anybody know if you can test a voltage regulater?

[JAMMER]

Optima red top tests good and so does my alt. Any other ideas? Voltage regulater is 1 1/2 years old and last culprit. Can you test it? TIA.

 

[bluebroncodrive]

you cant realy test the regulator, but you can bypass the regultaor and check the charging system.

1. install a volt meter at the battery (to see the voltage )

2. unplug the regulator find the field wire its the small wire that gos from regulator to the back of the alternator (some times it a orange wire) the regulator will have "F" on the termal that the wire connects to

3. need a jumper wire to jump the field wire to battery "+" positive post of the battery (dont jump it yet)

4. start the motor note the battery voltage now jump the field wire "F" at the regulator to the battery positive this will full field the alternator the battery voltage should go up 13.2 to 14.1 volts this is good voltage ( dont hold the wire jumped for to long)this tests the wire from the regulator to the alternator and the alternator itself( if the voltage didnt go up go to the next step)

5. if the voltage didnt go up find the "F" field wire at the back of the atlernator and jump it to the positive post of the battery if the voltage gos up then you have a open circuit on the wire from the regulator to the alternator ( broken wire , bad connection,etc.)

6. the only think I cant remember is witch wire at the regulator that has 12 volts with the motor running, but if you find 12 volts at any of the wires at the regulator it should be good

7, so if the voltage went up as in step # 4 and you have 12 volts at one of the wires at the regulator you will have a bad regulator

I'm not a teacher and I'm not the best story teller so I hope you can understand this and it helps
Ed.

 

[RRRAAAYYY2]

Any starter/alternator rebuilder should be able to test your regulator for you. When reinstalling it or a new one make sure you bolt it in place before you plug it in.

 

[boatbldr]

Auto Zone will test it for you.

 

[72_EB]

If you have one on the Bronco now, pull the two screws holding it down, pull the wiring, attach the one to test, and plug it back in. Read the volts at the alternator. I've done it before. Gonna be high, low, or on the money, and I always figured a ten second test (even if it is a few volts over isn't gonna hurt anything).

 

[RRRAAAYYY2]

No offense, but that is like saying hitting a windshield with a sledge only a few times shouldn't hurt it too much. Spiking a system to 18volts for a "flash", i.e. less than a second usually doesn't cause too much damage to be concerned with. Full fielding a system for 10 seconds will do lots of damage. It might not blow everything up that day, but you will have greatly reduced the service life of all things electrical (that were functioning at the time) in your system.

 

[Rustytruck]

Testing the alternator by full fielding it, use a jumper from A to F on the regulator plug. You should turn on the headlights and the high beams when doing this. as for the spike theory I dont see it any different then when the regulator does it during normal operation other than there is not a battery needing a charge to asorb the surge. Turning on the headlights will help suck up the over current. The best way to test the regulator is just hook up a volt guage and start the truck you should have 13 + volts. turn on the lights and heater and stuff and watch the volts for the most part at Idle you shouldnt drop below 12 volts until you start pulling power from all your accessories at the same time. Stock Bronco usually wont drop too much voltage until you have both the headlights and the turn signal on while holding the brake peddle on. now with everything on rev up the engine does the voltage climb as the engine reves up. Usually you will see a jump above 1500 rpm and another step up around 2,000 rpm or so. if your above idle with you accessorys on and the voltage stays above 13 volts to 15 volts your good to go with a stock 65 amp alternator. Voltage guage on the battery will tell you a whole lot more than the stock amp guage. The amp guage will tell you if the alternator is putting out but not if the battery is truly recieving enough power.

 

[RRRAAAYYY2]

1.) Never full field an alternator with the regulator still attached to the alternator. If it doesn't blow it up right away, you will severely damage it. On a Dodge type system doing this will blow your computers up.
On a Ford it takes less than 10 seconds to disconnect the plug from the regulator. So why not do it properly.

2.) Never full field past 18 volts, and never full field for more than a second at a time. If you full field an alternator, and give it enough rpm, the little test lead you are holding on to can produce enough volts and amps to kill you on the spot.

3.) No 12vt alternator normally spikes to 18volts under normal operating conditions. Doing so will boil the battery almost instantly. It will also damage everything you have operating on electricity in your truck. Don't believe me, ask the guys running 16vt systems how often they change their headlights.

4.) As for voltage readings in the system:
12volts: Means the alternator is not working or severely over worked. If it is working but load down so bad to put out 12volts, it's life span is about 20 minutes.
13volts: Means you are running the alternator way down, life expectancy cut by about 75%
13.8: About the minimum aceptable voltage in a charging system. alternator is working at near full capacity. Will have some effect on alternator's life span.
14.2-14.8: Alternator is working at less than 80% capacity, this is considered normal operating parameters.
14.8-15.2: Little extra voltage, for a little extra power. Also stock voltage set point on some GM applications.
15.3+ volts: Over charging, and battery is being boiled.

Also note charge rates for batteries:

Low antimony: (really cheap batteries) like a charge rate of 13.8 to 14.1
Hybird (one l/a, one calcium) (interstate and others) like a charge rate of 14 to 14.4
Calcium/calcium (east penn/delphi) can handle charge rates upto 15.2