On 08/22/2011 05:58 PM, Tom Hargrave wrote:
> Fast alternator brush wear is almost always caused by burned or
> pitted commutator rings.
>
> Did you check them when you replaced the regulator or did you just
> change out the regulator?

Well, as I wrote, I was in a campsite and didn't have confidence that I
could get ahold of the forward nut of the alternator pivot bolt in the
bracket. So, no, I did not inspect the commutator rings and, for that
matter, don't know how.

> Most just change the regulator&  then blame the regulator when the
> brushes fail in a few months or weeks.

I sure don't want to be in that category of hapless idiot. I am my own
category, the worrywart idiot, and now I need to address the worn
commutator possibility.

Can anyone explain how, and what to look for?

--
Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
Bend, Ore.
1984 Westfalia. A poor but proud people.
1971 "Ladybug"-brand utility trailer ca. 1972 from a defunct company in
San Clemente, Calif., now repurposed as The Westrailia.

Sent from my kitchen.