Where is a good spot to hook up an amp gauge? I swapped to an internal alt so I don't have a voltage regulator. Also, whats a good number on there for a working alt?
The gauge has been on the car since I bought it but I never got around to hooking it up. Now, putting in my second alternator, hopefully it will give me some warning before I have to have the car jumpped.
the voltage should be testing at around 14.3 volts.. as far as amps are concerned it is tested at the primary power line but requires an ohmmeter with an amp probe.. really the amps dont matter if your voltage stays above 13.3-13.7 during full loads such as running ac and lights
A good location is on the red cable that comes directly off your battery +. It goes to a terminal block on the firewall, then feeds all of the car's accessories and other stuff. Just be sure that the meter wire size is large enough to accomodate all of the car's electrical loads at the same time because it will be connected in series. I think the red wire is 10 gage so that is at least the size you should need.
Thanks for the info. Dave, I've read that before in various places and it sounds like a voltometer would be a better gauge to have for monitoring the alernator and battery level. What do yall think?
Definitely. A voltage gauge gives you the status of the charge in the battery, and an amp gauge just tells you how much power is flowing. Sort of like the difference between knowing how much gas you have (voltage gauge) or how much gas you're using (amperage gauge). I like to know before the gas (or electrons) run out!
One more point, since all the power flows through the amp gauge, if it fails open, you have complete shutdown - not a good failure mode on a cold, dark night.
A voltage guage doesn't tell you the status of the battery. A dead battery can still have 12 volts. The thing is that the dead 12 volt battery cannot provide enough amperage to crank the car.
With the amp meter, it will show the charging status. (If the amp meter isn't resistering, it isn't charging. A volt guage can show 12 to 14 volts, but that doesn't mean that the battery has enough amperage to crank the car.)
