Steve, you have to be careful when you do web research because it's hard to
judge the knowledge at the source. You say yourself that you have a "funky
wire connection" that gets hot when the electrical load is applied - sounds
like THAT is at least a big part of your problem. Fix that first, then go
through the rest of the system.
If the ammeter is offering "serious resistance" then the ammeter will get
hot. If the wire or a junction is getting hot, THAT IS WHERE THE RESISTANCE
IS. Not six feet away. When you turn on all your accessories, does the
ammeter needle get pegged? If so, then you probably have the thing wired
wrong, because it should only be connected in series with the battery
circuit, not in the alternator output circuit. If the needle is not getting
pegged (or if it doesn't move much when you switch your killer loads on and
off) then the ammeter is not part of the circuit that is handling the loads,
so it has no effect.
Voltmeters and ammeters are complementary instruments - each will tell you
stuff that the other can't, if you understand how to interpret the readings.
You can replace the ammeter with a voltmeter but that won't fix your wiring
problem.
Best regards,
Theo
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-tigers@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-tigers@autox.team.net] On
Behalf Of Sage
Sent: April 14, 2004 12:07 AM
To: Tiger Mailing List
Subject: Hot Wire Source Found?
Doing some web research tonight I found what may be the answer to my hot
alternator output wire problem. I have a Smith's/Jaeger ammeter in the
Tiger's dash, and it appears from the following, very interesting article
that it is not up to the job of handling all the voltage that runs in the
car with my AC fans. The site relates to Dodge cars, but it sounds like
Rootes ammeters and Dodges may have exactly the same
problem. Here's the link:
http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/amp-gauges.shtml
Does this make sense to you guys out there?
Steve Sage
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