quote:

Originally posted by ron:
Hmmmm, that'd be something new to me. I remember the regulator being a stand-alone black box mounted on the firewall. Heck, I also remember when cars had crome bumbers and fender skirts too!

Ron & Don
Them was the good old Days!JEEP CJ Used A Alternator with INTEGRAL Voltage Regulator in 1978 my 79 CJ has one as do my other Cars& Trucks.The Barth 84 or 85 should have one to I think!


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Jay&Shelby 95 Barth Regency 34ft. 8.3 Cummins 300 hp.
Spartan K2 MM.

[This message has been edited by bubbiebarth2 (edited January 29, 2005).]

Well, what can I say. They are right and I was ......uhhh.....oh this hurts.....I was.........
wrxxxxxxxxxxx....I DIDN'T HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION I NEEDED TO MAKE THE CORRECT DECISION!...... :-)

So if a regulator goes south, is it a replacable part or do you have to toss the alternator? Maybe one of these days Don will tell us what he found to be the problem.

quote:

So if a regulator goes south, is it a replacable part or do you have to toss the alternator? Maybe one of these days Don will tell us what he found to be the problem.[/B]

If the regulator goes south it is sending you a message: it is time to buy a new alternator (which will contain a new regulator).


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"You are what you drive" - Clint Eastwood

I'll let ya'll know the final fix. Haven't done anything yet as I wanted to soak up all your imput before I started. It's been cold and wet and I just haven't talked myself into wallowing around under and in these conditions. The concensus for the first logical step seems to be, check for grounding faults/corroded terminal connections, etc.

thanks fellers,
don

Trouble shooting as started now that the cold wet weather has broken and the flu bug purged. I have a bad case of road itch now and needing to find the fix to this Brath's electrical (ingition related)problem.

Today I cleaned all battery connections and frame grounding terminals. My chassis battery was still 100% since last month's charging so there is no slow bleed on it.

The engine cranked on the first spin and ran smooth. I then proceeded to disconnect the chassis battery and it was like turning off the switch...kapoot!

Where do I look next? Is the alternator bad or one of the other two suspect gizmos?

What is the little gizmo connected to the frame adjacent to the battery box which looks like a snuff can? It has a + batt cable going directly to it and then another large cable going from it to the starter. It also has the cable from shore power converter hooked to it as well as some small wires.

Then there is the gizmo on the firewall passenger side (accessed from grille). It looks to be about 4 inches square with anodized blue aluminum cooling fins. Two heavy wires from the alternator (red & white)and one + battery wire from snuff can share this divice. What de hay is this thang?

Since the engine went dead when I disconnected the + batt cable, can I ASS-U-ME that it is a bad alternator or could it be one of these other Gizmos?

Your knowledge and advise will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Dogill

Dogill Go up to search put in ISOLATOR there a lot of info there. A great post under Mike Cropper "charging problems voltage regulator or isolator" check it out.

Ralph Glover
Barth 27'1976

Well, you've done the right thing in cleaning all the connections. That is always a good idea. Spray all cleaned connections with LPS 3 to avoid future corrosion.

What does your dash voltmeter say when all this is happening?

I am afraid of disconnecting batteries with a running Delcotron. I know for a fact that disconnecting the batt lead on a running Delcotron will blow the regulator, but have never tried disconnecting the battery.

I would install an ammeter, either permanently or temporarily. Both an ammeter and voltmeter are necessary to troubleshoot charging problems. There are inductive ammeters that you just place on the wire to read charge or discharge current that are reasonably priced, too.

Once the chassis battery is charged, check with an ammeter to see if anything is drawing it down.

I am an isolator hater. For the moment anyway, consider wiring the alternator directly to the chassis battery with the isolator out of the circuit.

Bill - Thanks,
What is a Delcotron? Is that the name of the motor, alternator, or what?
What is the difference of disconnecting a battery lead and disconnecting the hot cable at battery? I thought it was the same thing.
If doing so ruins the regulator, then mine's shot.
Bypassing the Isolator seems a reasonable proposition.
What is the little "Snuff-Can" electrical gadget attached to the frame near the battery locker?
I read your archival post to Mike Cropper on this subject and still trying to digest it all. I'm sure the cure is there somewhere but I am the consumate dumb*** in these matters.
Thanks,
Don
'84 gaser

quote:

Originally posted by dogill:
Bill - Thanks,
I am the consumate dumb*** in these matters.
Thanks,
Don
'84 gaser

HeeHeeHee, Gill said dumba$$. I must agree and pledge my support to this endeavour......errr, keeping you consumate that is. :-)

Wait wait wait, before the membership burns me at the stake (or is that steak), Gill and I are old (real old) friends and he can take the abuse. Been trying to help troubleshoot this problem. My best bit of advise thus far was to "ask billh".

quote:

Originally posted by dogill:
..........What is the little "Snuff-Can" electrical gadget attached to the frame near the battery locker?
........
Thanks,
Don
'84 gaser

Those are circuit breakers. Since I now have found that I can't find my blueprints, I can't tell what value, but I think they are about 50 amp or so.

Fuzzy Barth 12v Breaker

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89 Barth Regal 32
Runs like a Deere
New Hampshire

quote:

Originally posted by dogill:
Bill - Thanks,
What is a Delcotron? Is that the name of the motor, alternator, or what?
What is the difference of disconnecting a battery lead and disconnecting the hot cable at battery? I thought it was the same thing.
Don
'84 gaser

Don, Delcotron is GM's name for their alternator with a built in regulator.

Disconnecting the battery allows the alternator to see a load, even if just the ignition. Disconnecting at the alternator's big post allows the alternator to see NO load, which I have verified is fatal.

I suspect that the alternator's regulator requires both a load and a battery for proper regulation. The battery is, in effect, a capacitor which smooths out the ripples of the three phase AC output of the alternator. One would view the waveform on an oscilloscope and then disconnect things to see, but I suspect there would be some pretty dramatic voltage peaks that could take out other things, too.



[This message has been edited by bill h (edited February 26, 2005).]