72 Swinger not charging battery

[Dana67Dart]

It's in the ballpark, around 14V peak, when I checked last.
Obviously NOT charging the battery at 40A.

I needed switched batt V and that seemed like the best place to get it.

14v is respectable

"Not charging the battery at 40A" where do you think 40 Amps are going because that's 40 Amps ABOVE what the car needs to run.

The alt meter would read 0 if the battery was not needing a charge and all the devices were being satisfied

IMHO you have a wiring disaster you need to take care of

For instance of your wiring has been alter to the point the loads are being pulled from the wrong side of the meter all the current is going through the meter


Your car for what you want.

 

[67Dart273]

14v is respectable

"Not charging the battery at 40A" where do you think 40 Amps are going because that's 40 Amps ABOVE what the car needs to run.

The alt meter would read 0 if the battery was not needing a charge and all the devices were being satisfied

IMHO you have a wiring disaster you need to take care of

For instance of your wiring has been alter to the point the loads are being pulled from the wrong side of the meter all the current is going through the meter


Your car for what you want.

Dana I'm wondering if he isn't talking about his clamp on AKA 40 A total out of the alternator, or maybe the dash one --if still working--has become mis-wired to the same end.

 

[scudzuki]

14v is respectable

"Not charging the battery at 40A" where do you think 40 Amps are going because that's 40 Amps ABOVE what the car needs to run.

The alt meter would read 0 if the battery was not needing a charge and all the devices were being satisfied

IMHO you have a wiring disaster you need to take care of

For instance of your wiring has been alter to the point the loads are being pulled from the wrong side of the meter all the current is going through the meter


Your car for what you want..OR the

Dana I'm wondering if he isn't talking about his clamp on AKA 40 A total out of the alternator, or maybe the dash one --if still working--has become mis-wired to the same end.

No I'm talking about the ammeter in the dash. The ammeter that read +A when the batt V was 12.3 (discharging) because the alt field +V was at 10. 5 V. What am I to believe, the ammeter that whose reading has never reflected what I can measure elsewhere, or my DMM?

 

[scudzuki]

Dana I'm wondering if he isn't talking about his clamp on AKA 40 A total out of the alternator, or maybe the dash one --if still working--has become mis-wired to the same end.

Before I bought my current DMM (a Klein) I bought a clamp on meter then discoverd that it only measured AC amps through the clamp. I returned it as I never need to measure AC A with the clamp. Guess I am gonna need one that costs more and reads DC A through the clamp after all. Again, band aiding it, but I'm gonna temporarily bypass the harness alt batt lead / fusible link / dash ammeter with a 10 ga wire directly to the batt.

Until I can get the Dart in my air conditioned shop (lift currently occupied by a supercharged 69 Camaro LS transplant) I can't really dig into the internal wiring. It's been 90 plus degrees out and I'm working on my asphalt driveway. I'll turn 60 in a few days and I can't stand the heat anymore, but I need the Dart running so I can put a clutch in my 82 Capri 5.0. I need a vehicle that I can use to run to the store besides the supercharged C6 Z06 vette that is my only other running car.

Maybe it's a lame excuse, but my wife is already giving me a hard time about having so many cars here. There's also a 98 T/A WS6 with a fabbed Moser 9" rear, welded roll cage and sub connectors waiting for the fresh C5R motor stored in the shop (drag car obvi) and the supercharged 2013 G37X (ran a 12.97 quarter 2 years back) with a smoked motor at the end of the driveway.

My wife may have a point.

 

[scudzuki]

14v is respectable

"Not charging the battery at 40A" where do you think 40 Amps are going because that's 40 Amps ABOVE what the car needs to run.

The alt meter would read 0 if the battery was not needing a charge and all the devices were being satisfied

IMHO you have a wiring disaster you need to take care of

For instance of your wiring has been alter to the point the loads are being pulled from the wrong side of the meter all the current is going through the meter


Your car for what you want.

I NEVER wrote the battery was NOT charging when the ammeter reported 40A.
It was not charging the battery at 12.3V as measured at the battery while running, when the ammeter reported maybe 5A.
The ammeter returns to zero when the car is shut off. Someone suggested perhaps the meter was "stuck", which I knew was not the case (because I'm not stupid).
Once I connected the field + to switched batt V (from the relay) the batt V increased to 14V AND the ammeter reads 40A.