Wiring/Alternator Short?

[goinhungry]

Re: Wiring/Alternator Short?

That's a great idea - thanks. So this would tell me if there's a short with the engine off, but wouldn't I need to run it to find the short in this instance, since the alternator doesn't start smoking/battery heating up, until it's running? It's fine with the key off, and with the key clicked over to the ACC, but once I crank it/it's running, then it smokes. Your thoughts? THe only other thought I had is maybe the polarity in the alternator itself was reversed by the guy who did the rebuild - maybe putting the wrong color coded wires in the wrong places, but I wouldn't know the first thing about where to look in the alternator to make sure it's put back together properly - frankly, that's his job, but I wish I could locate the problem first, and then be able to point out exactly what he did wrong (if he did) and get it fixed properly...Thanks again for the help!

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Wiring/Alternator Short?

You can still turn the key to 'on' and 'start', this will complete the circuits to the starter solenoid and alt. <br /><br />Remember, the battery is disconnected - it won't start.

 

[goinhungry]

Re: Wiring/Alternator Short?

wait, so the positive is still connected as usual, you just disconnect the negative, hook the negative to one side of the halogen, then run the wire from the other end of the halogen to the neg. battery post? I guess I'm just not understanding - it seems to me like it would still be a connected system (but I'm certainly no electical wiz) unless you're somehow isolating the part you're testing only. Sorry, I just don't understand...

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Wiring/Alternator Short?

That's exactly how you do it. The halogen globe completes the circuit, but it also protects against a dead short.

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Wiring/Alternator Short?

A battery has a '+' and a '-'. Everything electrical on your boat must be connected to both in order to operate. Everything is a controlled short.<br /><br />For example - connect a wire directly from the '+' to the '-', what happens? (don't acctually do it). Sparks, melting, fire, batt explodes etc......<br /><br />Now connect a wire from the '+' to the '-' but have a globe in the middle of it. What happens? The globe illuminates - that's a controlled short.<br /><br />O/K, lets assume that you have something wrong with your alt - an internal short. '+' is leaking into '-', it is finding it's way back to the '-' batt post (or it is blowing a fuse). To measure whether or not '+' is in fact at the '-' bat post you can use my little gadget. If the light does not illuminate, there is NO short. If the light glows dimly, there is a minor short. If the light glows brightly, there is a major short.<br /><br />Make sense now?

 

[goinhungry]

Re: Wiring/Alternator Short?

yes, it does, thanks alot!