Yes, your regulator may be defective but consider the following:
The alternator can only put out so much depending on the alternator shaft
speed. If the alternator is turning to slowly you will not put out much
voltage. You do not want to spin the shaft so fast that you sling windings
loose from the armature. Also you do not want the shaft to spin so slow at idle
that the alternator is not capable of putting out at least 13.0 volts with
lights, radio, blower, wipers, etc on. The best way to check is measure say a
85 to 94 chevy motor for the circumference of the drive pulley (on the crank)
and the circumference of the driven pulley (on the alternator). Dividing the
smaller number into the larger number will give you the ratio that was designed
into the system. It will give you a decent charge at idle (650 rpm to 750 rpm).
This ratio will also prevent the alternator from self destruct when a high
perf. 327 is running at 7,500 rpm. Check the ratio you have on the truck at
present and compare it to the ratio on the 85 to 94 year models. This is coming
from someone who has slung three alternator shafts apart when the 283 ci bored
to a 301 ci exceeded 9,000 rmp. The motor was built by Mickey Thompson to
survive around 9,500 burst while purducing in excess of 500 shaft horse power.
We failed to take into account when putting on the alternator pulley. Bob
---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: Hudson29@aol.com
Reply-To: Hudson29@aol.com
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 20:50:00 EST
> Tom inquired:
>
> "My headlights get brighter when I rev up my engine. (Brighter than at
>idle.) My truck has been converted to 12 volts and has an alternator. Does
>this mean the alternator is not working well. Or...is this normal and no
>problem at all?
>
> Tom, most every car I have ever owned has done this, some more than
>others. I
>have been told that it happens because an electrical connection somewhere has
>some corrosion that does not allow a completely free flow of those loopy
>little electrons. The idea about the battery being weak sounds reasonable
>also.
>
>Paul O'Neil,
>1951 Chevrolet 3600 Pickup Project, See it at:
>The Poor Man's Advanced Design Tech Tips Page
>http://home.earthlink.net/~conntest47/
>Fullerton, California USA
>Hudson29@aol.com
>
>Paul O'Neil,
>1951 Chevrolet 3600 Pickup Project, See it at:
>The Poor Man's Advanced Design Tech Tips Page
>http://home.earthlink.net/~conntest47/
>Fullerton, California USA
>Hudson29@aol.com
>oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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