I need a single V-groove alternator pulley

[PetesPonies]

As a man that misses his full size lathes I had when teaching ( I have a small lathe in my shop now ), what lathe do you own?

[Gary Lewis]

I have an Enco 13x40 lathe:




And a Grizzly G3617 mill:

[PetesPonies]

Nice. I had a row of 10" Rockwells, that were OK. But one 12 or 13" Rockwell, that was my favorite. I didn't let it get beat up  :)  Loved that lathe. We had some Bridgeport mills. I could definitely use an end mill at times. But my lathe helps out every so often.I just have a 9" Chinese lathe now.

[Whisler]

Well Frankenstein lives! But before I declare victory, someone take a look at these voltage measurements and tell me if they look OK.

Engine off, across the battery 12.50 volts.
Engine running (high idle), across the battery 14.82.

The Truck had been sitting for more  than a week.

What say you? Can I declare victory and move to the next project?

[PetesPonies]

I would even say the 14.8 is a bit high. But certainly you have found the issue. The best test now would be to turn on everything you have. Then see if the voltage is still 1V above the base voltage of 12.5V.

[Gary Lewis]

The 14.8 might be a bit high, but I'll guess that the battery was down a bit and the regulator brought it up a bit to charge it quickly.  And, assuming it is cool that isn't an issue for a short period.  So, I'd give it a try and see what happens.

Congrat's!

[Whisler]

Our recent low temps have been around freezing with highs in the mid 50's so somewhat  cool-ish. And the truck had been sitting idle for at least 8 days. I'll just drive it and keep an eye on it.

[Whisler]

3 mile run to Home Depot, restart and 3 mile run back home and the alternator is putting out 14.5v.

I'll keep an eye on things but I think I may be  golden.

[Gary Lewis]

Yup.  Cold or a low battery can make the voltage go up for a bit.  But, as the battery nears full charge and/or the temp comes up the voltage should settle in around 14.4, give or take a few tenths.

How did you wire up the Rocketman voltmeter?  Or, was that someone else?

[PetesPonies]

I still say you should do the load test I described. It takes only a minute to do. It will show you the operation of the regulator and how the alternator does at load. technically an alternator can supply the correct voltage when at no load or low load . . but fail at high load. The load test is the last test to be performed.

[Whisler]

Gary: my voltmeter is an aftermarket gauge under the dash, but my measurements were done with a cheapo VOM on the battery terminals. I would love to do the Rocketman conversion but that's for later on.

Pete: will do the load test when I get some time, possibly tomorrow after church.

[Whisler]

Load test results:
Battery voltage before start -----12.52 v
Running, high idle, no load ------14.88 v
Running, high idle, loaded -------14.66 v
(test done on a cold engine)

How does that look?

[Gary Lewis]

Somehow I am not seeing Pete's instructions on how to do the load test.  What am I doing wrong?

Anyway, Whisler, those results look good to me.  The loaded voltage is a bit higher than I would expect, but then the alternator was cold, so it should come down as the temp goes up.