Electronic Volatge Regulator Question:

[Captain D]

Hi all,

To make a long story short, I had a voltage regulator installed in my car and it ran like a clock perfectly for several weeks:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mopar-Voltage-Regulator-Electronic-Solid-State-Correct-Restoration-Look-/121204276250?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1969|Model%3ACharger&hash=item1c38567c1a&vxp=mtr

Then, all of a sudden, the car began to lose power and some smoke began to enter the inside of the car from the dash. I had just enough power to pull into a large parking lot and when I checked under the hood, the old point style voltage regulator had been toasted on the right-hand side of the regulator where the 'female' terminal slides over the 'male' stud section. The hard plastic 'female' terminal had been completely burned/melted and the smoke was from where it, and the surrounding tape, had burned off. Miraculously, nothing actually caught fire thank God. The odd thing was that there were no prior 'symptoms' in any unusual sounds, smells, etc. Everything had been producing excellent numbers overall on the multimeter and the car handles and drives great. The guy at the shop noted that the soldered male stud had loosened up and caused the issue.

With all that B.S., I just changed over to the Mopar electronic voltage regulator + pigtail assembly. Its all hooked up and seems good to go. However, the ammeter has a very high charge. I was curious to see if folks here thought that I will now have to change out my existing alternator, that is internally grounded (single wire), to a dual wire that has the additional small blue jumper/ground wire feature. If so, I wonder if this internally grounded/single wire alternator can be modified and altered to become a dual field by adding an additional field brush...? 

And lastly, I was curious to see if any of these electronic voltage regulators are any good compared to the Mopar performance version:

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/parts/Duralast-Voltage-Regulator/1970-Dodge-Charger/_/N-iqj10Z9ci9t?itemIdentifier=130203_0_0_

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_voltage-regulator-bwd_5430526-p?searchTerm=voltage+regulator

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_voltage-regulator-acdelco_18050444-p?searchTerm=voltage+regulator

'Thank you' for any and all info,
Aaron

[A383Wing]

I had the same issue on my 66 years ago....had to replace the entire wire from ignition switch to regulator...it melted all the insulation off...plus I installed an inline fuse where it plugs onto the regulator

I'm still running single field alt with OE looking electronic regulator

[Captain D]

Thank you A383Wing for feeling my pain,  . Yeah, the single field alternator that I've been using has been performing great and I would hate to give it up/replace it...which is why I was curious to ask those questions in this thread.

Best regards,
Aaron

[A383Wing]

yer gonna have to find out why it's charging at such a high rate now...you may have to perform wire surgery as I did and replace that black wire all the way from ign switch to regulator...I would suggest a fuse as well. Kinda dumb why Ma Mopar did not protect that circuit somehow. I am also running electronic ignition in my 66 with single field alt...it performs fine

[Captain D]

A383wing - So, you're running an internally grounded/single wire alternator with the newer (1970+) style regulator/pigtail conversion as well?

It could be that I just simply have a faulty regulator altogether from Summit. I have one of these Advance Auto units, so I could always install it and see if there is any change perhaps...  

[A383Wing]

no...I'm running the stock one wire single field alternator with stock style "points" style regulator but it's a "newer electronic version' Autozone has them...

the 70 style regulator has a "triangle" style plug connection on it

[Captain D]

Okay, gotcha,  . Yeah, that was what I was running as well (same set-up). As I noted before, it ran fantastic and I was rather shocked, and disappointed, that I had an issue with it. This is the one that I have on there now, but once I saw it smoking I immediately unplugged stuff and got the car home by running off the battery as my only option:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dcc-4529794?seid=srese1&gclid=CKHnptSxz7oCFaUWMgod1ksA8A

[A383Wing]

that regulator posted in the link will not work on a single field alternator....

[Captain D]

Thanks man for the reply and clarification!  

Okay, now its a process of elimination and making good progress...I probably should remove this regulator and get a new one altogether from Summit (since it was smoking  ), and see if my single field alternator can be modified to accommodate this type of regulator, if possible. If not, there seem to be options out there:

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1001509

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-812107/overview/

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dcc-4529794?seid=srese1&gclid=CKHnptSxz7oCFaUWMgod1ksA8A



Thank you again for your time,
Aaron

[A383Wing]

alternator & regulator will work together in post above...but you can get the same things at local auto part store if ya want for about half the price...if you go this route, yer gonna have to add one wire from regulator to the double field alternator...

personally, I would just get the electronic version of the older point style regulator & call it good

[Captain D]

Thanks again man,

Actually, the regulator from Summit has already been installed on the car at this point in the game (not that I can't re-do it, but just for the sake of trying to make this one work): http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dcc-4529794?seid=srese1&gclid=CKHnptSxz7oCFaUWMgod1ksA8A

The one that sounds like you're describing (electronic version of the older point style regulator), was the one that I've been running and just recently got fried. After having gone through two so far, I opted for the one from Summit out of lack of patience as well as the positive feedback I've been told about them thus far,  . Once more, here was the one that got toasted: http://www.ebay.com/itm/121204276250?item=121204276250&viewitem=&vxp=mtr

Just so that I'm on the same page...when you noted to, "add one wire from the regulator to the double field alternator," what is the best way to go about doing this? Reviewing old threads with alternator issues, Pete in NH suggested the same thing of running a new wire, plus a connector: Standard Motor Products S573 or Dorman 85126 (which I have already installed too), as well as a choice of a two field alternator: http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_alternator--remanufactured--60-amps-toughone_5210070-p#fragment-2 (this is for a 70' Dodge Charger whereas mine is a 69' Charger, but this is a two field terminal and may fit).

Looks like this time round' on my car, the alternator can't be internally grounded. But, I'm unsure how to install this "new wire(s)" from the Mopar electronic regulator to the alternator properly. After looking at the set-up on my car from what they did at the shop, it appears that the green wire already runs from the pig tail assembly/connection to a field terminal on the alternator. So, I'm assuming that I only need to create a tree, or stem, branching off from just the blue wire near the regulator to the opposite field terminal on the alternator. Is that correct and what wire gauge are we talking about? I'm also assuming that the blue and green wires can go to either field terminal and that a small blue jumper ground wire is not needed..? Any pics out there would also be highly appreciated.

Thank you again for this newbie,
Aaron

[Dino]

With a dual field alt you run one green wire from pigtail to one of the alt fields like you said.  The stock wire is 18 awg.  The blue wire coming from the pigtail splices into 3 wires:
 
-18 awg from pigtail to the other field terminal on the alternator
-16 awg from pigtail to ballast resistor
-16 awg from pigtail to 'N' terminal on middle bulkhead connector

[Pete in NH]

Hi Aaron,

I responded to the email you sent me so check your in box.

A383 wing, I really like that idea of adding a fuse to the regulator power input. I suspect  a lot of these 1969 type electronic replacement regulators are Chinese in origin. If they are going to fail and come apart, a fuse is a good idea to avoid the issue Aaron and yourself ran into with melted wiring. Something like a 5 amp, I think would be just fine.

Aaron, Dino gave you the proper wiring hook up for the dual field alternator.

On 70 and up electronic regulators, I've seen too many failures on the aftermarket types and have had good results with the Mopar units. Most autoparts places have two lines of electrical parts these days. A lower priced line of mostly Chinese lower quality stuff and an upper line. If you stay with the upper line you get a better quality part but you are almost at the price level of the Mopar unit. I prefer to spend the few extra dollars and be done with it.

[Captain D]

Hello all,

Thank you for taking the time to chime in on the diagram, suggestions, etc. At this point, things are still in the works but I unraveled the electrical tape where the pigtail unit was connected. I was surprised to see that they connected blue to green and the green to blue. From what I've read so far, it looks like that is incorrect. Good thing that I got under that tape to see what was going on under or else who knows what else may have been toasted...

Thank you again and I'll post more as things progress,
Aaron

[1974dodgecharger]

Good idea wing i think im gonna do that also a inline fuse for protection.  What's the rating you have?

I had the same issue on my 66 years ago....had to replace the entire wire from ignition switch to regulator...it melted all the insulation off...plus I installed an inline fuse where it plugs onto the regulator

I'm still running single field alt with OE looking electronic regulator

[Pete in NH]

1974dodgecharger- As I posted above, I think a 5 amp fuse would be just fine. The field current in  a stock alternator installation runs no higher than 3 amps.

Aaron- Again I just replied to you last email so check your in box. I don't know who did the work you mentioned about cross connecting the blue and green wires but that was a real screw up, it may have blow up the new regulator. To me it says very sloppy work or no understanding of how the electronic regulator system works. Sorry to see you are having to deal with these kind of mistakes. If I'm sounding a bit harsh about these folks- they use color codes wires for a reason!

[A383Wing]

Good idea wing i think im gonna do that also a inline fuse for protection.  What's the rating you have?

I think I'm running a 10a fuse in mine...but a 5 should be OK as well....