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I think I need a new alternator!

These gen/alt pull air through the back to the front at least one company makes a remote blower setup with air ducting that goes to the back of the unit to provide cooler air it.......that being said the engine bay (bonnet to some) is real busy and space for this type of setup is limited to non-existent.
 
svein said:
Friday it finally happened!
I ended up installing a 230A Tuff Stuff 8237D Alternator from Quadstar tuning. Its an AD244 alternator.

It was a one to one swap for my 1999 6.5. Old one out. New one in. Add a ground connection. Done.
From having varying voltage with my old alternator from 12-13, I am now rock steady at 14,5V even with my veg heater and auxiliary lighting in use. I even seem to read higher fuel pressures in average.

So happy!!
Click to expand...

Did you have to use a longer belt?

I went and looked at Quadstar's site, I do not see the alternator listed.....

I have been digging for a better alternator for my 99 Burb.... snowplowing is a heavy draw, especially when running a Code 3 MX7000 lightbar (5 rotor!!)
 
mangus580 said:
I am seeing conflicting information as to if it will drop in and clear a rear bracket or not.... any conclusion on this?

I am assuming it only uses 2 bolts, and not the extra 'tab' off the back that is on the cs130d (and not the AD244)
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AD244 will clear the rear bracket on a 95 (conflicting depends on year).

You need to shave the bolt hole at the 3 o'clock looking from the front.
You need to create another bracket for the 11 o'clock bolt.
 
mangus580 said:
Did you have to use a longer belt?

I went and looked at Quadstar's site, I do not see the alternator listed.....

I have been digging for a better alternator for my 99 Burb.... snowplowing is a heavy draw, especially when running a Code 3 MX7000 lightbar (5 rotor!!)
Click to expand...

The ad244 was a direct drop in for me. Same belt, no custom fabrication. I added a negative connection to the battery, but that was it. :)
 
The CS130D does not have a rear bracket, none of the 96+ have it. The rear bracket was on CS130's and CS144's. As to high amperage requirements for long periods of time, don't waste your money on high output alternators like powermaster with a single internal bridge rectifier. They're great when the high amp requirements are for short periods of time, but when you have high loads for extended periods, you NEED to go with one that has an external multiple bridge rectifier. Output makes heat, the hotter they get the quicker they wear, and the harder it is for them to make electricity(as heat goes up, output goes down, so they have to work even harder as they get hot). So getting the heat out is key. I know alternatorman sells 170 amp and up units with external bridge rectifiers designed just for high amp requirements over extended periods of time. And make sure you're getting a 4 pin AD244 and not a 2 pin DR44G. They look very similar, but the 2 pin units are for computer controlled charging, they only output 13.8 volts without any computer input.
 
Whilst I cannot argue against the concept of external rectifiers especially in relation to single bridge alternators I would say that as far as the Amptech alternators i recommended it is not necessary. These are entirely a different beast handwound larger gauge coils with large heatsinks and pressfit diodes, the L model having 18 of them. Like I said I have been installing them for years in the marine field with extended period high amp demands and have nothing but good things to say about them, battery charging in a cyclical application is essentialy extended demand. Not to mention they are easily rebuildable and all parts are readily available from Amptech. Get the regulator off the alternator yes, makes more room for the rectifier but personally I would not capitalise the need for an external rectifier.

Cheers
Nobby
 
So, I went to the local shop the other day. He had an AD-244 in stock that he had marked as a 190amp. Went to pick it up, and he carried out to the counter laughing, saying "you are going to like this one" It seems he had just tested it, 175amps at an idle.... and 215 at full output.

Swap went pretty flawless. I did have to go get a longer belt, but I already had a rather tight one, from when I had to swap the fan, and outer balancer (had one explode at a year old last july!!!). And... the trip to the auto parts store netted the wrong one on the first trip. Seems someone had put the wrong one in the sleeve....

Anyway, had the chance to plow yesterday morning (about a foot of fresh snow!!). Electrical performance is MUCH MUCH better. I run a full lightbar on the roof (MX7000 5 rotator, with rear halogen flashers running) all the time while plowing. Plus, being a suburban, dual heater fans to stay warm. I was able to actually cook myself out this time!!! Even at our 8° temps outside. Amazing what happens when you can actually run the heater fans!

Plow runs much faster as well. In the end, my voltage (as reported by torque pro via obd2) never dropped below 13 except while the plow was being activated. within moments of turning off lightbar and driving off to the next driveway, the voltage would jump right back to 14. Previously, I would end up down about 11.5 - 12 volts and stay there until I drove a good 10 minutes. It was so bad I would let it idle for 15 minutes after each plowing session (end of the route) to let the batteries charge back up. Now.... its not a big deal.

I could be happier with the swap. Probably the best $275 I have spent on the truck for plowing in a LONG time!
 
Glad you’re happy, hopefully a long happy truck life. Just 3 things to watch for.

1. The longer belt IF the housing is bigger and pushed the pulley away is ok- but if the tachometer runs alternator and the pulley is larger, your tach will be wrong.

2. The higher voltage charging all the time: If you are consuming that much power from accessories - ok fine. But at idle, and your battery is fully charged while it keeps too high voltage or amperage draw- you need to buy stock in your favorite battery company because you will be burning through them.

Powermaster is expensive. Also not as convenient to not always have everything on the shelf for each specific need. But telling their engineers that take the customer service calls is why they charge more$. Having it charge the correct amount at used rpm and at makes a huge difference in battery and alternator lifespan. Not saying the one you got is wrong, idk your draw and battery capacity but that sounds mighty heavy electrically.

3. Cables feeding the high amp circuits you are running and the charge cable Cable to the batteries: make sure you sized them correctly for that big amperage and that they are clean connections. Serious amperage through too small wires is best how to start a fire training class. Circuit breaker of appropriate size to protest the wire (not 15 amp light gets 15 amp fuse mistake) is important.


They all 3 tie together as a matching set. As much as I pick on auto engineers, they have a hard job to do.
When I would do electrical load calculations on some of the commercial trucks we built at the truck equipment shop could take a couple hours of work to get right. Sometimes insane hours. I remember the worst was a fire truck owned by the city of North LasVegas that caught fire. It needed a 75% rewire and all because one of the 4 alternators was feeding a set of batteries at the rear with a wire that was one size too small and the fuse they used was sized 5 amps too big. 1 wire in a harness overheated, meltdown of the harness, meltdown of almost the entire electrical system and they had to put out the truck in the middle of putting out a structure fire. Until the investigation happened, most thought some embers ignited the rear of the truck.

So just like hot rodding an engine can be ok sometimes or sometimes it damages transmission, then rear end, same thing can happen electrically. You might get away with winging it from the get go, or only after repairing everything that fails as each step is the next weak link.
 
I know this probably does not pertain to any of this. The DOT would run a lot of lights on their 6.5 diesel units, usually one ton duallies with a dump box, setting idling at a work zone with the top lights going and they would burn through a couple of alternators a summer. maybe they would have spared a lot of alternators if they`d have had the PTO idle function set up so that the alternators would have been in a better charging range.
Them alternators we took out would have the guts burned plumb out of them.
 
MrMarty51 said:
I know this probably does not pertain to any of this. The DOT would run a lot of lights on their 6.5 diesel units, usually one ton duallies with a dump box, setting idling at a work zone with the top lights going and they would burn through a couple of alternators a summer. maybe they would have spared a lot of alternators if they`d have had the PTO idle function set up so that the alternators would have been in a better charging range.
Them alternators we took out would have the guts burned plumb out of them.
Click to expand...

Yup, they didn't make the appropriate design changes and overworked them. It may not have shown so obvious, but that should have went through batteries sooner also. Running the components off the batteries then when the truck drives at higher speed (rpm) the alternator maxes out trying in-vain to recharge them. To much draw in too short of time overheats them and they go bad. It happens all the time, thats why a place like powermaster is worth the additional cost imo.
 
Will L. said:
Yup, they didn't make the appropriate design changes and overworked them. It may not have shown so obvious, but that should have went through batteries sooner also. Running the components off the batteries then when the truck drives at higher speed (rpm) the alternator maxes out trying in-vain to recharge them. To much draw in too short of time overheats them and they go bad. It happens all the time, thats why a place like powermaster is worth the additional cost imo.
Click to expand...
The flag person standing by the vehicle that is idling would not even know the alternator had fried, until the engine died, then, time to call a mechanic. LOLOLOL
 
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