Wiring GM 2 wire alternator

[Colo Dean]

So I have one other issue to sort out.....hopefully just one....

I installed a GM alternator and wired it as a 2 wire alternator basically the same as this drawing.


The only difference is my ignition wire from the switch goes to a fuse block and I connected one side of the light to the fuse panel instead of directly at the ignition switch.

In checking all of my wiring, I found with the ignition switch off, I am getting .6 volts instead of 0 volts at the post on my fuse panel. Not sure what I need to do to make sure I am not drawing the battery down.

Now to confuse you again, if I haven't already (sorry I can't always explain it as clearly as I would like)

While typing, this popped into my head. With this .6 volts on the line, would that be considered potential voltage in that the light is not on, since it doesn't have a ground but it registers when I give it a path to ground using the volt meter? Therefore not really draining the battery. My thought here is there is 12 volts at the ignition switch, but if its not on there is no drain, its just voltage waiting to be used.

Thoughts??

And if anyone is willing to talk to this dunder head, pm me your number and I may be able to explain it better.

Thanks.

 

[Hedgehog]

I don't see a dunderhead around here. Not a bad idea on the potential drain actually being through the tester itself.

I was always nervous about screwing up the two wire set up on a Delco Alternator so when mine went bad it went into an alternator shop to get a single wire regulator set-up. Some say since the alt. needs to be run up to ~1100 rpm before it will start charging (once started it is always charging) that this is a bad system. But honestly, who doesn't feather the throttle at least a little bit on start up.

 

[Colo Dean]

So I may have figured this out. There must be a capacitor in the alternator. After checking the battery voltage and again a couple hrs later it was the exact same voltage. Checking the fuse post it now showed 0 volts. Turn the key on and off and it goes back to the .6 volts but after a couple minutes its back to 0 volts. Tested this a few times and got the same results so I don't think I have to worry about this killing the battery.

One more issue hopefully solved.

Thanks for putting up with all my questions! I bet there will be more in the next week or so as we get this girl ready to run..