Another Amp gauge issu

quote:

Originally posted by captaintobeys:
I searched all the old posts and got more confused.

I put in a high amp, internally regulated alternator. I swear from a posting in here I was sent to a company that supplied a wiring conversion pigtail and a modified old style regulator that was suppose to allow the amp gauge and warning light to work properly. Plug and play.

Not so lucky. My amp gauge does not move. I know the alternator is charging(14.3 volts). At least there hasn't been any smoke. The instructions were followed but now I do not have access to them because we are moving.

Is there a way to wire up the alternator to eliminate the external regulator altogether and keep the light and gauge?

If you installed a one wire after market alternator, I don't believe that you can get the gen light to work anymore. The amp gauge should still work because all of the power from the alternator is going through it and to the battery. Have you installed a shunt across the back of the amp gauge terminals? If this has been done with a wire that is too thick, the amp gauge will not read very much or may not work at all.

There is some very good information about one wire alternators vs standard ones at a site called Mad Electrical.com. There are some real problems with the way the amp gauge is set up in a Pantera and this website does point out this issue.

It is a Ford alternator. No I have not put a shunt across it. I read it needs to be a 18 gauge across the 2 main large 2 terminals.

quote:

Originally posted by captaintobeys:
It is a Ford alternator. No I have not put a shunt across it. I read it needs to be a 18 gauge across the 2 main large 2 terminals.

Check out this link: http://www.madelectrical.com/

The have some very good information about alternator wiring and the pros and cons of one wire vs conventional. If the alternator has an internal regulator, it may not have the wire that needs to hook up to the gen light. There are 100 amp internal regulated alternators that are AC Delco brand that Hall Pantera was selling. I have one and my gen light did not work after I installed it, but there was a post on that back that would have allowed it to work if I had hooked it up correctly. I now have a single wire aftermarket 140 amp unit and there is no way to make the gen light work with that unit.

The problem with the Pantera amp gauge is that all of the power from the alternator is running through it. If the amp gauge fails, you are not going to be able to charge the battery.

I used a piece of 12 gauge wire across the back of the ammeter. It still moves enough for me to tell if it is going positive or negative. -Steve

Who supplies a Volt gauge that looks the same as the stock amp gauge.