8n Alternator

In the process of converting to 12 volts, I discovered that there are no wires connected to my ammeter, other than one that passes through a "loop" on the back. The only wires near by were connected to the resistor board. The ammeter worked with the generator and I routed the large red wire through the "loop" on the back of the ammeter thinking it must be some sort of inductive pick up? Anyway, it does seem to work. I removed the original wiring harness and saved it of course since it is still in pretty good shape.

Did I just get lucky that the ammeter works or are there some other wires hidden behind the original resistor board that I can not see?
 
(quoted from post at 23:16:11 09/29/15) In the process of converting to 12 volts, I discovered that there are no wires connected to my ammeter, other than one that passes through a "loop" on the back. The only wires near by were connected to the resistor board. The ammeter worked with the generator and I routed the large red wire through the "loop" on the back of the ammeter thinking it must be some sort of inductive pick up? Anyway, it does seem to work. I removed the original wiring harness and saved it of course since it is still in pretty good shape.

Did I just get lucky that the ammeter works or are there some other wires hidden behind the original resistor board that I can not see?
ep, inductive.
 
No , you got it. It's an inductive meter , Ford used it in the trucks too.Just remember with that style there's no burned or corroded terminals !
 
Nope, that's how those function. They get a warm fuzzy feeling from the amps going through that loop and get all excited and show you with the needle on the front.

You will be glad to have that 12 volt system. Most everything 12 volt has a volt meter because they are cheap. I rather like the amp guage for it.
 
Most enclosed (typical) amp meters are based on an internal shunt conductor of known, but small resistance. This resistance is bridged with a much smaller wire connected to the meter coils. The ford type is OK and cheap to make. it uses the magnetic inductance of the wire across the back to move a permanent magnet inside. the needle is spring loaded to the Zero, and current passing one way, or the other, pushes in opposition to the magnet on the needle causing movement. Charge rate testing meters for diagnosis that are put against the wire from the alt (or any wire with DC in it) work this way. Jim
 
Yes, thats how old Ford ammeters worked.
When I re powered two 48 Ford F600 with modern 289 and 351 Ford engines, and converted to 12V neg ground, reversing the direction of that wire through the ammeter was part of the conversion processes. :)
 
Thanks for the reply. Guess I got lucky routing the wire the correct direction? The instruction said to "reverse the wires" so I was not sure if the inductive pick up was also "directional".
 

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