Volts make a BIG difference because if the voltage is set too high, the
alternator will think the battery is low (that is only 12 volts) and attempt to
charge the battery. Depending on how high the voltage is set at, that will
determine how much charging the alternator will do. In other words, if the
regulator is set for 15 volts, the alternator will attempt to charge the
battery because it thinks the battery is 3 volts too low. On the old Lucas
generators, the RB106 regulators had NO amperage setting-they relied totally on
the voltage setting to charge the battery. Back in the fifties when I lived in
New York City, we set the regulator voltage high on our '51 Hillman Mark IV
because we made a lot of short trips and idled alot-that meant we had to put
the headlights on during daylight when we went on a highway for a longer trip
(actually most British cars of the this era did that).
Jan
Jay_Laifman@countrywide.com wrote:
> I went to the alternator shop. They said that amps were fine but the volts
were not perfect, so they replaced the voltage regulator. I'll see tonight
when I put it back on - or I guess tomorrow when I drive it. But, would
the voltage regulator affect the amps?
If it is true that the amps are fine, my only other possibility is my less
than one year old battery that sat for a month while I got the headers to
fit, etc., is drawing 20+ amps to charge and really hasn't made much if any
headway during a week of driving to work everyday. I don't ever recall
having a battery take so long.
Any thoughts? I guess I'll know some more tomorrow.
One more thing, while I was waiting, I had them look at their books to tell
me the number of the alternator. It is the same as the Hitachi number:
14231. He even showed me the picture in the book.
Jay
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