Walt,
The short answer is "yes". If the meter eventually creeps back up to the 14
volts then you may have a bad diode, or perhaps brush issues.
Do you have a radio?? if so listen to the AM band on a place with no
station, do you hear a pronounced whine that changes with engine RPM. Bad
diodes will cause some of the AC (what the alternator makes internally) to
not be converted to DC (really pulsating AC) which in turn produces the
whine. There's a bunch of theory which, if your interested I'll pass on.
An alternator should produce near full output (current) at engine speeds not
to far above idle (as opposed to generators whose outputs vary greatly with
speed).
Depending on mileage the brushes are the best bet for what's wrong. Accross
my various cars I seem to get around 100 to 120 thousand on a set.
The hot setup would be to add (or convert) to an Ampmeter. This tells you
real quick the real state of a charging system. Manufacturers went to
voltmeters (when they gave guages at all) because it's cheaper. They didn't
have to run heavy wire into/outof the cockpit. Voltmeters are not really an
accurate troubleshooter of charging system health.
Steve
tr6@kc4sw.com
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-6pack@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-6pack@autox.team.net]On
Behalf Of Walt Philipson
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2002 12:08 PM
To: Triumph Pack
Subject: volt meter reading
Dear list
I have a voltmeter question. With my headlights off, my voltmeter registers
somewhere between 13 and 15 volts. (it could be 14, but it is consistently
in the same spot between the 13 and 15 volt marks. When I turn my headlights
on, the needle drops (slowly) to just under 12 volts. Is this indication of
a bad charging system?
Walt Philipson
wphilipson@bigfoot.com
TR-6 1974
CF19728
Carmine/New Tan
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