Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 22:30:33 -0600
Reply-To: Joshua Van Tol <jjvantol@USWEST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Joshua Van Tol <jjvantol@USWEST.NET>
Subject: Re: generator questions
In-Reply-To: <36F9B7E0.B0AA6754@bcn.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"
> Hi Volks,
> I'm still plaqued buy generator problems on my 84 bus. 2 weeks ago
Plaqued by generator problems? Maybe you should see your dentist. :-)
Seriously, an '84 van has an alternator, which is a very different
beast than a generator.
> I put in a new generator because tthe dash lights failed to light and it
> turned out it wasn't charging. Up until lunch today its been working
Sounds like there's an intermittent open in the dash light circuit.
I'd check the connector at the dash cluster first, as those are
pretty poorly designed. Also, check for damage to the printed circuit
on the back of the gauge panel. In particular, check the connections
to the bleeder resistor that's mentioned below. Chances are the
resistor, or the connections to it have an open.
> great. Now the lights come on bright and then goes dim after I start
> it. I checked to output and its right on 14.5 volts at the output stud
> and 13.5 volts at the battery. The output at the blue wire is 13.5
> volts as well. I turn the key on and remove the blue wire the lights
> go out. I ground the wire out and it lights up. I'm at a loss. Tech at
> work said he thought that the blue wire output was only supposed to be 5
> volts. For shits and giggles tonite I checked the output of the
> generator on the Syncro I've been working on and its 14 volts at the
> output stud and 13.5 volts at the blue wire too. Any ideas?
>
> As I understand the dash battery lite system, the light gets its
> ground from the generator and then when it starts charging it sends
> current through the blue wire and since current is already flow in it
> cancels each other puting the dash lite out.
An interesting fact for you. If the alternator does not get power
through the dash light, it won't start charging. On the vw, this is
tricky, since they used an led instead of an incandescent bulb. The
LED, by means of a current limiting resistor, is set up to only draw
~10 mA or so. So an additional resistor is added in parallel with the
led and its current limiting resistor to allow enough current to flow
to start the alternator.
If you want to test this theory, wire up your own alternator light,
consisting of a side marker bulb (7 W or so) connected to the blue
wire terminal(L?) at one end, and to B+ on the other.
> Since I'm getting current out of the generator, I'm thinking I'm
> getting a poor ground somewhere feeding back on the system and turning
> the light on.
> If anyone has an idea, let me know thanks.
> --
>
> -Jim DiGennaro
>
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Joshua Van Tol -- jjvantol@uswest.net