The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay alternator/regulator wiring

The alternator on my '59 (6 cylinder with foot start) has 4 connections.... ground, #1, #2 and batt.... It has an external regulator mounted on the firewall. The regulator has 4 connections on it. Can anyone tell me exactly how to wire the alternator to the regulator AND how to wire from the regulator to the truck?

Carl

mine's got an externally regulated .... alternator - forget right off where the other 2 reg wires go, but prolly accessory power - I could check tomorrow

Bill

Once again I am having trouble with your terms but here goes. see if this don't take grandpa back to the old days.
This information is for a generator with an external regulator. It has nothing to do with a altenator.
Regulator, 4-wire. (B) Battery, (F) Field, (A) Armature, (GD) Ground. So the output of the generator is usually from the Armature post through the regulator to the battery. The field controls the output of the generator.
I can't remember seeing a 4-wire generator. All I rember is one that has (A), (F), and of course ground. Please remember the regulators are Very polarity sensitive.

Are you sure the regulator isn't left over from the generator and that the alternator isn't internally regulated?

nope...alternator with 4 wires (one of which is a ground) wired to a regulator ....take a look at the pic red58 sent in the posting above, this is identical to the alternator and the regulator that I have.

thanks for the pictures Bill. If you follow the wires let me know.

Carl

thanks cletis...this looks like what I need.
2 questions....
#1...do I assume the ammeter replaces the indicator lamp??

#2...Resistance wire??? Is this showing one wire going to the coil side of the ignition resistor??

Joe - that diagram is general, note it's for 63-72 Buick, if you wire it just like that you won't have a correct ammeter reading - the lamp is the "idiot light" GM had then instead of gauges, the resistance wire is a "fuse substitute" like a fuseable link, and you have no "junction block"

the pics I linked will work for ya, I'll get the exact underdash connections later

Bill

cjoe,
red58 is correct. Your ampmeter goes per instructions in your other posting, not where is warning light is hooked up.. Sorry I went to far back in the memory bank. You were asking about a "Delcotron" with external regulator and I just missed it.

Just a 'curious question'. The SI alternator has a internal regulator with DA tabs arranged like this II. The housing is usually marked #1 and #2.

The Delcotron alternator that uses a external regulator has DA tabs arranged like this..--. The housing is usually marked R & F.

I have seen remanufactured external types that were marked #1 and #2, but they still had tabs arranged in the correct fashion, II.

The DA tabs tell the story, so make sure you know what you have, they will not interchange very well!

Stuart

Stuart - I think the Delcotron was the later CS alt that's always internally regulated, and the "--" plug is on the side, like this - I know that mine has the "II" connector, which I've only seen on the back, and it's definitely externally regulated, as shown - seems the SI can also be internally regulated

Joe - looking at the mess under my dash, the 2 green wires shown off my regulator both go to the ACC on the ign sw - no idea why, but it's worked for years, I think one of them go back to the battery on some applications

wiring alt-reg is black from R to the outside pin on the reg, blu from F to the next pin, as seen in the pic linked previously

hope you've got the same parts [not a different alt as Stuart cautions] and, if so, the same wiring should work for ya

Bill

quote:
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#1...do I assume the ammeter replaces the indicator lamp??

#2...Resistance wire??? Is this showing one wire going to the coil side of the ignition resistor??

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

#1 no,The ammeter goes where the others have said. The light itself provides some resistance. You could probably get by without it.

#2 You dont even need this wire. It will charge without it. It is not the fusable link. That is an entirely different animal.


Yes folks, I know it says it's for a Buick. But that's the way these alternators were wired in all GM cars and trucks when they were used. You'll have to make some variations to wire it to your truck but this will give you the general idea.

ok guys - when I was out I had to go near the auto electric shop I've dealt with since forever - guy who's one of the crowd around here my age that all started our own businesses about the same time, we help each other out

I asked him why those 2 wires went the same place from the regulator and how it should be

terminals #1[F] & 2[R] go to the alternator, which is the oldest GM style, that he called the Delcotron, the #3 wire is for the accessory power, and connects back to the BATT position on the switch, the #4 wire if the truck has the idiot light connects to the light, then to IGN1 [as shown on Cletis' diagram] - it's the exciter voltage, so without a light, it needs to go where it can get batt volts when the key is on, which can still be IGN, or ACC - doesn't matter if it has voltage all the time, so it can be combined with the wire from terminal #3, but MUST be switched so it's off when the truck is off or it'll drain the battery

so I looked in my mound of pictures and voila! I did have that setup recorded which is this , I think from a diagram for trucks with gauges

he also said this alternator isn't an SI, which can be internal or externally regulated, or a CS, which is always internally regulated, but can also be externally or internally excited, which is the bit that requires the diode or not [respectively] .... I left with the opinion reinforced that he's the man!

Bill

WRONG!!

#3 can not be tied to the #4 wire. #3 is not for "accessory power".
#3 is the voltage sensing wire. Its purpose is to look at the voltage "at" the battery, so it can tell the voltage regulator what the battery requires. By running it through the ignition switch and the ammeter and all of the associated connections plus extra wire, you add too much resistance to that wire. On Red58's diagram the #3 should connect over to the Bat wire on the start solenoid.

The resistor wire in Cletis's diagram is not the coil resistor, I repeat, NOT the coil resistor. If memory serves, I recall it to be brown, brown/W and even pink wire in GM cars. It goes from the ignition switch down to the firewall connector/plug. On the other side of the firewall plug this wire(now copper) goes to the #4 on the regulator.
Your '59 never had an alternator, so it will not have this resistor wire. Just use a 10 ohm, 10 watt resistor from Radio Shack. If you want a idiot light, put it in parallel with the resistor.

By not using this wire to the #4 as Cletis said, it will charge, but not when you start the engine. You will have to rev the engine up before it will start to charge.
You can use the light, without the resistor and you will get the same result as above. It will charge, but not when you start the engine and the light will be on. You will have to rev the engine up before it will start to charge.

sorry Richard, I'll tell my truck it's WRONG! wired as shown in the last diagram I posted, and ask it how it's faked it so well all these years, charging as soon as the engine fires and shutting off when I turn the key and doing it all on the same old battery

like I said, I talked about it to a guy who's spent the last 40 years doing nothing but auto electric work, he's never been wrong!

Bill