Solved. Incorrect part number was shipped twice. The alternators were 3 wire incorrectly sent as 1 wire. Correct unit is on the way.

 

<< previous reply deleted when this came up as a new reply >>

Solved. Incorrect part number was shipped twice. The alternators were 3 wire incorrectly sent as 1 wire. Correct unit is on the way.

I hope the new one works for you.

But there's a reason GM never installed a one wire alternator on any vehicle they ever built.

Also, if any further issues come up, "one wire alternator" is incredibly vague. It's hard to help out without knowing the type of alternator (10si/12si, CS130/CS144, etc.) and it's often handy to know the current rating.

 

<< previous reply deleted when this came up as a new reply >>


I hope the new one works for you.

But there's a reason GM never installed a one wire alternator on any vehicle they ever built.

Also, if any further issues come up, "one wire alternator" is incredibly vague. It's hard to help out without knowing the type of alternator (10si/12si, CS130/CS144, etc.) and it's often handy to know the current rating.

Many many folks use 1 wire alternators successfully. Myself included , the sensor wire / 3 wire is better thing makes virtually no sense to me , but then again , when generators were fazed out , the alternator was never going to work correctly ,according to many experts & then when external regulators were fazed out , the experts declared that as the end of mankind , now its the 1-wire vs 3-wire thing . If you consider the battery as the source with the system drawing current from it & the alternator as providing power to the battery , where the voltage is " sensed" seems immaterial . But that's just me ....

 

i'm a big fan of one wire alternators, we used to make the 3 wire 30-60 amp alternators self exciting by tying the sense wire to the output wire. it made gen to alt conversions easy. that worked fine for 30 years until i built 58TRUK with electric everything and needed the higher amp. i soon found out that powermaster 110 amp alternators are junk, they use bridges and regulators that are borderline junk.

after burning up 2 in 2 years, someone here suggested a bridge and regulator from a certain vendor, i rebuilt the powermaster using those parts and have been good for ten years. i carry a rebuild kit in the glovebox just in case as parts for one wire rebuilds aren't available at most flaps. there used to be an old guy who rebuilt starters, generators and alternators around here, he's retired now, not sure where i'd go anymore. rebuilding an alternator is easy peasy

 

I consider 1 wire alternators a fad to be avoided. It’s obvious that from the number of negatives and problems they have sensitivities in probabilities of occurrence that 3 wires don’t share. So to make my life consistently simpler I avoid their use.

Bogie

 

T

Too many variables for a generalized statement ; " I've had trouble with X , others have had trouble with , therefore X is bad " you could take the pro aside & be every bit as accurate ! ( I really hate generalizations & blanket statements )

Its like the last election ,if you only count the votes from one side , they will inevitably win !

 

At the risk of beating a dead horse , the argument that the sensor wire is needed to more accurately sense demand infers that due to the wire harness being horribly undersize ,there is enough resistance to current flow as to not allow the " sensing" of low current at ANY point in the harness & that would have an adverse affect on the alternator function . A one wire works IF the harness has adequate capacity for the voltage to be the same @ the alternator , the starter , the fuse box or ANY other place in the harness ! Now , tell me how wrong I am .

 

Wire has resistance. Terminals corrode. Like rust, resistance never sleeps. Once again, in an environment where GM shaves every penny possible from production of their vehicles, why would they include the cost of a couple of feet of copper if they didn't need it?

 

you do realize that we're talking about the big 3? i've seen more money wasted in 25 years i've lived in detroit than all the 3rd world despot countries combined. i wouldn't have bailed any of them out. in the 80s i'd tie the sense wire to the output wire when converting generators to alternators

 

So like I said , its not the 1 wire alternator that's the problem , its the wiring harness ! BTW , AFA corrosion is concerned , the fuse block & wiring in my boat are original 1972 equipment , , the wiring in my 73 chev pickup is the same and the fuse block in my hotrod is out of a '66 corvair , I like glass fuses . They all function perfectly . There's an overwhelming tendency in this country that everything old has to be junk , its a very flawed ,manufacturer advanced system that is obscenely wasteful !

 

Quick I think there are some kids playing on your front lawn too!

 

Thank you for this immensely helpful post !

 

And, it's Comments like above that deter me from Posting in this Forum-

 

I was having some weird low voltage issues with my electrical on my 67 Chevelle.
I installed a 1-wire Powermaster, but still had the same issues.
I ran new wiring from alternator to battery, and from battery to voltmeter, ammeter and a new auxiliary fusebox in the cockpit.
That solved my issues for all of the accessories that are now connected to the new fusebox.
So it was caused by the old wiring harness/fusebox.
One issue that the low voltage (caused by resistance) created, was with my controller for my 4L60e. It would periodically give me a "solenoid overvoltage" error, which turned into an "every time I drove it" issue.
It was actually being caused by the controller's input voltage being low... so the new wiring/fusebox now powering the controller fixed that issue.
So old wiring is going to cause an issue with 1- or 3-wire alternators...

 

Old wiring may or may not cause problems with either system . Just because the wiring is old doesn't make it bad .Lord I hate " blanket" statements . That's supposition , supposition screws up a lot of things !

 

Old wiring may or may not cause problems with either system . Just because the wiring is old doesn't make it bad .Lord I hate " blanket" statements . That's supposition , supposition screws up a lot of things !

Change "Is going to" to "can"... problem solved.

 

It's your statement , which is true ?

 

Blanket statement: run a new wire to the battery when installing a one wire alternator. going from the 30-60 amp alternator to the 100 amp one wire alternator just makes sense