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Alternator light


Flying Bozo

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When you start up after sitting for a while the battery charge state will be lower and so the generator will be suppling higher current till the battery charges. What this means is that any resistance at the terminals will limit the charging circuit capacity and change the voltage drop, the system is then unbalanced and the light is more likely to come on. If you want to prove this then put a charger on when you shut down and the problem will not be there when you start up again.

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Dick, My light behaved exactly like yours. Even a little higher RPM does not make it go out....but all the time is is charging. Yes it seems like more than an isolated incident. I don't think I ever went to 4000 RPM though.

OH well, I guess for now we have to just put up with it. I sure hope it does not decided to fail the voltage regulator when I am out of town with it.

Larry

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  • 6 months later...

Alternator light came on just as i lifted into the air this afernoon.  Returned to land and inspected the regulator / rectifier ..    found  slight burn /melted plastic  marks on one of the connectors.  I will replace,  however is there something else i should be checking that might  have caused this ? or perhaps just a bad regulator ?   i changed a bad regulator some years ago so this will be the second one for me.  

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This is on the AC volts into the VR from the back of the engine. Usually this is caused by arching from not being pushed on all the way. After I push the connector on by hand I take a thick screwdriver and place it at each end and make sure the connector is seated all the way.

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Caused by improper seating / loose connector block / loose AMP connector (the thing that actually attaches to the metal tab). Pop out the connector with a pin extractor, clean it up, make sure there's as little play as possible without actually clamping down on the metal tab, then reinsert it into the connector block.

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Pay particular attention to the little "wing" that comes off of the female fitting.  This is what "locks" the fitting to the plastic block that holds the connections to the regulator.  If the connector is dislodged from the plastic block, very gently and slightly lift this up with a small screw driver just enough to catch the plastic block and lock in when the connector is pushed back into the block.  Going too far or flexing this too much will break it off and a new female connector must then be installed.  Also, check that the female connector's "curls" snugly slide over the regulator blade connection.  Too tight and you will need a screwdriver to push these on as Roger describes.   Too loose and you might find another burned connector.  Better to be a little tight and a screwdriver is needed but this can stress the little "wing".  Reading my note kind of sounds like the story of Goldilocks and the 3 bears  :)

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Seems like the rectifier got fried.   I did a temporary direct connection (without the connector block) and I am not getting any charging.        The connector block melted a bit too much to be useable.    Hope its nothing bigger than a bad rectifier.    Will update when I have the replacement.  

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  • 3 years later...

Just an fyi post.  My 2007 CTSW had a few times that the over voltage triggered the engine light yesterday.  After reading these posts I decided to check the terminals first.  Pulled the connector out, everything looked okay.  Removed each terminal, squeezed them a little and reinstalled in the connector.  After plugging the connector back into the rectifier - more difficult with the tighter terminals - I used a pair of duck bill pliers on each wire just to make sure they were fully seated.  They were not.  I seated each wire then buttoned it up for a test run.  Everything worked properly.  No more over voltage.

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