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Just changed out my fried generator for a 6 V alternator and yes, it doesn't charge immediately. Rev up slightly and all is well and it continues to charge.

G'day NDPacMan,
to PackardInfo and for including your '50 Eight Touring Sedan in the Packard Owner's Registry.

NDPACMAN,
Did you install a Fifth Avenue alternator? As I said these are supposed to charge at idle. I know a number of others are available and have different characteristics. I'm going to replace mine because I don't know how old it is or where the previous owner found it My battery gets weak on me and though the meter shows it charging the needle jumps around like it had a generator.
Don

It charges at idle, needing only an initial tap on the accelerator to bring it to the initial charge reading, then it continues charging at idle. I don't know if that is perfect but it certainly works for me.

My 6 volt pos grnd 1 wire alternator works like that, a quick rev and then it charges at idle

Mea culpa, my comments about exciting an alternator were directed to the 'three wire' configuration . . . lost my head.

Years ago I was given the advice to use a 'three wire' alternator whether I was doing a simple swap of the generator, or a conversion from 6 to 12 volts. The logic is/was the 'three wire' configuration was the OEM configuration, and if you need a replacement 'on the road' the availability will be better if you're looking for a 'bone stock' alternator. While 03:00 is the most common clocking I would re-index to 12:00 to accommodate accessibility of the wiring. Re-clocking an alternator on the side of the road is far easier that swapping a pulley, which may be the biggest challenge if you're running a belt wider than 3/8 inch.

Howard, the Delco 10SI was produced with various outputs, but I believe the maximum is/was 63 amperes. GM would size the alternator commensurate with the optional equipment delivered with the car. The air conditioned cars would normally get the largest alternator. 10SI cooling was marginal beyond the 63 ampere output. This was addressed in the 'new and improved' 12SI design, which in addition to the improved cooling also boosted the output to 95 amperes . . . quickly used-up with the introduction of rear window defrosting. All previous values are for the 12 volt configurations.

In the 6 volt, positive ground world I know both 35 and 60 ampere units are available, with, by the way, very little difference in cost. Both are touted as 'ONE CONNECTION' alternators. When I went looking for regulators for the 10SI I found both 'one wire' and 'three wire' for 12 volts, but only 'one wire' for 6 volts. So by this time 'one connection' may be the only configuration left for 6 volt alternators.

I still like the idea of a 'three wire' set-up for the 12 volt units.


dp

Just to recap, I installed my new Fifth Ave alternator which has the correct pulley and it seems to work much better than the old one. The needle sits right in the middle at idle instead of going low like it used to and it does not drop when I turn on lights etc. like it did before. I have not driven it very far yet but I am pleased for now.
Don