Recent content by 72RoadrunnerGTX

Not if you connect any of those added/modified loads directly at the battery or anywhere on the battery side of the ammeter, doing so will add current stress to the stock wiring. All loading needs to be on the alternator side of the ammeter if running a factory ammeter. Suggest you check out...

How do you have your added loads wired? Which Tuff Stuff alternator are you running? What fuses are blowing? 60amps of fans? Has that been measured/confirmed as the actual current draw for the fans? Running 130amp Tuff Stuff alts on all my cars, appropriate wiring mods, tons of correctly placed...

Wasn’t anywhere near as long as they told me it would be. They prepared me for about 4-6 weeks as I recall but turned it around in a week or two. Complete rebuild/restoration including artwork both tach and speedo. Did a Speed Hut stepper motor conversion on the tach too.

Southern Cal? Send it to Redline Gauge Works. Had one rebuilt there recently.

Don’t you mean fibbing? Who is saying there hasn’t been issues at the bulkhead charge path Packard’s from early on, especially on higher optioned cars with more factory loads? C-body recall? Considering the original design of bulkhead charge path pass-through in the early sixties was a screw...

Curious, how many car fires “started by the bulkhead connector” have you experienced or have first-hand knowledge of? You believe the fairly common resistance caused heat damage around the bulkhead charge path under-rated Packard terminals are the result of a short to ground at the bulkhead...

Sounds like you may have missed some points as well. We’ll leave it at that. I don’t think the ammeter vs. voltmeter debate is going to end here and now. Yes, technology has moved on from the time these cars were designed. Batteries became more dependable, more electrical demands from added...

There would be absolutely no reason to monitor the system voltage while running the stock stand-alone ammeter, correct load placement, if the ammeter needle is centered, the system is balanced, and the alternator is operating at its regulated voltage level. Any change to that voltage level would...

The original primary function of the ammeter is to monitor the health, charge/discharge status of the battery. Batteries from the time tended not to last more than 2-3 years with most failures showing an abnormally high charge rate prior to total failure. And abnormal discharging would indicate...

Not sure I am following that question. I would suggest you take a few minutes and watch the first part of the linked video in post #4, it is about how this original ammeter-based charging system was designed to function and what happens when added running loads are misplaced at the battery...

Pretty sure my reply explains why that statement is wrong, any and all loads connected at the battery on this stock charging system, whether it’s the primary side of a relay (yes, insignificant) or the secondary contacts/loads, will draw their current from the alternator through the entire stock...

Start your troubleshooting at the ignition switch Molex connector (bottom of the column, under the dash) first before taking apart the column. The connector itself is a fairly common failure point on ’70 and up column mounted ignition switches.

This statement is wrong, assuming a stock charge path and wired as pictured, this is not about the 150ma of current it takes to activate the relay, it’s where you source the secondary contacts/load power from that matters. A fusible link hot to the touch indicates there is current flowing across...

Agreed, this level added loads along with a high powered alternator should really have complete up-sized charge path wiring bypassing the bulkhead Packard terminals, a fleet bypass at a minimum.

As mentioned by @Canadian1968, get those added loads (fans) off the battery, connect them to the alternator output stud. The alternator is the primary power source while the engine is running, not the battery if still running the stock charge path, load placement matters.