alternator or generator?

[Tod59]

Hey guys,
In the picture attached, do I have an alternator or generator on my 59 six cylinder 3100? My nephew asked me and I honestly didn't know.

Thanks
Tod

[chevyguyase]

You have a generator.

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by chevyguyase

You have a generator.

definitely a generator

[dsraven]

generator. if it works, great. won't charge much at idle and keeps up with bare minimum stuff like a stock truck would have. if it goes bad an alternator is easy to install and works better in my opinion.

[Tod59]

thanks guys.

[mr48chev]

The generators work fine if you aren't planning on running extra electrical accessories or a big sound system. They can't keep up with the draw from amps or other power drawing accessories very well though.

The one big advantage of a generator if you have a stick is you can push start the truck with a totally dead battery and the generator will charge when it starts turning when you let the clutch out. An alternator needs a decent charge in the battery to convince it to charge .

[_Ogre]

google 'polarizing a delco remy generator' as you'll need to do it

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

google 'polarizing a delco remy generator' as you'll need to do it

That is always an interesting thing.

Back in the early 60's I learned to repair alternators when a couple of local guys towed their cars or trucks to the High school autoshop I was a student in (later I was the teacher) after the owner of the rig had "polarized" an alternator after replacing it. That is when I found out what alternator diodes were.

Still if you are going to run a pretty much stock rig with no extra accessories pulling power there isn't a real need to change it. If it is bad in the first place and needs to be replaced then I'd consider installing an alternator if the truck isn't going to be a full restoration or built on the line of a 100% traditional build that needs the generator to keep the image intact.

[Softpatch]

also the big black box on the firewall that those wires lead to is your voltage relay/regulator
and some are adjustable
.
......Sp
.

[Coupeguy2001]

They are all adjustable by bending the tab on the voltage coil where the spring is.
There is a current coil, a voltage coil, and a current cut-out for disengaging the generator when it turns slow enough that the battery has higher voltage.
When you put a new generator or regulator on the truck, you need to drive it around for about 30 minutes until the regulator and generator are up to temp. Then shut it off, disconnect the battery negative lead, then remove the cover from the regulator. Otherwise, you risk burning up the regulator by shorting it out to the lid you are taking off.

Then reconnect the battery, start it up, and hook up a volt meter to the battery.
Pull the throttle out so that your engine has 1000 RPM, and read volts. It should read 14.2-14.8.
Next, if the volts are low, (I think the middle is the volt coil.... To be sure, put the volt meter on the battery, and push on the contact tab. If the volts go up or down, that's the one)
Then either bend the tab on the spring to raise or lower the volts. Tightening the spring raises volts.

For the current, turn on your lights and hit the brakes. turn on any other thing that is electrical. Your ammeter should go to the farthest mark towards charge. That should be 25 amps. If it does not do that, the other coil on the regulator not marked bat is the current coil. Then tweak the spring tab for that spring to increase or decrease the current.

When that's done, then let the truck idle, find a nice place inside the truck to read volts, and rev the engine. when you let go, it should drop to idle.
When it drops to idle, (about 500 RPM, the reverse current cut out should open and save the battery from discharging at idle. So rev it, and watch the meter. note when the volts get to their lowest, and right then, it should pop back up to about 13.8.
That is when the reverse current cut out is set to activate.
If you have an ammeter at idle that reads almost zero, and no problems, leave the current cut out alone. It is difficult to get it precisely at 13.5, so let it go. Have fun!