Reply to "Questions: Indicator Lights and 3G Alt wiring!"

P-dag,

All good stuff!
Not seeing a steady 75 but a "waggling" needle that is all over.....on the charge side....

I did charge the battery and it did settle the needle down.

Now, let me elaborate a tad.....I was seeing this on TWO cars!

Both batteries are good. #1 is months old, @#2 is a couple of years old but holding charge well. No large drains on system while "off" (5-10ma observed max)

Car#1 (1974) has modern Ford 95A onboard regulator alternator.(this was the car that started this post....)

Car #2 (1973) to my knowledge has stock alt and stock style regulator (although I don't know if the reg is conventional stock or updated solid state reg) The car came along after I had started this post.....and am using it as sort of a standard....but then I find out that this thing is waggling the gauge needle also!

A LOT going on in my life presently, so a little..OK a LOT distracted...doesn't help! I charged battery #2 and after starting it still saw "similar" waggling.....but since I was putting it on a trailer, I sort of lost track....and can't say if it settled at all........once it warmed up and got off the high idle....

The circuit diagram I was looking at the other day showed a 15 ohm resistor "should" be in the circuit across the charge lamp already for exciting the alternator.(corrected ohm value 6-8-18) But neither car exhibits a gen lamp ON condition running or not..... so I guess I need to check some bulbs!!!! That would be easy....I hope chunky fingers will fit up there now that it's all put back together.......doh!

I'm just trying to figure out what the "norm" is for these cars (new to me!) with some of the mod's (or not!) that guys have done in this direction! Hopefully this will help some other new owners as well!!!

Thanks!
Steve