[DeTomaso] And Here's Another Question for the Forum....

[hoppe1 at cox.net]

Here is a amp gauge story.
I am on a Club trip about 180 miles from home.  
I have a new high amp alternator.
A Lotus esprit drops a belt and needs his battery charged.
We used my car with jumper cables to charge him for 15 minutes.
We leave as a group for home with me in the lead.
I see my amp gauge peg negative with no other indications of problems.
We are traveling at speed and I tell the wife "well as long as it is running I won't stop"
It went dead.
The increased amp load through the gauge shorted the gauge out and grounded the alternator as well.
If you increase the alternator you need to change to an aftermarket gauge.
Rich
---- Tomas Gunnarsson <guson at home.se> wrote: 
> Thanks Barry! :-)
> 
> No, usually the internal resistance goes up in a deeply discharged battery and the constant voltage (ideally at least) from the alternator will only produce a limited battery charging current. If the battery is reasonably healthy the charging current quickly (within minutes, not hours at least) drops to a couple of tens of amps anyway.
> 
> My experience
> Tomas
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "B. Seib" <oldwheel at mts.net>
> To: "Tomas Gunnarsson" <guson at home.se>; "Chris Difani" <cdifani at pacbell.net>; <detomaso at realbig.com>
> Sent: den 12 september 2006 22:45
> Subject: RE: [DeTomaso] And Here's Another Question for the Forum.... 
> 
> 
> > Good Luck Thomas
> > I have tried to explain this phenomenon several times and most people just
> > don't seem to grasp the fact that most of the output from the alternator
> > doesn't go through the ammeter to the battery before it goes to balance all
> > the other loads. I don't think you could even get a dead battery to take 150
> > amps from the alternator? There would still be other loads drawing off some
> > of the output.
> > Barry
> > 
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com
> > [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com]On Behalf Of Tomas Gunnarsson
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 1:55 PM
> > To: Chris Difani; detomaso at realbig.com
> > Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] And Here's Another Question for the Forum....
> > 
> > 
> > The alternator output rating will not affect ammeter load at all if that's
> > your concern. The meter monitors battery charge/discharge current, not
> > alternator output current.
> > 
> > Tomas
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Chris Difani" <cdifani at pacbell.net>
> > To: <detomaso at realbig.com>
> > Sent: den 12 september 2006 06:08
> > Subject: [DeTomaso] And Here's Another Question for the Forum....
> > 
> > 
> > > Guys:
> > >
> > > Thanks a lot for all the thoughts and recommendations on my remote jumper
> > > terminal location question that I asked a couple of days ago. Larry Finch
> > > sent me a couple of pictures of his installation, and I'm going to be
> > > following in his "footsteps"... or maybe Dennis Q's footsteps...
> > >
> > > Anyway, that takes care of the remote jumper terminals question.
> > >
> > > Now for the next question.....
> > >
> > > I've installed a 150 amp alternator in place of the original wimpy Ford
> > > alternator. In addition to this change in the electrical system, I want to
> > > install a voltmeter in place of the original ammeter. The Veglia ammeter
> > > isn't "heavy" enough to handle the increased amperage (so I'm told), and
> > an
> > > "ammeter" isn't that good of a sensor for electrical system "health" in
> > the
> > > first place.
> > >
> > > Now I know how to install a voltmeter, that's not the problem (my
> > > replacement instrument came with a good set of instructions: a SPA
> > Technique
> > > Dual Digital gauge from Pegasus). My problem is what should I do with all
> > > the wires that "used to" connect to the Veglia ammeter? Should I remove
> > all
> > > the wiring that goes to the ammeter? Or just what?
> > >
> > > Thanks again,
> > >
> > > Chris
> > >
> > > Chris Difani
> > > '73 L #5829 "LITNNG"
> > > Sacramento, CA
> > > Email: cdifani at pacbell.net
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