[T3] Voltage Regulator

Tue Nov 9 12:47:28 PST 2010

Ah, I see the website now.  Thanks for the heads up on that Mike.

- Bryon, '71 Fastback
On Nov 9, 2010 12:42 PM, "Bryon Garvin" <spinningrooves at gmail.com> wrote:
> Under new management ?
> On Nov 9, 2010 12:19 PM, "Mike Fisher" <fisherfarms at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Theddb.com in Portland, OR is back in business under new management
>> selling a complete alternator conversion for Type 3's. The glowing
>> battery light is common and usually can be Ignored. My JVC unit works
>> fine in my 69 FI/AT with a generator.
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 9, 2010 at 12:07 PM, Tim Keohane <rheorojo at wildblue.net>
> wrote:
>>> Did some more fussing on this. I hope I didn't trash my battery. It's a
> 500
>>> CCA 625 Amp/hour battery. I have been charging my batteries when needed
>>> thinking my charger "senses" the state of charge and reduces the input
as
>>> necessary. So I assumed @ 2 amps the battery never received more than 2
>>> amps, and that was reduced as the battery neared capacity. I may have
>>> screwed up more batteries than I helped.
>>> I drove the car at night several times this past week. I've observed
that
>>> the idiot light is faintly glowing. I had to dim my dash lights to be
>>> certain. It makes no discernible difference between high and low beams.
(
>>> 110 x 2 or 55 x 2 ). I do notice the lights brighten when rpm's are
>>> increased. Again high/low seems the same. Electrically the V R
> connections
>>> shouldn't make any difference, but physically if the V R has an issue,
>>> swapping the terminal connections at the V R ( fuse and battery circuits
> )
>>> would produce a noticeable change. I'll try that next. I'm also earth
>>> strapping the components so I'm not chasing a bad/faulty ground.
>>> I've seen some conversions to alternators. Are there any comments
> regarding
>>> this. It seems that if I had 50 amps charging capacity I could eliminate
>>> this problem.
>>> I'm researching lower wattage bulbs, and have yet to power up the
> radio/cd
>>> player. Standard alpine unit, but does need 12 volts.
>>> Thanks Tim
>>> On 1 Nov 2010 at 21:45, Tim Keohane wrote:
>>>
>>>> I charged the battery @ 10 amps for 24 hours, then 2 amps for 3 days.
>>>> 4 hours after removing the charger these are the results:
>>>> Battery charge 13.5 volts
>>>
>>> That was actually quite hard on the battery. You put more than 240
>>> amp-hours into a 45 amp-hour battery. The result has to be lots of
>>> hydrolyzed water and probably some battery plate damage. (Plate
>>> damage occurs when hydrolization occurs inside the sintered plates,
>>> causing them to flake off bits of plate material.)
>>>
>>>> @ 2500 RPM No Load
>>>> Battery 14.5 volts
>>>> Gen. 14.5 volts 10.5 Amps
>>>> Battery circuit 1.6 Amps
>>>> Fuse Panel circuit 8.5 Amps
>>>
>>> This seems pretty normal. I'm surprised that the V at the generator
>>> isn't a bit higher than the V at the battery, but the low voltage
>>> drop was probably due to the low current. Still, from the numbers
>>> below, I would have expected ~0.4 V difference.
>>>
>>> Note that the current out of the generator = the sum of the currents
>>> out of the VR. As it should be.
>>>
>>>> @ 2500 Low Beams ( 2x 55 watts)
>>>> Battery 14.5 volts
>>>> Gen. 15.2 volts 20.5-21.5 amps
>>>> Battery circuit 1.5 - 2.5 amps
>>>> Fuse panel circuit 19.3 amps
>>>
>>> Again, this is pretty normal. At the same voltage the battery is
>>> taking about the same current, while the excess is going to the 2
>>> headlights via the fuse panel, and the currents in and out of the VR
>>> sum the same.
>>>
>>>> The generator light only comes on when I turn the key to start. Once
>>>> started it goes out, and does not indicate when the generator is
>>>> insufficient to maintain the battery @ 12.5 volts or higher. I can
>>>> visualize the generator light remaining out if it V R is receiving
>>>> ample current regardless of the circuit out except when the battery
>>>> goes down during use. I would also think more amperage would flow to
>>>> the battery to maintain it.
>>>
>>> I'm guessing that you're expecting more out of your idiot light than
>>> it can actually deliver. It's exactly the same as any other
>>> automotive charging system idiot light and they are not a perfect
>>> system. They only tell you when there is a difference between the
>>> generator output voltage and the battery voltage. When they both go
>>> down together the light does not light.
>>>
>>>> My first impression is everything here seems within parameters, but
>>>> the battery dies then the car without an indication. When a fresh
>>>> battery is installed the car starts and runs without a hic-up. I have
>>>> not checked the strength of the battery. I guess I'll have to replace
>>>> the bulbs with something requiring a little less.
>>>
>>> I think you're on the right track. The electrical system on our cars
>>> cannot support those lights for extended drives. If you drove with
>>> those headlights for no more than a half hour at a time, followed by
>>> several hours of no headlights, they would probably be fine. You just
>>> need to give the charging system and battery a chance to recover.
>>> Note that nothing much happens at idle; the generator needs decent
>>> rpms to put out its rated current. 2500 rpm was a good choice for
>>> your tests.
>>>
>>> --
>>> *******************************
>>> Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
>>> Madison, Wisconsin, USA
>>> *******************************
>>> Tim & Paula Keohane
>>> Purveyors of:
>>> Wild Alaska Salmon & Halibut
>>> AKC/FDSB/CKC Irish Setters
>>> rheorojo at wildblue.net
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
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