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Old 11-15-2002, 09:19 PM   #21
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Oscar,
Can you elaborate on the low battery/alternator situation. I want to understand the reason for a new alternator to fail under those conditions. One thing to keep in mind is the fact that 2 more batteries (the coach ones) are also present in the charge system via the battery isolator.
I have replaced many alternators, but never have encountered that problem.
thanx
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Old 11-15-2002, 10:09 PM   #22
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Sure Peter....

What happens is the "new" alternator is maxed out charging a weak or dead cell or (semi-dead cell ) battery. Coach batteries won't have anything to do with fluctuating head lights. All the isolator does is seperate the charge, so the "vehicle" and "coach " batteries don't drain from one another. If the coach battery was low also that would put twice the strain on the alternator.
When your headlights are on and the motor is running, the lights get their juice from the alternator, when motor is off the battery does the work, but if the battery is low and the lights are on, it's powering lights, vehicle battery, coach battery, etc.
As to why you should "break -in" a new alternator by not putting full loads on it, I'm not sure, but (as I said before) I have proved the manufacturer right on this one. Oscar
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Old 11-15-2002, 10:16 PM   #23
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Peter
Can there be something else wrong with the charging system.
Threr is an audible snap noise when the volts drop off as the unit is idling I traced this noise to the front area near the isolator to a Bosch 30 module with 23 wires coming off it this appears to be a solinoid of some type it is located after the 3 wiring blocks connected to the isolator.
Any ideas
thanks
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Old 11-15-2002, 10:23 PM   #24
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Oscar
The battery was testing 11 to 12 volts. The person that did the load test said it was drifting low and reccomended changing the battery. most of the drive home the voltmeter read 13 only when this snap sound was heard did the reading drop to 12.
I discovered this when I got home.
thanks
Ray
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Old 11-15-2002, 10:27 PM   #25
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Two questions....

Was the volt test done with motor running and is the alternator the same AMP rating as was taken off? Oscar
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Old 11-16-2002, 06:55 AM   #26
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Replace the battery. If you have 13v running and 11-12v off the battery the alternator is still putting out power. The battery might not be good but it started a BB Chevy so it can't be all that dead and shouldn't cook an alternator.

Didn't you go from a 60 to 100 amp alternator? That is pretty good sized for a single battery starting system. I would look at the Bosch solenoid. If it has 23 wires it feeds a bunch of circuits and it would not be suprising to see a voltage drop on a marginal battery. I would want to know why it is kicking in and out for future reference.

John
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Old 11-16-2002, 12:54 PM   #27
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Man all the electrical issues can make you nuts quickly.
I wantd to mention again what happened to ours over the summer trip...a somewhat burnt wire from the module to the starter caused what seemed to be an alternator/battery isolator fry. I did replace both, but later found the problem to be the wire which was making intermittent contact with the starter solenoid terminal.
Victim of heat from the manifold. Probably didn't need the alternator or isolator, but thankfully neither was more than 40 bucks.
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Old 11-17-2002, 09:11 PM   #28
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Oscar,
I too have heard that a low battery or one with one or more bad cells can cause enough strain on an alternator to make it go bad. For the record, my wife's '95 Astrovan with 4.3 V6 runs a 105 amp Delco alternator as does my '01 Chevy 2500hd. Both use one battery.
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Old 11-18-2002, 06:56 PM   #29
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Is the clicking noise definately coming from the "solenoid" with 23 wires?

Were you running anything else but the lights when the voltage fluctuations occured? ...defrost=AC compressor kicking on & off...fans...heater...just a thought.
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Old 11-18-2002, 08:44 PM   #30
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The 23 wire post threw me for a loop, too. Ray ment to say 2-3 wires, which makes it the auxilary starter solenoid. He fixed his problem by replacing a bad battery.
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Old 11-19-2002, 03:14 PM   #31
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davidz71

davidz71......i have to beg to differ with you.... headers suck....

edlebrokes were the brand of header i was refering to!

i had a set on my truck and i couldn't stand them! besides the fact that they did not make a power increase they were really noisy from day one even with new gaskets and bolts torqed, they were annoying!
headers dont do crap! unless you plan to run nos!

also the edelbrok stock replacment 50 state legal headers burnt up a boot on my steering column becouse of to much heat.....and here is the thing i hyated most abou them it was almost impassable to change plugs!

don't get headers on your rv leave it alone there are cast iron manifolds on there for a reason. leave it stock.
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