Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Would a capacitor(s) work to control the load?

Capacitor across amp terminals. Capacitors come in AC or DC ,

Or a voltage regulator.

So many thoughts, it's like drinking from a fire hose
Wait a minute is that what my old wire loom is doing with so many amps? Or how about 'Lucy working in the chocolate factory'? I've got a lot of thinking to do before I install this alternator on my car. O_D has a good point, it would be so much simpler to fix the generator (new brushes, etc.).

If I do decide to install the alternator, I'll post the results along with pictures, brackets, engine compartment, back of ammeter , fire damage etc.

Wire gauge vs alt vs gen:
I've never thot to look at wire gauge of alternator equiped cars vs generator equiped cars. Is there really any difference or any difference by more than 1 gauge size at the max????? I'll try to look at my 89 Caprice and 88 ranger later on and compare to the 56 Executive.

Derelect observations on my part, but i don;t recall any wire gauge differences between my gen equiped vehicles and alt equiped vehiccles. Maybe there is.

PV8, that's an interesting thot that never crossed my mind either. I had read somewhere (probably here on PI) that the 6v cars used thicker gauge wire due to their higher amprage requirements and generator output.

Ohm's Law Rules! All will abide!

(o{}o)

I've had alternator on my Clipper for a while now and have never had a problem. I also had one on a 55 400 for 12 years, no problem.

Now my stupid question is if you have an alternator rated at 100 amps, does it really put out 100 amps or only what is required to keep the battery charged. Maybe 25 to 50 amps. It seems the amperage generated would be dictated by the regulator.

I am no expert, just my crazy thinking.

100 amp alt vs 30 amp gen:

Ok, suppose one push starts a car with a dead battery and suddenly jumps on the interstate hiway running 70 to 80 mph for a good solid hour. That might present a problem for melting wires insulation. The alt is trying to recharage a dead battery. So perhaps some prudent judgement needs to be made under obvious and extreme adverse conditions.

The above situation occured with my 88 ranger several years ago. A stick, i was able to coast the truck to get it started. Battery had just barely enuf juice to power the e-ignition system. Murphy's law dictated I had a difficult schedule to keep that day of course. I hit the interstate at 60 mph. It has a factory ammeter not a volt meter. I noticed the ammeter not quite pegged. It was cold weather but i also noticed after about 20 minutes of running i could smell what resembled buring rubber, VERY SLIGHT smell.

No damage was done, the truck stil runs and operates great to this day.

As for ammeter vs volt meter really need BOTH. Voltmeter is more or less a slow moving function. It simply tells the voltage condition of the system.

Ammeter indicaets DIRECTION (source either battery or gen) of the current and amount of current.

IF the ammeter is showing a negative draw of say 3 amps the voltmeter mite well show a good solid 12volts. THis is a case of the gen not putting out enuf to keep up with the demand. The 12v reading of the voltmeter only indicates the battery is, at that point, 12 volts. But will NOT remain 12v for very long.

So a voltmeter mite very well indicate 12 volts. THE PROBLEM is that it is impossible to determine WHERE the 12v's or what part of the 12'v is comming from exclusively the battery or exclusinvely the generator maybe a little from each.

Voltmeter indicates OVERALL condition of system at a single momment.
Ammeter indicates condition is good or declining.

REally need both.

Voltmeters are used in more modern day applications as well as "custom" applications usually because they are alot easier to wire into the system. Ammeters are usualy avoided due to the fact that the meter itself becomes a continuity part of the system. So routing of wires become a bit more difficult (in most cases).

Or to put it another way:
One could snip a wire going to the voltmeter and only the voltmeter would stop working. NOT true with an ammeter. Snip a wire going to ammeter and most likely 90% of the cars function will STOP if not 100%.

IF anyone is really worried about hitting a 30 amp oem generator system with a 100 amp alternator modification then add something like a 40 or 50 amp fuse to the output side of the alternator. THis is wherer an AMMeter is more suited for custom applications. If the fuse blows then the ammeter will show a sudden negative charge when the fuse blows and thereafter. The volt meter mite continue to show a good solid 12v for maybe an hour or so depending on things like day vs nite time driving. But the ammeter tells the REAL story about battery vs alternator vs one working and the other not.