Hi, just took delivery of a Se.111 petrol. Been standing a few years but tried attach a new battery(neg earth) and the alternator started to smoke! Disconnected the battery immediately. Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks Mick

its possable that as its been standing there could be a build up of crap on the terminals and most likely is wet and shorting out. i would suggest try blowing out the inside of the alternator with an air compressor and check the connections

another thing to check before connecting the battery make sure every thing is switch off, connect the battery at this point ther e should be no sparks on the battery terminals if there are sparks you have a live short some where, are you sure its neg earth and not pos earth

Disconnect the 2 wires on rear of alternator, reconnect battery to test for short circuit ( visable sparks), if none reconnect the thin wire to rear of alternator the ignition light should come on (again check for sparks), then connect the larger wire if flash/smoke appears replace alternator.....

The smoke from the alternator indicates that current is flowing into the alternator from the battery, which should not happen. There may be a supressor on the back of the alternator which is faulty causing a short circuit. If there is one, disconnect it and test for a short circuit with a multimeter. If that's the problem then it's likely you'll see some signs of overheating on it. Another possibility is that there's a problem with the rectifier. The rectifier should prevent any current flowing from the battery into the windings of the alternator. I'd strip it down and see if it's repairable if you've got the time, replacing the melted components.

is it smoking benson an hedges or silk cut?, if its b&h then its knacked.

seriously, sounds like the rectifier pack is knacked, and if you've seen smoke then maybe the wondings too, if you can get another pack and regulator try it, but for the price of a new alty I'd replace it.