[Vwdiesel] alternator

[Erik Lane]

But you can replace just the voltage regulator without replacing the whole
alternator.

My main point was that if the alternator was doing a fine job before you
moved the battery, then it's likely still doing a fine job. As long as the
connections are clean, and your battery wire is large enough, you should be
good.

The current draw when you're cranking the starter is MUCH higher than any
other time through those battery cables. (500 amps, maybe even 1000? I
don't have any exact numbers.) The rest of the time the only current going
through them is charging current plus maybe some little imbalances or
higher frequency pulses that it is smoothing out. Most of the current that
the alternator is producing will be running your accessories and lights,
because once the battery is charged, there's nowhere else for it to go,
really. So I would say after the first few minutes of running, likely the
battery is basically all charged up, and the current through those long
battery cables is so low that it might as well be a dead short. So unless
you have dirty connections anywhere that the bulk of the current is going
through from the alternator *at all times* then likely the cables are just
too small and long for the amount of starter current.

But first, clean all the connections, on both the positive and ground
paths. Did you run a ground cable, or are you using the body ground? You
might want to run at least a decently sized ground wire as well. That's a
lot of sheet metal between the battery and starter.

Good luck!
Erik


On Mon, Nov 25, 2013 at 8:56 PM, <dieseltdi at verizon.net> wrote:

> I used 0 gauge to run to the trunk so other than going to welding cable.
>  James Hansen has suggested a 6 gauge or so wire from the Alt directly back
> to the battery bypassing the starter to give the alt a direct line to
> “feel” the  voltage from the battery rather than the voltage drop from the
> long cable.  That will be a cheap fix to see if it works before I replace
> the alt.  Hayden
>
> On Nov 25, 2013, at 10:30 PM, Erik Lane <eriklane at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > If the alternator was doing fine before you put the battery in the
> trunk, and nothing else has changed, then getting a higher current output
> alternator won't really help. What you might need is a slightly higher
> voltage out of the alternator to make up for the voltage drop in the long
> wires going to the battery.
> >
> > But really, that still shouldn't be much of an issue for charging. Where
> you're really hurting is the much higher (compared to charging) starting
> current and voltage drop in the long wires. So to make up for the long
> wires you would need to get fatter wires to counteract the additional
> length.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Nov 25, 2013 at 6:27 PM, <dieseltdi at verizon.net> wrote:
> > Went outside this morning to start the Jetta in the cold and drizzle
> only to find a dead battery,  I am thinking that I have a “leak” somewhere
> in the system but I am going to take the battery out and get it checked.
>  All this got me thinking about my alternator.  Since I have relocated my
> battery into the trunk, I am thinking of upgrading my alternator.  I think
> the stock one on the car is a 60 amp.  Anyone know what year alt would put
> out 90-100 amps but still fit the MK1 diesel brackets?  Although I have
> made a few adaptions to the brackets, I am thinking that even a later (MK2)
> alt would fit.  Any suggestions?  Hayden
> >
> > “There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there
> is no party of principle.”
> >
> > “I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for
> superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such
> men do not run."
> >
> > “I cannot help fearing that men may reach a point where they look on
> every new theory as a danger, every innovation as a toilsome trouble, every
> social advance as a first step toward revolution, and that they may
> absolutely refuse to move at all.”  Alexis de Tocqueville
> >
> >
> > Visit my website at:  http://mysite.verizon.net/resosxp8/mydieselpages/
> > Proud owner of:
> > 1968 Beetle, my latest project, watch for details
> > 1982 VW Jetta Coupe GTD "FrankenJetta"
> > And many, many, many VWs; from a 1947 Beetle (13 Beetles total), to Vans
> (5 - 3 split ties  2 bay window (both were campers), 1 Vanagon Westy,
> Rabbits (3), Karmen Ghia (1), Jettas (10), Passats (2), Dasher (1), New
> Beetle (1), Rabbit Convertible (1) and Rabbit Pickups (3) most now gone but
> not forgotten.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
>
> “There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is
> no party of principle.”
>
> “I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior
> men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not
> run."
>
> “I cannot help fearing that men may reach a point where they look on every
> new theory as a danger, every innovation as a toilsome trouble, every
> social advance as a first step toward revolution, and that they may
> absolutely refuse to move at all.”  Alexis de Tocqueville
>
>
> Visit my website at:  http://mysite.verizon.net/resosxp8/mydieselpages/
> Proud owner of:
> 1968 Beetle, my latest project, watch for details
> 1982 VW Jetta Coupe GTD "FrankenJetta"
> And many, many, many VWs; from a 1947 Beetle (13 Beetles total), to Vans
> (5 - 3 split ties  2 bay window (both were campers), 1 Vanagon Westy,
> Rabbits (3), Karmen Ghia (1), Jettas (10), Passats (2), Dasher (1), New
> Beetle (1), Rabbit Convertible (1) and Rabbit Pickups (3) most now gone but
> not forgotten.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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