Re: Large Amp Draw

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

When the truth serum kicked in, cookiedan@domain.elided (Daniel Nees) blurted
out...

>   I noticed that after crawling through the woods at 5-20 MPH i 4 hi,
>when I shut down the engine and start it up I get a LARGE recharge read
>on the ammeter. I'm thinking this is because of the low RPM of the alt
>not putting enough charge out. BUT, I was only using the engine and the
>radio so the AMP draw should be minimal so that is making me think that
>the stock belt pulley is grossly over sized and at low crawl idle (thats
>Hofs crawl speed not Theberts) the RPM at the alt is not enough to
>actually put out a substantial charge. John L. does this sound
>resonable? Therefore, even if we were to cut the size of our alt pulley
>in half at our top redline I don't think we would be hurting the alt.
>So, I'm going to look for a smaller pulley for my alt. 

A large amp draw *immediately* after startup is perfectly normal.  The starter
draws a huge amount of current directly from the battery.  After the engine
starts, the alternator's first order of business is to quickly recharge the
battery.  If your truck is wired correctly and the starter and battery are in
good condition, the ammeter should return to neutral within a minute or two
after starting.

The only time you need to worry about alternator speed is if you have a
continuous discharge of the battery due to a high electrical load and low
engine speed.  Temporary battery drain when sitting at a stop light isn't
going to hurt anything.  But if your truck is going to sit at idle powering a
winch all day... yes... you have a problem.  You either need to increase the
alternator rpm buy increasing the engine rpm, or change pulley ratios.
Increasing the engine rpm is far simpler!

>   Here is another question, I have a two belt alt. when I add my AC air
>compressor, does the alt stay a two belt pulley?

The alternator belts will remain the same.  The A/C uses a different single
pulley added to the front of the water pump.

Regards,

John
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