63 amp Altenator too much for a '77?
03-05-2003, 11:42 PM
#1
Racer
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63 amp Altenator too much for a '77?
Ye Ole voltmeter gauge reads a bit high, but outside of the yellow in the gauge. This isn't going to overcharge my battery or anything, is it?
03-06-2003, 01:28 PM
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Re: 63 amp Altenator too much for a '77? (Captain_Kaboom)
If your gauge is reading high, your alternator might be fine, but then again it might not be. If it is running higher than usual and doesn't come back down after driving for a while, you may have a bad voltage regulator in the alternator and it would ruin your battery by overcharging it for a prolonged period of time. You can double check this by looking at the water level in your battery. If the water is being boiled off too quickly, you are overcharging your battery. This again means the voltage regulator is bad. In your 77 the voltage regulator is in the alternator.
03-06-2003, 03:45 PM
#6
Le Mans Master
Re: 63 amp Altenator too much for a '77? (Never Finished)
First we need to learn something about alternators and regulators. You cant really have too much. The amp rating is a measure of how capable the alternator is, but if only half that rate is required to charge the battery or run accessories that alternator will not charge any harder or at any higher voltage than the lighter version. The only time that the higher output would come into play is if everything is on at one time and the battery is discharged making the requirement higher. If this requirement is higher than the alternator is capable of delivering, the alternator could not keep up and the voltage would drop significantly. So you could put a 1000 amp alternator on there and it would not charge at any higher voltage than its regulator would allow, but if maximum load is demanded it would meed that nemand.
[Modified by wombvette, 2:47 PM 3/6/2003]
[Modified by wombvette, 2:47 PM 3/6/2003]
03-07-2003, 11:52 AM
#7
Burning Brakes
Re: 63 amp Altenator too much for a '77? (wombvette)
Yes. I agree that an alternator will/should only charge to the amount necessitated by the accessories and the commensurate voltage drop in the battery. I have heard about really big alternators possibly frying ammeters in older C3s. Can anyone comment on the ammeter issue.
