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Alternator Overheating

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seymour064

New member
Just installed an alternaor conversion for my merc 170. It's a one wire alternator and I'm conecting it to the terminal on the solenoid where the battery connects. When I run the motor the alternator gets very hot. The wires are cool and I'm showing 14v on the voltage guage. Do I need to ground the alternator???
 
should have enough ground from the hardware, are your batteries somewhat charged to begin with? Dead/weak batteries will generate some heat in the alt while charging.
Other cause may be a bad battery /battery cell
 
The alternator output wire needs at least a 10 ga. wire. Did you use a new wire? The old one may be corroded.
 
My starter battery is weak and in fact may be bad, I'll try charging it and if that doesn't work I'll replace it. I used a new wire and I'm not sure what you mean by the fins being correct. I don't have the tools to check the amperage but I can have someone do that after I get a charge in the battery or replace it. Thanks for the help everyone.
 
seymour064 said:
My starter battery is weak and in fact may be bad, I'll try charging it and if that doesn't work I'll replace it. I used a new wire and I'm not sure what you mean by the fins being correct. I don't have the tools to check the amperage but I can have someone do that after I get a charge in the battery or replace it. Thanks for the help everyone.
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the battery should be charged when replacing a defective charging system/ good way to damage the brushes/commutator of alternator..

the battery can be tested by putting a load on it see what voltage it holds for a few minutes..if it drops to 10.5volt you got a bad cell..
 
Charge the battery for at least one hour. A simple 5 bead battery tester inserted into each cell will tell you the amount of charge in it and if the cell is dead. A good battery will float all 5 balls and the acid in the cells will be clear. A fair battery will show 3 to 4 floating balls. The weak/dying battery will float 2 or less balls. A dead or dying cell will show dark fluid w/particles of the cell plates.
 
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