The electrical gauges in most classic cars opperate well below 12v. A
voltage stabalizer contains a bimetalic strip and a heater coil. When 12v
passes through the voltage stabalizer, the heater warms the bimetalic strip,
when it gets hot enough, the metal opens the contact points and interupts
the voltage The heater then shuts off, and the strip cools, and then the
contacts close again to begin the cycle anew. The higher the system voltage,
the faster the heater coil gets hot, and the faster the bimetalic strip
cycles between open and closed, effectively regulating the average voltage
that the gauge sees on the (+) side to about 8 volts. The sender varies the
voltage that can pass through the (-) side of the gauge, varying the
reading. The guy that was making the intermittent wiper kit was also
selling an electronic voltage stabalizer that is much more accurate than the
classic bimetalic heat coil setup. My guess is that with the new
alternator, you may actually be getting a better ground (-) and/or
consistently higher voltage, but the heater coil in the voltage stabalizer
is at it's limit as to how fast it can cycle, allowing a higher average
voltage to pass through the (+) side of the circuit.
David Riker
davriker@digitalpath.net
http://community.webshots.com/user/fool4mg
http://www.myspace.com/fool4mg
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