running alt without plug???

[Mat Dope 10+ year member]

i have an alterstart HO alt and at idle i get 14.1v with nothing running and then with my a/c on it goes down to 12.5 and stays there. alterstart has proven to be useless by saying that is supposed to happen, and by saying if the battery doesnt die your fine. (of course im not running accessories so my battery wont die!)

anyway i took the plug out of the back of the alt. and tested the alt again. i got 15-15.2volts! and the same with the a/c on it dipped for a second to like 14.5 and went back to 15v.

my question is, is it safe to run my car without this plug in the alt.? even when i rev my engine to 2000rpms the voltage doesnt go higher.

thanks

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[Rich B 5,000+ posts]

Is it externally regulated?

It sounds like you're bypassing the voltage regulator, which is not a good idea.

If so, you just need a higher output regulator to safely achieve better voltage.

(Safely is the key word there.)

 

[Mat Dope 10+ year member]

no its not externallty regulated. the plug is just two little wires that plug into the alt. itself.

i cant really send the alt. back because my stock is fryed so i have nothign to use and i cant be without a car for 2 weeks or afford to buy a new stock alt. plus i think alterstart will try and screw me over and tell me its fine.

 

[SyKo13 5,000+ posts]

It will boil teh battery, then hydrogen's gonna build up, then you might have a spark and poof.....

 

[dleccord 5,000+ posts]

It will drain your battery if you run it like that..

who dat chick be in the avatar? hollaaa backkkk...

 

[SyKo13 5,000+ posts]

That's my wife......//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif

 

[Mat Dope 10+ year member]

is 15v really that bad for a battery?

and it seems to do something with this voltage but do you know what this plug does?

 

[Chevyaudio 5,000+ posts]

What make model and year vehicle.

 

[SyKo13 5,000+ posts]

is 15v really that bad for a battery? and it seems to do something with this voltage but do you know what this plug does?

The plug regulates voltage which means it keeps it at a maximum output (14.5v)

If it's over 14.8v at idle, you have a problem

You sure as hell don't want your battery boiling and leaking hydrogen gases

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

well, most cars regulate voltage by using an exciter wire which shorts a varying amp load of 12v+ to the brushes to charge them and create current.

Either:

A) Your car works differently, and you have a perfectly good working alternator that just sucks at idle.

B) something's shorted out inside the alternator and giving the exciter a hard 12v, creating more and more current.

or c) something's way beyond ****ed.

it sounds like this company doesn't know wtf is going on...... and if you don't either, it's probably not a bad idea to take it to a shop on monday and have them make sure everything's ok (or not)

have you checked a forum for your specific car?

do you have any experience working on your car? do you own a service manual?

for christ's sake, man, take it somewhere! She's gonna blow!

when most cars' alternators aren't hooked up correctly, they simply don't make any current, and the battery dies. it sounds like your car has a death wish. And honestly, unless you want to start replacing $800 ecu's and $4000 wiring harnesses, i'd get the voltage down a few notches

 

[Mat Dope 10+ year member]

ok i think you may have miss understood me.

my alt has crappy voltage at idle with any accessoies on and it should do 75a at idle.

i was told to test this plug so i did and when i had it off i noticed the voltage was at 15v. then i put the plug on. i just wanted to know if it would be ok to run it with the voltage that high.

and yes i know alot about working on cars, well a good amount i just wasnt sure the exact purpose of this plug, it obliviously regulates the voltage but thats all i knew.

anyway im taking off to have it benchtested today so well see whats up with it. thanks for the help

 

[SyKo13 5,000+ posts]

NO Dude, do not run your car with that high of a voltage, have you not read what I've posted????

Your battery is going to fucking boil and it's going to fucking let off hydrogen gasses, and if that fucking gas catches a spark you are fucking gone!

 

[SyKo13 5,000+ posts]

Trust me, I've seen this shit happen, it isn't a nice thing.

 

[Mat Dope 10+ year member]

when i said take it off i ment the alt.

dont worry i never ran it with the plug out at 15v for more then a minute.

anyway the problem i was having with my alt is due to bad bearings when i took it off the pully was hard to turn and locked up in sometimes. so now because my stock alt is completely dead i have to buy a new one for 140 and ship my HO back. so this sucks

 

[scooter924 10+ year member]

Umm does anybody know how accurate the battery meter on the 880 is? Because when I start my car it reads around 15.5, then slowly decreases after about 5-10 mintutes of warming up.