Hi Rick,
The diode was a surplus one I had laying
around but one but one rated for about 120 volts and about five times the
max amp draw of the MSD should work fine. for the capacitor I just used an
old condenser from a points style distributor.
What type, construction, and what rating do you recommend for the MSD?
As for the condenser/cap, where did you put it in circuit?
The alt installed is a custom wound one from AIS, and was built to put out
over 100amps at 15v in a ford small case. This does compound any heat
problems. While the alt was over heating, the orginal power lead which is
what, about #6- #8, was not even warm, which surprised me a little.
As for the adjustable regulator, it was recommended because of the distance
between the alt and batt and the HO alt, and the desire to run 14v. I'd
like to run about 14v to insure a quick charge on the start/deep cycle
Optima batt which can take 15v, and to decrease the amp draw slightly on
accessories. Some additional accessories like the Elec. cooling fans and
TT's air compressor, amp, etc.. put a good demand on the batt. But the
over-voltage should not present any problem on the B since there are really
no sensitive electronics onboard, except maybe the Hella headlights which
are halogen and typically don't like anything above 13.5v. The MSD should
not have any problems either. I have always been told that as a rule of
thumb, a 10% increase of the rated voltage should provide a wide safety
margin. At 14v, we're running a bit more than that, but I do notice the A/C
fan runs faster and therefore puts out a lot more air which is welcome here
in Miami. The OEM radio also plays cleaner which is a complete mystery to
me. Time will tell if the slight increase in voltage is too much for the
fan, but the extra boost in cooling is too much to not try and do it.
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