Datatek
Well-Known Member
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- 44,890
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- Near Poitiers SW France
The lamp should go from 12 volts to the D+. There should not be 12 volts at D+ with the engine off, the armature coil is low resistance and provides the ground path for the lamp to illuminate it. D+ should rise to 12 volts with the engine running thus turning the lamp off.ahh ballcocks....
im pretty sure you are correct sir...
Dammit...
hooked up a lil 3W rice lamp last night, and its not illuminating, I appear not to have 12V at the D+ when the engine is off either, which I beleive it should have, and I have a 1/4 amp discharge rate (250mA) looks like I'm shopping for a new diode pack grrrr.
Bizzarly once its running, its charging fine, voltage is ok, not measured the amps cos my ammeter only goes to 10.
The alternator will still charge, albeit with lots of electrical noise, with one duff diode in the diode pack but will drain the battery when not runing.
I used to rebuild alternators as a side line