Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

I've come to the conclusion that my generator on my 56 Executive has stopped charging my battery. As I have changed my junior instrument cluster to the senior gauges ( no Oil or Gen lights, now gauges). The Amp gauge is showing discharge throughout the RPM range.

I don't like the idea of the generator not charging when the car is at idle so I bought a alternator that has a single wire hook-up as well as a mounting bracket that installs where the generator is mounted. The alternator also has an internal regulator but is advertised as a generator alternative with the single wire hookup.

I'm thinking that I just need to hook-up the brown wire from the old generator's 'A' connector to the new alternator's 'single wire' terminal. That wire also connects to the 'A' terminal of the external regulator. Is it advisable to use the old regulator, as is? If not how would I update the wiring to use the internal regulator on the new alternator?

Thanks for your thoughts, as always.

P.S. - I am doing this in a way that it could easily be changed back to it's original state.

I don't like the idea of the generator not charging when the car is at idle

It's your car so certainly make the change if you wish. But given that with a fully charged battery you could drive 100-200 miles in daylight without a functioning generator, the short times spent at idle really aren't an issue.

OD, I know that I could just fix the generator and move on, but I've had to get 'jumps' too many times and I kinda want a more reliable starting car.

I forgot to mention in my initial post, what about the dk-blue wire attached to the 'F' connection on the generator? brown 'pill' or dk-blue 'pill', which will send me down the rabbit hole?

I did find out some info on the process from the company that sold me the alternator:

How do I wire an alternator in place of a generator?

Since not all vehicles are wired exactly the same the picture below is a simple example of the wiring requirements for installing an alternator in place of a generator system. Using the original generator regulator as a junction to connect all of the positive wires makes it simple. You may also route the wiring in any fashion you like as long as the power is distributed to both the battery and the vehicle's electrical components. The Armature and Field wires that were previously connected between your old generator and regulator can be removed and discarded. NOTE: The picture below is for negative ground systems. If you are connecting on a positive ground system then the cable at the battery will connect to the negative battery terminal.

One thing that was mentioned is that the original Amp gauge wouldn't handle the high amperage that the alternator puts out ( the gauge would 'fry'). The remedy was to create a 'secondary' path for the extra amps to travel, that is to use 10-gauge wire to bridge between the terminals of the Amp gauge.

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It's true the ammeter could be damaged if it was hit with excessive current but in fact, I'd worry less about the ammeter than I would the original wire loom.

The generator and regulator is spec'd and regulated for 30 amps maximum output and the wire size between the generator and regulator and battery etc is sized for that current plus a little over margin. Packard didn't see fit to provide a wire gauge reference for the 55-6 main loom but just looking, I think the majority of the gen/regulator/ammeter/battery run is probably 12ga. Jumpering the ammeter terminals with a 10ga would save the ammeter but wouldn't do much good if the rest of the run is 12.

If in fact the alternator should for some unknown reason put out it's max of typically around 65 amps into that smaller original wire, the wire could overheat and loom could be destroyed in short order.

Patgreen's mechanic ran a separate 8ga wire from the alternator to the battery in his conversion. While that totally eliminates the ammeter and adds an extra wire, it is IMO, a safer approach. You could run a separate wire in some protective plastic or fabric loom following the original down to the starter solenoid and join the main battery cable there. I believe Pat's mechanic also installed an indicator or idiot light under the dash in place of the ammeter.

bhappy,

Please post some pics after you are done with the conversion. In particular the mounting bracket(s).

Craig

HH56, the man I spoke with about the ammeter and 10 ga. wire said that 12 ga. wire would work as well. He also said the ammeter wouldn't be accurate, but it would still show charge/discharge conditions (isn't that all our ammeters do?).

I like Patgreens mechanic's remedy even better. What did you mean it would "totally eliminate the ammeter"?

I wasn't clear in "totally eliminate the ammeter". It will still be there but with the alternator feeding the battery directly it will never see the charging. In fact, I believe it will read only discharge all the time since it would still be in the circuit feeding the rest of the car. Pat might confirm or elaborate on just what it does read.

I am not following what the fellow means that the ammeter would still work -- just read inaccurately -- with a jumper across the terminals. I don't see how since to my mind that would be equivalent to putting both wires on the same terminal but I'm sometimes dense and need to be educated. When you do it please tell me what or how it does read.

Hadn't though of that: since the ammeter has about zero resistance, as does the jumper wire, the current will pretty much split between the two. A 20 amp load will read as 10, etc.

HH56 Quote:

Another reason that modern cars with gauges (starting in late 1960s or early 1970s) have voltmeters, not ammeters. To me, there's something wrong about running the entire amperage of the vehicle electrical system through a single point of failure, i.e., the ammeter.

I'm replacing all the wiring on my Panther with a new G.P. loom much like KevinAZ did on his 400 (he chose Painless brand). It will have a new voltmeter gauge in it, too (all new gauges, actually).

Craig