Charging Problem

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hippy 60

hippy 60

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I got my 63 Valiant to running and i had changed the voltage regulator to the electronic and it show it charging about 13.5 volts but my old amp gauge goes all the way to the right,Do i need to change it or what is going on,When it idles it's in the middle but rev it up and it goes all the way over,Thanks for any help.
 
Sounds like it is working right I would look for something drawing a lot of amps or it is charging the battery. What's the voltage of the battery with the car not running?.
 
WHERE are you measuring this 13.5? Check it right at the battery.
 
Old Mopars with charging system questions? LOL
 
Is the amp gauge pinned?

FWIW......

Sadly. New doesn’t mean working correctly or it is a good component.

I had an OE voltage regulator fail on me in that it would only allow maximum charging. Nothing else but full tilt, slamming the needle on full blast.

The only other time I have seen my amp meter rung at hard was with a truly dead battery. It was an attempt to charge a known dead battery. I have seen it run high when the lights were on, along with everything else plus the radio/amp cranking. But that’s not the same.
 
rumblefish360 said:
Is the amp gauge pinned?

FWIW......

Sadly. New doesn’t mean working correctly or it is a good component.

I had an OE voltage regulator fail on me in that it would only allow maximum charging. Nothing else but full tilt, slamming the needle on full blast.

The only other time I have seen my amp meter rung at hard was with a truly dead battery. It was an attempt to charge a known dead battery. I have seen it run high when the lights were on, along with everything else plus the radio/amp cranking. But that’s not the same.
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Me as well. Overcharged, burned out my amp meter, boiled the battery, blew out light bulbs. etc. To @hippy 60 , make darned sure the regulator case is properly grounded to the firewall and the body is grounded to the engine. Scrape paint off under bolts, toothed washers, even a separate ground.
 
halifaxhops said:
Sounds like it is working right I would look for something drawing a lot of amps or it is charging the battery. What's the voltage of the battery with the car not running?.
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It a little over 12 volts just the battery..........
 
That is good and what you should see @ idle. When you rev up the engine, there could be a temporary rise in voltage since the cars system is taxing the battery for operating. The biggest rise I myself have noted is up to 14.5 while driving.
 
67Dart273 said:
WHERE are you measuring this 13.5? Check it right at the battery.
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Yea i'm checking it at the battery when it's running you can take the cable off and it will keep running as long as you rev it up a little but at idle it will run for a min. and die but i do have the fans running and has a msd to.........
 
hippy 60 said:
Yea i'm checking it at the battery when it's running you can take the cable off and it will keep running as long as you rev it up a little but at idle it will run for a min. and die but i do have the fans running and has a msd to.........
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Now the truth comes out. MSD does take some current but not too much for a stock charging system. Now your fan(s) are a different story. They may be using up to 30 amps. The stock alternator might not have much more output than that. @Mattax
 
toolmanmike said:
Me as well. Overcharged, burned out my amp meter, boiled the battery, blew out light bulbs. etc. To @hippy 60 , make darned sure the regulator case is properly grounded to the firewall and the body is grounded to the engine. Scrape paint off under bolts, toothed washers, even a separate ground.
Click to expand...
Yea its grounded good to the motor and the firewall I drilled the holes a little bigger and put bolts and tap's on it to be sure.......
 
It is trying to charge the battery. how long did you run it? The battery might just need a good charge.
 
halifaxhops said:
It is trying to charge the battery. how long did you run it? The battery might just need a good charge.
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It's a new battery I just figured it was the fan's and the msd taking the juice out when it at idle i don't have my headlights or wipers hooked up so just don't worry about the gauge or put an aftermarket on it.....
 
I thought everyone just run a huge wire from the alternator straight to the battery (bypassing the amp-gauge). Mine came that way. I also have a voltage gauge to the battery.
 
J Glenn said:
I thought everyone just run a huge wire from the alternator straight to the battery (bypassing the amp-gauge). Mine came that way. I also have a voltage gauge to the battery.
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That's what I do. It takes MOST of the load off of the bulkhead connection and limits what you will see at the alternator gauge.
 
hippy 60 said:
Yea i'm checking it at the battery when it's running you can take the cable off and it will keep running as long as you rev it up a little but at idle it will run for a min. and die but i do have the fans running and has a msd to.........
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Taking battery cable off when running, bad thing to do. The battery is the filter for the bumpy rectified 3 phase output of alternator. Easy to damage radio, electronic regulator, or mopar electronic ignition.
 
First so there is no confusion on the gage marked 'alternator' on many of our cars
It does not show alternator output.
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hippy 60 said:
It a little over 12 volts just the battery..........
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After the engine was just shut off? New battery? Might not be fully charged. Fully charged should be more like 12.5 to 12.8 V with no load, assuming no surface charge.

MSD 6 series pulls about 1 amp per 1000 rpm. In my experience, not usually enough to show on the built in ammeter even when wired to the battery.

Electric fans. IMO if you plan on running them with the engine off, need to change or at least modify from the factory wiring strategy.*
1963 seems like it has more robust bulkhead connectors than many other years.
Even so. Pegging the alternator indicated over 40 amps through those wires.

But we really don't know fully what is going on. If the battery is low, it will suck a lot of amps if you let it. Add that to whatever your fans draw at that voltage and the circuits capacity is exceeded.

*If your car already has the better bulkheads, then what I'd be tempted to do is put the fans on fused relays. When the key is in RUN, the relay closes and the fans get a direct connection from the alternator.
In the meantime, just power your fans from the alternator - with fuses sized for the smallest wire or the equipment. That way your ammeter will actually show the charging situation.
 
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Do your self a favor and get the black mopar voltage regulator I had three standard one out the box over charging my battery pegging my alt gauge full blast
 
Slantsix64 said:
Do your self a favor and get the black mopar voltage regulator I had three standard one out the box over charging my battery pegging my alt gauge full blast
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Does Mopar have a old points style regulator. The op is working on a 63 Valiant.
 
hippy 60 said:
Yea i'm checking it at the battery when it's running you can take the cable off and it will keep running as long as you rev it up a little but at idle it will run for a min. and die but i do have the fans running and has a msd to.........
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DO NOT FECKING EVERY DO THIS!!!! And here is why this is a waste of time:

1....Let's say your alternator is good, is working perfectly and able to put out it's rated power. You pull the cable and the engine quits, you conclude "alternator is bad." Why? Maybe the engine was running slow enough that the alternator wasn't putting out any/ much power

2....Let's say a "couple of diodes" are bad and that the alternator is outputting enough to operate the engine but little else. You take the cable off, the engine continues to run, and you conclude "alternator is good." Maybe your 50A alternator is only putting out 20A max

3...As suggested earlier, taking a battery cable off a running engine can cause a HUGE HIGH VOLTAGE SURGE because the voltage regulator is "hunting" for the battery voltage. This can damage electronics.

YOU WILL NEVER EVER FIND this "test" in any textbook or service manual anywhere
 
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