarket/online is a crapshoot in my humble opinion.
 
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