Changing Alternator amp

My alternator is about to lay down on me. Its on my IH 1486. It has a 63 amp on it now. I can get a 100 amp for the same price. Does it hurt anything going up to a 100 amp? Won't a 100 amp keep up easier when you have the air running on high and the lights all on?

The main charge wire from the alternator must be capable of handling the output of the alternator.

If the tractor is equipped with a charge light you could just add a heavy wire from the alternator output to the positive battery wire at the starter in addition to suppliment the already used tractor wiring.

Wire as used on atv winches would be ideal.

mEl

Yes it'll be easier on alternator, did same on my 1979 dodge Powerwagon had a 56 upgraded to 100amp but its suggested you also get a bigger output wire otherwise the old one will get quiet hot and I've been told if you don't replace output wire with a heavier one it won't charge anymore than old one but I don't know if I can believe that.

Most likely you will not see any difference. If you are maxing out the output of the present alternator there may be some advantage otherwise all that will happen is the battery may get recharged just a bit faster the with the 63 amp. One the battery has reached the voltage regulator cur off voltage the 100 amp will not produce any more amperage than the present 63 amp unit.

There are a couple downsides. One that has already been mentioned here is the need for a larger wire from the alternator to the starter solenoid. When IH released 2+2 tractors with 100 amp alternator they uses two 10 gauge wires connected in parallel for this. The other downside is the alternator itself. It is easy to build the alternator to produce 100 amps but if it allowed to run at that level for any length of time the alternator will have over heating problems. Delco Remy used a 12 SI unit to overcome the excessive heat problem. Most of the components will interchange with the 10 SI but a different fan and housings are used t get more air flow through the alternator.

(quoted from post at 20:38:50 06/05/14) Most likely you will not see any difference. If you are maxing out the output of the present alternator there may be some advantage otherwise all that will happen is the battery may get recharged just a bit faster the with the 63 amp. One the battery has reached the voltage regulator cur off voltage the 100 amp will not produce any more amperage than the present 63 amp unit.

There are a couple downsides. One that has already been mentioned here is the need for a larger wire from the alternator to the starter solenoid. When IH released 2+2 tractors with 100 amp alternator they uses two 10 gauge wires connected in parallel for this. The other downside is the alternator itself. It is easy to build the alternator to produce 100 amps but if it allowed to run at that level for any length of time the alternator will have over heating problems. Delco Remy used a 12 SI unit to overcome the excessive heat problem. Most of the components will interchange with the 10 SI but a different fan and housings are used t get more air flow through the alternator.

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The alternator does not only charge the battery it powers the accessories, so it will put out more amps to the accessories and the battery.

The bigger alternator makes more amps at low RPMs. That's the main reason why many new autos come with 150 amp alternators. It's not to make 150 amps. It's to make 50 amps at engine idle speed so when stopped at a traffic light or stop sign - and the AC and stereo and headlights are on (and other loads) -the thing keeps charging.

Farm tractors often have different pulley ratios then cars and the alternators often run slower. So a tractor with a lot of electrical loads can benefit a lot from a larger alternator. All depends on what you want to do. We had a Deere tractor with a 37 amp alternator at the shop. The farmer was trying to run a 8 row corn planter with it and each row drew 7 amps of power. I.e. 56 amps all the time. We had to stick a Leece-Neville 160 amp alternator on for him.

Larry, as an alternator repair guy, I can be fairly confident in telling you your alternator didn't die of overwork, it died of old age and having it's guts shaken to death by the diesel rattle and vibration of the engine it's bolted to.

A higher-Amp version will work a little less hard and will MAYBE last a bit longer, but eventually the diesel vibration will "kill" it, as well.

FORTUNATELY reman "Delco" alternators aren't real high-dollar items.

I am not a fan of the 100 amp alternator in the same small case as the 72 or smaller amp models. It cannot displace the heat if you ever actually do produce that higher amperage such as very low batteries and high accessory usage. Actually, those 72 amp alternators will get very hot also at close to full output.

well I used to keep a friends logging junk running used a 68 dodge d-100 pickup as a service truck jumping off skidders ,log trucks ,chippers ,knuckle booms ,after several cold 04:00am bouts with stubborn diesel equiptment I was looking for something better when to my suprise there in the way back of the yard sat a baton rouge police car bought at auction , got the hood up and there was my prize a 1000 amp MOPAR ALTERNATOR looked brand new so over the next few days it got pulled tested and grafted to that 225 hot water slant six ! (along with 2 1000 cca truck batterys ) mounted male and female welding sockets in the grill and made up some welding lead jumper cables , oh yea mounted 4 in-air refueling lights to the bumper too and a pad lock on the hood, first time out started everything and was back before daylight ,about the 5 day my friend asked what was going on he was paying real good to have that stuff running when he and the crew got to the woods I told him that lights made a lots of difference , it was almost a month till he was there when I was changing oil in that old dodge , I still have that truck only has 2 added lights now and one 1000 cca battery !!

In general, bigger is better. But I doubt you're seriously taxing your current alternator. Even with A/C and lights running, your tractor's electrical load is probably only 30 amps or so once the batteries are charged. Modern passenger vehicles have huge electrical loads (cooling fans, fuel pumps, engine controls, fuel injection, heated seats, power windows, entertainment systems, etc.) that use a lot of power.

As I understand it, the main difference between standard and high-output alternators is heavier stator windings and diodes in the latter. Since alternator output is voltage-regulated, they'll both put out exactly the same power up until electrical load exceeds alternator capacity.

(quoted from post at 17:42:51 06/05/14)

(quoted from post at 20:38:50 06/05/14) Most likely you will not see any difference. If you are maxing out the output of the present alternator there may be some advantage otherwise all that will happen is the battery may get recharged just a bit faster the with the 63 amp. One the battery has reached the voltage regulator cur off voltage the 100 amp will not produce any more amperage than the present 63 amp unit.

There are a couple downsides. One that has already been mentioned here is the need for a larger wire from the alternator to the starter solenoid. When IH released 2+2 tractors with 100 amp alternator they uses two 10 gauge wires connected in parallel for this. The other downside is the alternator itself. It is easy to build the alternator to produce 100 amps but if it allowed to run at that level for any length of time the alternator will have over heating problems. Delco Remy used a 12 SI unit to overcome the excessive heat problem. Most of the components will interchange with the 10 SI but a different fan and housings are used t get more air flow through the alternator.

Click to expand...

The alternator does not only charge the battery it powers the accessories, so it will put out more amps to the accessories and the battery.

Click to expand...

The alternator doesn't "push" current, the battery (right after starting) and elec. accessories DRAW current. Once the battery is recharged there will be no more draw than there was before, unless more draw is added to the tractor.

Do you have the belt or belts to drive it? Most big alt. need a double belt.

You'd need a double 1/2" pulley to drive the 100 amp and probably a bit heavier primary wire from the alt to whatever junction it feeds or you could burn that up. 100 amp is also likely to be a larger frame alt so it's probably not going to fit as easily... depending on the application. Most I deal with are scratching to fit the 63 amp Delco.

Rod

The 86 series tractors have double pulley's on there alternators already.

Only if they have air conditioning which most of them have.