Posted by Steve Elliot on August 29, 2000 at 21:20:53:
Some of you know I was changing my generator on my 12volt 48B1-pw to 3 wire GM alternator. My battery would drain to nothing overnight after the installation. I found my headlight switch getting hot and no tailight. However with the switch in the off position it did not get hot. I don't see how it could have drained the battery in the off position but I removed it and ordered a new one. In the meantime I wired the alternator with the + side of the starter going through the ammeter and on to the ignition key so that of course the key would stop the power in the off position. I did not use a diode as was suggested by Vaughn and Ken Kull. From the other side of the ignition switch I went to the + side of the coil and the #1 spade connection on the alternator. There is a short jumper wire going from the #2 spade connection to the hot wire on the back of the alternator.(The 10 guage wire to the starter). I have had the battery connected up to the system for 48 hours and it has not drained yet. I think I've got it. I also put a ground wire from the case of the alternator to the engine ground. So there was actually 4 wires used. It's basically Vaughn's wiring instructions in the Best of Forum. I also used a multimeter, some common sense and logic. I didn't allow myself to get angry when I made mistakes. That's easy when you can take your time and don't have to finish the job in one day. The original istructions I used for wiring were for a 56 CJ3B jeep that originally had a generator. I assumed it would be the same for the Power Wagon. The Jeep instructions had the #1 spade connection going to the ammeter. Obviously it was wrong.
A special thanks to Ken Kull in Pa. for helping me along with this project whom I don't know but helped me like a lot of you guys do. And while I'm at it I can't thank Joe Cimoch enough for starting and continuing this Forum. Please keep it going for a long time.
Steve