Big Blue's Transformation

[85lebaront2]

Well, Bruce, it looks like I'll pass on borrowing your meter. But thanks anyway.

Mine appears to be adequate, and I'm pretty sure it works. I haven't used it in years but did when I first got it. The Cranking Amps scale goes to 800A and the Charging Amps goes to 200A.

Bill - Don't you have the mate to it? Have you used it?

Similar, different brand, and yes I have used it. I used it on my wife's cousin's Chevy G30 van with the TBI system and it worked quite well.

I played with it a bit on Darth. I also have acquired a Peerless system that a neighbor's late husband had used. Only issue with it is the ignition secondary pickups are coils that go in series with the coil and #1 plug wires. There is an HEI adapter, a plate that sits atop the coil.

I did finally replace my 3 older timing lights, a Craftsman made by Peerless, a Peerless and a Sun (part of a set a late friend had). All of them had pickups that were erratic due to damage in the ferrite cores. I ordered a new Peerless adjustable one with a digital display from Amazon.

[Gary Lewis]

Similar, different brand, and yes I have used it. I used it on my wife's cousin's Chevy G30 van with the TBI system and it worked quite well.

I played with it a bit on Darth. I also have acquired a Peerless system that a neighbor's late husband had used. Only issue with it is the ignition secondary pickups are coils that go in series with the coil and #1 plug wires. There is an HEI adapter, a plate that sits atop the coil.

I did finally replace my 3 older timing lights, a Craftsman made by Peerless, a Peerless and a Sun (part of a set a late friend had). All of them had pickups that were erratic due to damage in the ferrite cores. I ordered a new Peerless adjustable one with a digital display from Amazon.

Well, the plans of mice and men... The ammeter function doesn't work.

I took the pickup apart and discovered it is somewhat complex, but there was nothing obviously wrong:

So I pulled the back off the unit. Six circuit boards?!? I pulled each of those, cleaned the contacts, and put them back. And I changed out the 9V and D-cell batteries. But no obvious problems were found and it still didn't work.

So I called the # on the back of it, which got me to a holding company that had, at one point, bought out Stewart-Warner in a hostile takeover. And according to the gentleman I talked with SW didn't give them any documentation, whatsoever. So they had nothing for me.

Then I called the new Stewart-Warner and that guy said that they have a real guru that has been around forever and he might be able to help, so I sent him an email that included pics. We shall see.

But barring a miracle from SW I don't have an ammeter that will handle more than 100 amps, and this alternator could top that at idle. So I'm kind of on hold at the moment, waiting to see if SW comes through.

Bruce - How big and heavy is your unit?

EDIT: The guy from SW got back. All of their info was lost in the Chicago fire. Man, I knew this thing is old, but????

 

[85lebaront2]

Well, the plans of mice and men... The ammeter function doesn't work.

I took the pickup apart and discovered it is somewhat complex, but there was nothing obviously wrong:

So I pulled the back off the unit. Six circuit boards?!? I pulled each of those, cleaned the contacts, and put them back. And I changed out the 9V and D-cell batteries. But no obvious problems were found and it still didn't work.

So I called the # on the back of it, which got me to a holding company that had, at one point, bought out Stewart-Warner in a hostile takeover. And according to the gentleman I talked with SW didn't give them any documentation, whatsoever. So they had nothing for me.

Then I called the new Stewart-Warner and that guy said that they have a real guru that has been around forever and he might be able to help, so I sent him an email that included pics. We shall see.

But barring a miracle from SW I don't have an ammeter that will handle more than 100 amps, and this alternator could top that at idle. So I'm kind of on hold at the moment, waiting to see if SW comes through.

Bruce - How big and heavy is your unit?

EDIT: The guy from SW got back. All of their info was lost in the Chicago fire. Man, I knew this thing is old, but????

One word, Amprobe they make a lot of clamp on meters. Maybe your favorite tool store has them or similar items.

[Gary Lewis]

Well, the plans of mice and men... The ammeter function doesn't work.

I took the pickup apart and discovered it is somewhat complex, but there was nothing obviously wrong:

So I pulled the back off the unit. Six circuit boards?!? I pulled each of those, cleaned the contacts, and put them back. And I changed out the 9V and D-cell batteries. But no obvious problems were found and it still didn't work.

So I called the # on the back of it, which got me to a holding company that had, at one point, bought out Stewart-Warner in a hostile takeover. And according to the gentleman I talked with SW didn't give them any documentation, whatsoever. So they had nothing for me.

Then I called the new Stewart-Warner and that guy said that they have a real guru that has been around forever and he might be able to help, so I sent him an email that included pics. We shall see.

But barring a miracle from SW I don't have an ammeter that will handle more than 100 amps, and this alternator could top that at idle. So I'm kind of on hold at the moment, waiting to see if SW comes through.

Bruce - How big and heavy is your unit?

EDIT: The guy from SW got back. All of their info was lost in the Chicago fire. Man, I knew this thing is old, but????

Thanks, Bill. But at the moment I'm trying to not spend more money.

So here's Plan B. My nephew has a clamp-on unit that goes to 200A, and we have a 4th Of July party we'll meet at on the 2nd, so he'll bring it and I'll take the truck. We can see what current it'll throw and how much the winch pulls.

Also, I found that the regulator I put in is an F795 from Quick Start Automotive Electric. It says it is a "14.6 Vset, 2.5 second LRC", but I never, ever see 14.6V from it. This morning when I started the truck up cold, with the ECT at 72F, the voltage the ECU saw was 14.2. And my DVM is showing the same thing at the battery.

But it never goes to 14.6V and it tapers off pretty quickly to 13.7V. So I'm wondering if I have a bad regulator?

I have an F794 that is supposed to be the same but w/o the 2.5 second LRC and I'm thinking about swapping that in to see what will happen.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Bill. But at the moment I'm trying to not spend more money.

So here's Plan B. My nephew has a clamp-on unit that goes to 200A, and we have a 4th Of July party we'll meet at on the 2nd, so he'll bring it and I'll take the truck. We can see what current it'll throw and how much the winch pulls.

Also, I found that the regulator I put in is an F795 from Quick Start Automotive Electric. It says it is a "14.6 Vset, 2.5 second LRC", but I never, ever see 14.6V from it. This morning when I started the truck up cold, with the ECT at 72F, the voltage the ECU saw was 14.2. And my DVM is showing the same thing at the battery.

But it never goes to 14.6V and it tapers off pretty quickly to 13.7V. So I'm wondering if I have a bad regulator?

I have an F794 that is supposed to be the same but w/o the 2.5 second LRC and I'm thinking about swapping that in to see what will happen.

I installed the 794 regulator, the one w/o LRC, and got the same downward slope with temp as with the 795, so that's probably built in. We started with 14.2 showing on my DVM awa on the graph below via the ECU, and ended up after about 9 minutes of idling at 13.8 - essentially the same with both regulators. Oh, and I rev'd it up to 1400 RPM at one point and it didn't change the voltage, so what you see is what the regulator wants.

And while I've not done the Ground Here test, I think I did essentially the same thing in a different way - I turned the air compressor on. And the voltage went to 11.6 after 28 seconds. So the alternator can't keep up with that load at 640 RPM - whatever that load is, and I'll figure that out on the 2nd.

At this point I'm thinking that staying with an engine-driven fan is the way to go. We'll see on the 2nd what the alternator is capable of at various RPMs, but I'm thinking that electric fans might be a bridge too far.

 

[ArdWrknTrk]

I installed the 794 regulator, the one w/o LRC, and got the same downward slope with temp as with the 795, so that's probably built in. We started with 14.2 showing on my DVM awa on the graph below via the ECU, and ended up after about 9 minutes of idling at 13.8 - essentially the same with both regulators. Oh, and I rev'd it up to 1400 RPM at one point and it didn't change the voltage, so what you see is what the regulator wants.

And while I've not done the Ground Here test, I think I did essentially the same thing in a different way - I turned the air compressor on. And the voltage went to 11.6 after 28 seconds. So the alternator can't keep up with that load at 640 RPM - whatever that load is, and I'll figure that out on the 2nd.

At this point I'm thinking that staying with an engine-driven fan is the way to go. We'll see on the 2nd what the alternator is capable of at various RPMs, but I'm thinking that electric fans might be a bridge too far.

How many watts is the compressor?!?

(I'm not sure what is lost to the inverter)

That sounds like the alternator, if you get the same with both regulators.

100A @ 12V is 10A @ 120. (zero loss and power factor of 1)

Unfortunately I don't have any of Ryan's videos or charts from the old FFI site, but I think Chris may have archived them.

This seems like exactly what PTO mode was made for.

[Bruce moose4x4]

I installed the 794 regulator, the one w/o LRC, and got the same downward slope with temp as with the 795, so that's probably built in. We started with 14.2 showing on my DVM awa on the graph below via the ECU, and ended up after about 9 minutes of idling at 13.8 - essentially the same with both regulators. Oh, and I rev'd it up to 1400 RPM at one point and it didn't change the voltage, so what you see is what the regulator wants.

And while I've not done the Ground Here test, I think I did essentially the same thing in a different way - I turned the air compressor on. And the voltage went to 11.6 after 28 seconds. So the alternator can't keep up with that load at 640 RPM - whatever that load is, and I'll figure that out on the 2nd.

At this point I'm thinking that staying with an engine-driven fan is the way to go. We'll see on the 2nd what the alternator is capable of at various RPMs, but I'm thinking that electric fans might be a bridge too far.

Gary it is a handheld unit,

I hope the picture is there. smaller than a tablet, larger than a cell phone.

[Gary Lewis]

Gary it is a handheld unit,

I hope the picture is there. smaller than a tablet, larger than a cell phone.

Bruce - Thanks, but I think I have it covered with my nephew's unit.

Jim - The compressor documentation says 14A. So lossless it would be 140A, which is obviously way more then the alternator can put out at idle.

I'm getting ready to try the PTO function...

[ArdWrknTrk]

Bruce - Thanks, but I think I have it covered with my nephew's unit.

Jim - The compressor documentation says 14A. So lossless it would be 140A, which is obviously way more then the alternator can put out at idle.

I'm getting ready to try the PTO function...

So 1,680W or 2.25 hp. Gotcha!

Yeah that's beyond nominal rated output and doesn't seem like a problem for these alternators. (at higher rpm)

But it should cycle on and off if you're using it to air up.

Of course you have other loads like ignition, lighting, and possibly radio, blower and wipers, AC clutch.

Is there anything else?

What does your winch draw?

Have you considered one of the updated 3G's?

I know DB, Electric, PA Performance and a few others offer 160 and 200A mods, but Ryan said he would never sell a unit labeled more than 160 because he didn't think they could last under full demand.

[85lebaront2]

Bruce - Thanks, but I think I have it covered with my nephew's unit.

Jim - The compressor documentation says 14A. So lossless it would be 140A, which is obviously way more then the alternator can put out at idle.

I'm getting ready to try the PTO function...

FWIW, I just looked at the alternator specs on the 2009 Flex: