So over the weekend my port battery decided to crap out, which has never happened before but it's no big deal things happen. So I took it out and had a diagnostic run on it and it was fine just very low charge. So I checked the alternator where it was connected and it voltmeter said it was putting out @ 9 volts. Time to get a new alternator. So I take the alternator out and I am a bit perplexed that the negative wire is not connected to the negative pole on the alternator, but to the aux. pole on the alternator same with stbd alternator. So I go to Lakeland Automotive in Catawba ( I can't say enough good things about the guys there. The older gentleman Bruce is a Chrysler Encyclopedia!) and give my alternator to Bruce who calls it immediately and says it's out of a 72 Chrysler and we chat while he hooks it up and he says, " This is fine. It's putting out 14 volts." I say, "Well it wasn't hooked up like that, the neg wire was on the auxiliary pole." He says are you sure and I say absolutely, I used the same wrench on both and thought it was odd that it was hooked up like that. So is that why it wasn't charging, some dummy had it hooked up wrong?! Or is there some other backward universe rule I'm not aware of coming into play here? I figure that since I rarely run anything off the batteries that 9v of charge was enough to keep it going along with the on board battery charger. Also, all the DC lights are hooked up to that side (port) battery. Normal?
Thanks
Sean

Thanks Karl !
Sean

Suuure, Bill . Nothing like that ever happens on that lake up north..Ha!
Go Bucs!
Sean

Ok.
Sitting in the engine room, facing the bow, the port alternator is immediately to your left on the top corner of the engine. The big orange "+" wires goes to the top right post. The little green (assuming ignition) wire goes to the very bottom post. There is another post on the left side of the alternator but it is not connected, it has a rubber cap on it.

Prestolite ANE5202YS5W

-Karl

To show you how non-standard these critters are, I am posting a pic of my alternator..showing thicker orange wire at 4pm...thinner red wire at 12 o'clock

See the pic now, THANKS!

My port alternator was replaced at sometime. It has no blue paint. I'll check with the starboard to see if it is the same setup.

I do know the orange wire goes to the post which has a + stamped on the housing. At least that is how the unpainted alternator is.

I wonder if those things can be put together in more ways than 1? Maybe during a rebuild it is possible to assemble the shell or the guts in a different way. That may explain the orange wire on the bottom of Joel's?
Unless his is made by different company or its a different model?
I don't know....

More and more I'm liking the idea of single wire alternators.

-Karl

9 volts is not enough to charge anything. A battery is considered "empty" at 10.5 or 11 volts. Most batteries are "full" when they show around 12.6 volts, and ready for recharge when they get down to 12V. You should read 13.6V or more on the battery when it is charging. The alternator will be perhaps a half a volt more.

I have seen many alternators give poor performance because the return path through the frame is poor. You should have a heavy (same as the orange wire) yellow wire from the ground post on the alternator, to the starter bolt where the battery return is connected. The ground post is easy to spot, it is a stud that is not insulated from the case. There should be an ignition connection to run the internal regulator, or alternatively a field connection from the external regulator. And, of course, the orange + wire that goes to the battery.

So If I run a yellow wire from the alternator ground post to the post on top of the starter ( is that the where battery return is connected? ) it will be as you described. I assume the battery return post on the starter is where the ground from the battery attaches in the middle of the starter, correct? Isn't it odd that Joel's was wired the same way, with nothing from the ground on the alternator to a ground?
Thanks,
Sean

So I guess what I am going to do is hook the alternator back up the way it was and run a jumper cable from the neg pole on the alternator to the block and see what happens. I am figuring that will put the 14v's into the battery. Then I'll just run a permanent ground strap, if it works, to the block.. Does that seem reasonable? (I'll try to find 8 or 10 gauge yellow wire..)
Sean