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Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

Ampmeter

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Matt Kane

08-10-2006 17:18:09




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I have a 12 volt system on my diesel. It has the one wire alternator, with no key switch. How do I wire up the ampmeter? Does it have a positive and a ground wire? Thanks




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Hal/WA

08-10-2006 21:10:53




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 Re: Ampmeter in reply to Matt Kane, 08-10-2006 17:18:09  
Be real careful. Lots of ammeters are not designed to handle the amount of amps alternators can put out these days.

My son and I put a 60 amp GM alternator on his Scout after the Motorola alternator went bad and we prices a rebuilt Motorola. The way the Scout was wired, it put the total output of the Alternator through the ammeter. We would have been OK if the battery had been fully charged, but it wasn't. After about 10 minutes of running with the new alternator, the ammeter started to smoke. Luckily, my son was in the driveway and we stopped it. It didn't ruin the ammeter, but we probably could have had a dash fire if we hadn't noticed it when we did. The Scout spent the night on the battery charger and my son never let it get discharged again. 60 amps is a fair amount of power. I think the stock alternator was about 30 amps, and even that was probably quite a load for the ammeter.

My guess is that your 1 wire alternator puts out a lot more power than what it replaced. Good luck!

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Matt Kane

08-10-2006 18:36:04




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 Re: Ampmeter in reply to Matt Kane, 08-10-2006 17:18:09  
Its a 1 wire alternator, but 2 wires come from the 1 stud, I tried to wire the meter. Tommorrow I will remove the one wire and run it through the ammeter only.



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Matt Kane

08-10-2006 18:19:48




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 Re: Ampmeter in reply to Matt Kane, 08-10-2006 17:18:09  
Well right now the wire going from the alternator is going straight to the positive on the starter. So what you are saying is that wire that charges the battery should go through one side of the meter and out the other to the starter? Obviously I know nothing about wiring on a tractor. I did run a wire off the alternator to the one side of the meter and the other wire to the battery. But it reads nothing at all. Of course the other wire from the alterantor goes to the starter?

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John T

08-10-2006 18:49:57




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 Re: Ampmeter in reply to Matt Kane, 08-10-2006 18:19:48  
Thats correct, it will still charge the battery if its output goes direct to it, however the ammeter will not show the state of charge or discharge that way. The alternators output should get to the battery VIA THE AMMETER so it will read the net current into (charging) or out of (discharging) the battery. Simply wire the alternators output to the ammeters - Load terminal and then connect the ammeters + Supply terminal to the battery/starter. The ammeter goes in series BETWEEN the alternator and battery. Other loads like lights or ignition get their battery voltage from the ammeters also on the same Load terminal where the alternator is wired.

NOTE You claim it to be a One Wire alternator so this is all based on that being true. If its a 3 wire like the GM 10SI it needs more wiring to excite it.

John T

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Mike (WA)

08-11-2006 08:19:03




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 Re: Ampmeter in reply to John T, 08-10-2006 18:49:57  
John, Hal(WA) makes a good point- if you wind up with all the current from a 100 amp alternator going through the ammeter, I can see where you could cook it. Is there any kind of "ammeter with shunt" available, that bypasses a known portion of the current, together with an ammeter that can accurately read the actual charge?



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Bus Driver

08-10-2006 18:33:26




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 Re: Ampmeter in reply to Matt Kane, 08-10-2006 18:19:48  
You stated that it is one-wire alternator, but two wires coming from it? Please explain. The one wire should to the ammeter, all the alternator output should go through the ammeter.



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John T

08-10-2006 18:02:52




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 Re: Ampmeter in reply to Matt Kane, 08-10-2006 17:18:09  
Matt, an ammeter is a low impedance pass through current measuring device so it wires in series between the alternators output and the battery. If hooked up right and its good, BOTH terminals should read hot battery voltage with respect to frame ground, as its almost like a short circuit across its 2 terminals.

Its Supply side terminal has but one wire attached that gets its voltage from the hot ungrounded battery post, often via where the big battery cable attaches to a starter switch or solenoid.

Its other Load terminal is what wires to the alternators main output stud PLUS it feeds battery voltage to loads such as lights and ignition via the BAT input terminals on such switches.

On a Negative ground tractor I would expect the ammeters + Supply terminal to wire to the battery/starter and its - Load terminal to wire to the alternator and switches. Reverse that if on a Positive grounded tractor.

If you hook it up and turn on lights or ignition tractor not running, it should swing over to - discharge but then when running if charging system works, swing over to + charge. If it does just the opposite no problem, simply reverse its leads.

To answer your question YES it probably has like a + and - terminal.

Hope this helps, post back any questions, best wishes n God Bless

John T

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Uncle

08-10-2006 17:49:15




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 Re: Ampmeter in reply to Matt Kane, 08-10-2006 17:18:09  
I can't tell you exactly, but the ammeter goes inline with the Alt output, between the Alt and the Bat.



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