system volts too high?

[Huw Powell]

> Yesterday, I replaced my 200's tired alternator with a known freshly
> rebuilt unit from a junkyard. The standard Bosch regulator puts out
> ~13.8 volts wheras the rebuilt unit on the car (200q) had a no name
> regulator and consistantly put out 14.5 volts, as confirmed by a
> separate voltmeter. Anyway, I decided to replace the brush assembly
> ... I had a new one in the package. I put it on
> and now voltage is going up to 14.9 at speed. Idle is about 14.7.
> Sometimes I do see 15v. I keep the headlights on to control the
> output. How high is too high?

14.7/15 volts sounds nice.  Anyone really know when these older cars run
into over voltage trouble?

So long as you don't hear your battery boiling, I wouldn't worry too
much.  You might also want to "calibrate" your cars volt gauge by
checking with a decent multimeter - I suspect the pretty vanity gauges
we get are not exactly benchmarked at NASA - although having a volt
gauge read a volt or two high would not be very useful.

> Should I just stick with the 14 volt Bosch that was on it? I'm used
> to having the car with the higher output voltage regulator, so I
> don't know if the 13.6 volts is what I should be getting.

14 sounds good, too - and I suppose less worrisome than 15.  That
13-point-whatever level bugs me.

Remember, I'm sure you have seen that the 200 is much more known for not
being able to decent job of recharging its battery than for having too
much alternator juice!

--
Huw Powell

http://www.humanspeakers.com/

http://www.humanthoughts.org/