Posted by Sherman in Idaho [108.162.246.66] on Monday, November 07, 2016 at 01:13:47 :
In Reply to: Re: 6 volt 1 wire alternator. ??? posted by Kaegi [108.162.246.78] on Sunday, November 06, 2016 at 10:29:10 :
But the customer asked for it and the customer is always right.
That said, the ONLY advantage of 1-wire alternators is that people who think electricity is too confusing have one less part to think about. Other than that, a separate regulator has the advantages of being easier to troubleshoot if something does go wrong and of regulating the voltage AT the battery, where it counts, rather than at the alternator, where it's always higher than at the battery. With a 1-wire alternator you have to pretty much just swap the whole thing out of it's not charging, whereas with an external regulator you can quickly figure out which part is bad. With a mechanical regulator, it's even better because you can move the coil contacts by hand to make sure both the current and the voltage coil change the field voltage. Or you can jumper the field to the battery terminal to make sure the regulator is putting out when it has full field voltage at least. But if this all sounds like a bunch of gobbledygook, 1-wire is the way to go.