Hi Paul:
It's a valid question, but with a good answer. The ammeter tells you a
lot of what's going on in the electrical system. Shorts, wear in the
alternator, all sorts of things become quite evident with a little
trained observation. It's certainly saved me a ton of headaches which
would have come from bad grounds and worn wiring on the flashers.
For another example, I've been running with a barely functional A-type
overdrive for a while. (I'm getting a J-type with Volvo gearing ready
for installation) The A-types external solenoid has not been engaging
properly. Most of the time it does not pull in enough to hit the switch
turning off the primary pulling winding and in favour of the secondary
holding winding. This means that it continues to pull huge current and
quickly overheats. I immediately shut off the O/D and try again until it
sometimes catches. I can see this current draw clearly with the ammeter
as it swings heavily into Charge. When it works normally, of course, the
ammeter needle just twitches as the holding winding takes very little
power and the pull winding is only on for an instant. The alternator is
quite fine and provides the juice so no "alternator dead" idiot light
would turn on in either situation. Leaving the solenoid in "pull" mode
would fry it in about 100 seconds I am told. That's a $200 piece
involving pulling the console and the transmission tunnel to replace.
That's only one example of its uses. Watching the needle twitch in time
with the bass of a song is another. So, for me the ammeter is definitely
a valuable asset.
Cheers,
Mark
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-triumphs@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-triumphs@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Paul Dorsey
Sent: November 1, 2005 11:34 PM
To: triumph list
Subject: ammeter replaced with idiot light?
Please don't flame me, but just what good does an ammeter do? Couldn't
it's
function be shown by an idiot light (maybe one of those dimmer-brighter
type
bulbs showing degree of brightness/charging with dim glow/brightness.)
Thanks,
Paul Dorsey
60 TR3A
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