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As a test disconnect everything from the battery except the alternator batt feed. Also unplug the other wires from the alternator. There should be no draw. If the draw is there, you have a bad regulator/alternator.

I went out and checked the exciter wire and idiot lite wire terminals on the Samauri alternator. They are not hot with ign sw OFF. Only the battery output wire is hot. Maybe i need to go back and check them with ign ON. Gimme a few minutes.


Edit, When ign sw is off ONLY the heavy battery feed wire is hot. Exciter and idiot lite wires are dead.

When ign is ON then all of them are hot.

The system seems to work just fine. But i am still suspicous that the alternator is sucking a little bit of juice continuously. Not much, but some.

Samarai alternator has a built in regulator. And it is a USED alternator of unkown history. It just has not presented any significant problem to address. So yes, maybe a questionable internal regulator is drawing mine down faster than it should otherwise.

But with the AC set up we have been discussing i still don't see any reason why the alternator OUTput wire could not connect to the relay rather than directly to battery despite the fact that it is not a usual, normal, and customary industry standard configuration.

I can resolve the 6 volt relay issue as I'm in the electronics BIZ and all I need to do replace the 12 volt coil relay with a 6 and activate it form the switched 6 volts from the ignition switch. It has to have a relay anyway to shut down the A/C with the Ignition switch.

I don't know the make of the alternator it looks Japanese; it is a tiny thing and buried under the bracket supporting the compressor.

The AC system does have a sight glass and I admittedly haven't looked at it with the AC running (yet). I do have a gauge set and thought of looking at pressures to see if I could tell what refrigerant is in the system from pressures..

I had hoped the guy who installed it back in the day would respond to my phone calls but not so far.

I put in a new 12 volt battery last weekend and the system is cooling much better although I do believe there is some alternator belt slip considering the slight wrap.

And thanks for all your comments

Jim

Belt slippage:

For a Q&D fix try to find some so-called "belt dressing".
Been many years since i've heard of it. It was avaialbale and used prior to the 1970's that i know of on Cushmans, Go-karts and things like that. I think JC Whitney sold it. MAYBE it is still available.

The Site Glass:
It is very useful for a Q&D diagnosis as well as CHARGING. The pros will poo-poo the idea but it sure works fine for me for decades across several different applications. USE it!!!! It works! I don't care what type of refrigerant is used. In fact i rarely use my own set of gauges.

If u have the e-testing equipment to run a test it would be most interesting to see if the alternator has a constant draw (maybe very very small) on the battery when there is no other draw on the battery.
I'm probably wrong or confused with some other situation but it seems to me like an alternator has a constant draw albeit extremely small even when everything is turned off.

Also note that motysickle batteries are rather short life batteries, u know, kind'a like a fish'in boat out board motor and things like that.
It mite be cheaper and easier in the long and short run to buy a small 'name brand' car battery and use that instead. SHould be plenty of room under that streight hood to mount it.

Place a rubber pad under the MC battery u have now to insulate it from vibration. Mite last alot longer.

IMPORTANT: Cheque the amp-hour rating specification of the MC battery u have now. Some of the MC batteries have rather low ratings, especialy small ones.

I like the system u have now. Mite have to work a few bugs out of it here and there but it's simple and relatively cheap and ez to get parts for at local shops. Seems like the optimal option for those that want AC on a 6v classic car.

This is one of the best thread topics in a long time.

The RELAY:

I'm wondering now if STARTER relay coil section will hold up to hours of continuously energized. I would think it would.

I have a gerry rigged application here using a 12v ford starter relay that stays energized for 3 to 12 minutes at a time with maybe no longer than a 15 minute "off" time between cycles. Even on a real hot day for 8 to 20 cycles the relay only gets warm to the touch but never anything that would be considered hot. The coil section wireing of the relay has a 12v feed thru 14 feet of fire FROMm cigarette liter of vehicle.

But i can not claim several hours of SUSTAINED energized relay use as would be the case with Air conditioning.

I replaced the 12 volt battery last weekend and did improve the operation of my add-on A/C.

I do not know the manufacture of the little 12 volt alternator in my car and it's too much trouble to get too it to try and find out.

It has a little connector with two wires besides the output terminal. One of the wires is tied directly to the output terminal, the other runs all the way to under the dash to run an idiot light.

I expected the alternator would impose no load on the battery with the engine off but with nothing connected but the 12 volt battery it drew about 20 Milliamps. Possibly 12 volts was supplied through the ignition switch in whatever this alternator came out of. I assume it is a junkyard part.

The output terminal heavy wire goes directly to the A/C control under the dash. It passes by the battery tray where the 12 volt relay is zip tied.

With a totally dead 12 volt battery the A/C would run if you turned it on while going down the road but when stopped at a light it would slow way down and never come back to speed until you shut it off for a second. I believe the belt slipped at this point.

Without changing the existing wiring all I need to do is put in a 6 volt coil relay with about 20 - 30 Amp contacts so the battery is disconnected when the ignition switch is off and all will work OK. Otherwise I have to remember to flip off the under-dash switch.

I drove home at 5::30 PM yesterday in 105 degree Phoenix AZ heat with the A/C running and the interior of the car stayed real cool all the way even though I was in Downtown mostly stop and little go. My car was parked in a covered garage all afternoon. If the car is sitting in the sun it takes a good ways to get it down to cool. My car has a dark blue top.

The experimenting continues . . . . Jim

Quote:
"stopped at a light it would slow way down and never come back to speed until you shut it off for a second. I believe the belt slipped at this point".

Maybe not belt slippage. U said "it would slow down". Does that mean the AC FAN blower motor slowed down or does that mean that maybe the clutch on the AC compressor disengaged due to a lack of electrical current????


"I assume it is a junkyard part."

Maybe not. What little bit that u can see of it does it look clean and new or is it real dirty and old looking???

If it is much smaller than 5" in diamter then it mite be one those hot-rod aftermarket alternators that were made for T-BUCKET TYPE HOt rods. Most of the big name hot-rod parts suppliers advertise them. So it mite be fairly new.

My 56 Exec takes along time to coll too after setting for hours here in the TN. sunshine. The problem is no insulation in the roof. Many modern cars after about 1975 or so have some. My 89 Caprice has a ONE PIECE headliner made of 3/32" styrafome with an extremely thin almost tissue paper like fabric cemented to it. Roll it half and remove it thru the door of the car to R&R. Very cheap but very effective for insulating too. I can tell the difference when it is removed as it is now.