| Subject: | Re: Vanagon alternator too weak for Optimas. |
| From: | Derek Drew |
| Date: | Mon, 21 Jul 2003 19:27:37 -0400 |
<html> <body> <font size=3>Has anyone actually confirmed that the link below leads to kits that can be installed in our vehicles? <br><br> These kits seem like a great way to be able to temporarily push a lot of juice into the batteries in order to get them charged up fast and then let the voltage come down after that. <br><br> At 04:20 PM 7/21/2003 -0500, you wrote:<br> <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Or you could do the Volvo fix<br><br> <a href="http://www.linkline.com/personal/dbarton/AdjustableVoltage.html" eudora="autourl">http://www.linkline.com/personal/dbarton/AdjustableVoltage.html</a><br><br> Mike<br><br> At 01:21 PM 7/21/2003 -0700, Steve Delanty wrote:<br> <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>At 12:42 PM 7/21/2003, you wrote:<br> <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>i read in the archives that Optima does NOT recommend<br> anything less than a 15 volt alternator output, if<br> this is true, then we are all undercharging our<br> optimas becouse the vanagon's Alt charges around<br> 13-14V.</blockquote>[snip]<br><br> The stock Bosch alternator is actually a pretty good piece.<br> It's decently made and has good current capacity.<br> The problem is that the crummy little internal regulator<br> is lazy and tends towards low voltage. Also it measures<br> the voltage *at the alternator* instead of at the battery<br> so when the electrical load is high, the voltage drop<br> across the charging wire (from alternator to battery)<br> causes the battery to see very low charging voltage<br> particularly under high electrical loads.<br><br> A reasonably simple (and cheap!) cure is to remove the<br> stock internal regulator, and replace it with a nice Ford<br> style external regulator. This works VERY well on the<br> Bosch alternator. You need to cut a couple leads on<br> the back side of the internal Bosch regulator and solder<br> 1 wire on that will go out to the external (Ford) regulator.<br><br> Also, while you are at it, run a small wire from the regulators<br> "voltage sense" terminal up to the battery, so the regulator<br> measures the charging voltage AT THE BATTERY and<br> compensates for the voltage drop across the charging wire<br> and keeps the battery charge voltage much more constant<br> regardless of electrical load.<br> I did these things to the alternator that was in my vanagon<br> and loved it.<br><br> I don't have the URL's for the sites I found it at, but the<br> external regulator conversion seems popular with the Volvo<br> crowd. Type -Bosch Ford alternator- into a search engine and<br> you should find several websites with instructions on doing<br> the regulator swap.<br> It's pretty easy and works GREAT!<br><br> Steve<br> EJ22 -> '86 Westy "Escape Pod"</blockquote> <x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep> _______________________________________________<br> Derek Drew <br> CEO & Co-Founder <br> ConsumerSearch, Inc.<br> New York, NY & Washington DC<br> derekdrew@rcn.com<br> 202-966-7907 <br> (cell) 703-408-1532 <br><br> <a href="http://www.consumersearch.com/%A0%A0%A0" eudora="autourl">http://www.ConsumerSearch.com/ </a> <br> Time Magazine, June 19, 2003<br> "50 Best Websites"<br><br> </font></body> </html>
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