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Date: Tue, 16 Jan 1996 10:31:58 -0500
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To: alpines(at)autox.team.net
Subject: Alternator Questions
I'm trying to troubleshoot an illuinated charging system warning light on my
wife's Series V with the standard Lucas 10AC alternator. The charging syste
m
seems to be in working order, except for the warning light. I believe the
trouble to be in the warning light circuit. My questions are:
Does anybody know what the output voltage should be at the "AL" terminal?
What test procedure should be used for testing the "3AW" warning lamp contro
l
unit?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Terry Edlund
San Diego, CA
B395009965
***** NOTES from Jay Laifman (JLAIFMAN (at) PNM) at 1/16/96 1:28p
The "AL" should put out 12 volts +/- less than 2 volts when the
alternator is charging (I think that is the acceptable range).
The way the alternator light works is slightly counter-intuitive. One
wire to the light is the white wire which is keyed hot. So, when you turn
on the ignition, the light goes on. The other wire is the brown/black
wire which runs to the Warning Light Simulator ("WLS") which goes hot when
the alternator is charging and the AL is putting out 12 volts. When the
alternator light has 12 volts at both ends, it turns off.
I removed my Lucas alternator and installed an alternator from a Nissan Z
which continues to work flawlessly. The wiring diagram for the same car
shows that the AL wire goes straight to the bulb and the other wire is the
same -- going to keyed power. That is how I have installed it, and it
works fine. AL runs to ground through the alternator coils when the
alternator is not charging. This installation also eliminated the
external "control box" and "alternator relay" shown in the Alpine wiring
diagram. The diagram also showed a resistor attached parallel to the
bulb. I believe this is necessary to set the right amount of power for
the bulb as it reduces how much is flowing through the bulb. It may also
be a fail safe in case the bulb blows.
All that being said, I do not know why there is the need for the
simulator. It can't be reducing the electricity to the bulb from AL,
because there is nothing reducing the keyed power and they need to be
equal to turn off the bulb. -- unless it somehow allows the light to come
on for smaller fluctuations, or the opposite, larger fluctuations only.
I hope I have helped somehow.
Jay
+------------------------------------------------------+
| Jay S. Laifman Pircher, Nichols & Meeks |
| 1999 Avenue of the Stars |
| Los Angeles, California |
| (310) 201-8915 |
| Real Estate Attorneys |
+------------------------------------------------------+
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