[impala 1970]

i have a 70impala i just bought the battery wont charge th old alternator had a wire that looked like it had been hooked to the voltage regulator the wire comes from under the dashboard but had been cut from the voltage regulator wire harness the plug for the voltage regulater is unplugged the wire that was running from out the car reads 12 volts.i have bought a new powermaster 1 wire alternater and new battery but still no charge .there is only a powerwire i got hooked to the alternator going straight to the battery. what should i try .should i try to hook that wire coming out the car to alternater. im lost. please help

[Kevin45]

Maybe the battery is shot. Did you have the new alternator checked out also?

[impala 1970]

i have put a brand new battery in the car and they checked the alternater and said it was good.i have got an airbag system on the car but i dont think it would have anything to do with the alternr not turning on

[docvette]

Doc here,

First monitor your Voltage at the battery with a Volt / Ohm meter, It should read 14.4 Volts running...Then shut it off, it should read around 12.75 volts static...If you have that your problem is drain, not charge..

If you don't:



This SHOULD be the stock system, before you installed the one wire
================================================== =


The Single wire Should Go Directly to the fuse link on the starter. Abandon the other wires as you can no longer use them, one was for the Charge lamp, and the other set was for the regulator. Neither of these devices are to be used with the one wire system.

Be sure your Alternator has a proper ground. Run a 10 gauge wire from the ground lug of the alternator or alternator mount bolt, directly to your main ground, about the area of your starter (if your doing it right..)

If the Alternator bracket is powered white, you have corrosion, at the mount, and Electrolysis between the mounting hardware and the block..the 10 gauge wire is a short term solution, The long term solution, is remove the brackets and hardware and water blast or sand blast the mount and hardware..Then apply Aluminum Wire bonding compound to the hardware and reinstall.

If all that's good and you have 14.4 volts, and your still getting "Next Day" dead battery's, look for a static drain..(could even be that old regulator crowbarred shut)

Pull a battery cable and with your DVOM set for amps, place the probes BETWEEN the cable and the battery..It should draw no more than 3 Ma...If it does pull fuses until the draw stops...then troubleshoot that circuit..that is where your drain will be located.

one of those options should get you running again...

Doc

[topfuel]

Originally Posted by docvette

Doc here,

Pull a battery cable and with your DVOM set for amps, place the probes BETWEEN the cable and the battery..It should draw no more than 3 Ma...If it does pull fuses until the draw stops...then troubleshoot that circuit..that is where your drain will be located.

one of those options should get you running again...

Doc

Doc, would this work on a later model as well? My 94 GMC parts chaser has a slow drain that I can't find and it's driving me nuts.

[docvette]

Doc here,

Yup..again 3 MA and down is good (cd preset memory, and Confuser keep~Alive) anything above is drain...

The most common ailment is the diode pack starting to go south in the alternator, reverse biasing and causing a slight drain on the battery while sitting..

It is a two fold problem...because one out of 4 or 6 diodes are bad, It will also under charge DC, replacing the DC normally rectified by that diode with a small amount of AC...like 3 or 4 volts...hence your DC output is only 11 or so volts..and a useless 3 to 4 volts AC..

This is also rough on Semi conductor devices, they don't like to see any AC on their source power line...Will Cause linear op amps to over heat and go into thermal shut down (sometimes forever..)

Do the drain test, then if you can't find it there..OR it's everywhere..pull the main power wire from the alternator on a full charged battery, and let it sit an equal amount of time..If it is a diode, the battery WON'T be dead next time you try to start it!

If that's the case, you can either get a new diode pack, or new alternator, whatever you feel most comfortable with.

Doc

[impala 1970]

doc. it never goes over the12.6 even with the car running. with the one wire alterator i did not knw you had to hook up a ground wire. and does it matter if the power wire off the alterator is run straight to the battery or does it have to go to the starter .thanks

[snkbyt]

Hi Impala, Doc is right trying to get you to use the Starter FUSE link. It is fused. Going straight from the battery seems to me would work fine but you still have to Fuse it.I would use the starter it's cleaner looking and away from corrosion of the battery posts. It always gets me seeing guys wire their sound systems direct to battery instead of putting in a HD Buss away from the battery cables. Anyway a 1 wire alternator should be charging 14-15 volts when it is connected to any Battery voltage 'ON' all the time in the system. You either have a bad connect or to wrong terminal or alternator is defective.

[snkbyt]

Heh was just on Powermastermotorsports.com webpage and it has a great answer all the questions FAQ. I got mine answered there. How to wire an idiot light on a 1 wire for a 58 Chev with a generator.

[impala 1970]

Originally Posted by snkbyt

Heh was just on Powermastermotorsports.com webpage and it has a great answer all the questions FAQ. I got mine answered there. How to wire an idiot light on a 1 wire for a 58 Chev with a generator.

does the powermaster 1 wire alternater need a ground coming off of it

[snkbyt]

All electrical parts have to have a ground. IE' power going in and then to ground. If your parts are metal to metal attached, the case of the alt is ground, the + post is insulated away from ground, your alt should be metal to metal and not on rubber mounts so you don't need a ground wire. On a 1 wire you just have to connect to + volt wire and it will charge. That is why it is called a 1 wire alt. The only wire is the + ( 12Volt) to the large stud in back. The Fuse and wire size is all so you don't burn up circuits. The wire to the Alt should be 8 gage if 85 amp alt. 10 gage if less than that. Try starting the engine without the wire connected then while the engine is running touch the wire to the + post of the alt. you should hear the alt whine to show charge, if nothing you have an alt problem. This alt is designed to use a volt meter or amp gauge in the dash. Has to be wired a little different for amp gauge. If you have an idiot light to turn off another story and will explain that if needed.

[impala 1970]

Originally Posted by snkbyt

All electrical parts have to have a ground. IE' power going in and then to ground. If your parts are metal to metal attached, the case of the alt is ground, the + post is insulated away from ground, your alt should be metal to metal and not on rubber mounts so you don't need a ground wire. On a 1 wire you just have to connect to + volt wire and it will charge. That is why it is called a 1 wire alt. The only wire is the + ( 12Volt) to the large stud in back. The Fuse and wire size is all so you don't burn up circuits. The wire to the Alt should be 8 gage if 85 amp alt. 10 gage if less than that. Try starting the engine without the wire connected then while the engine is running touch the wire to the + post of the alt. you should hear the alt whine to show charge, if nothing you have an alt problem. This alt is designed to use a volt meter or amp gauge in the dash. Has to be wired a little different for amp gauge. If you have an idiot light to turn off another story and will explain that if needed.

i was reading on the powermaster site that sometimes the rpms have to be up to turn the alternator on . can i hook the one wire up to turn on when the car turns on.

[docvette]

Doc here,

The Addition of a Ground wire on a 1 wire alternator, is insurance...for good ground bonding.

Consider for a minute if you will all the "Hardships" ground must go through to get back to the main ground on the block...

The Alternator Case itself is Aluminum..or Aluminum Alloy..Then on most Modern General Mystery's, Mounts on an Aluminum Bracket...with grade 5 steel bolts holding it all together into a Cast block...an Electrolysis Farm at best!

Power won't travel well or at all through corrosion..(electrolysis) and will fail over time..

Ever see a GM water pump ate up inside by a white powered substance, on a well maintained Cooling system? 99% of the time, It's electrolysis from the altenator..Poor Bonding..

The reason I say hook the Power wire up on the Starter B+ protected side of the fuse link is for protection against your rod burning up in an electrical caused fire...A link will withstand spikes, spurs and higher temps better than any fuse ever could..and will melt before an actual harness bursts into flames..

Purely A Safety Issue...If you continue to run without one...you could have a fire you won't be able to put out.

An Alternator should charge at 14.4 volts at ANY speed..The exception to the rule is after a heavy drain (starter function) during surface top off..or Full load, running condition..Lights, heater, AC, brake lights, any other accessories that draw power, and THEN never below about 13.75...

If you have to "Rev" it to get voltage..you either have a bad internal regulator, Bad diode pack internal to the Alternator, poor ground bonding, A VERY dead battery, or a loose or poor connection at the power wire/fusible link..or an under rated output alternator

Doc

[impala 1970]

today i checked the voltage coming off the wire coming from the poweraster 100 amp alternator i put in, it is reading 13.7 volts when i took it off the battery but when it is on the battery it still is only reading 12.7 volts and drops as it is running. do you think the alterntor is maybe to small or any suggestions from here. thanks. also as i rev the engine up the voltage on the alternator wire would drop.

[docvette]

Doc here,

Be sure your battery has a full 8 to 10 hour charge on a charger for 6 to 8 hours..

After that, Pull and return that Altenator...It's bad...NEVER should it drop in Voltage as RPM is increased...It should be a constant 14.4...(if you are reading and interpreting your indications correctly AND have the proper polarity on the Meter)+ to plus..- To neg...

BTW pulling the cable while it's running IS not a safe way to do that..you could damage the charge system, or worse, create a Spark that could Ignite a gassing battery and have an explosion..

Doc