Charging question

Posted by Roundsy On 2018/10/26 12:15:52

Today's problem is electrical! I've had little opportunity to drive my car since owning it but when I have it does not seem to charge the battery adequately. An alternator from Fifth Avenue Automotive was added by a previous owner. After some research I see that this alternator should charge even at idle but instead it seems to act like a six volt generator. when idling the gage is in the discharge area and I put a meter on it and it is indeed discharging at idle. Like a generator equipped car the gage goes up as the rpm's do. Am I incorrect in my assumption that it should charge all the time? Also the original voltage regulator was still wired in except for the battery wire that goes to the alternator. I disconnected it, the regulator, and it does not seem to make a difference. Is there anything that the old unit could affect?

Thanks Don