Electrics: alternator alternative?

[tony lewis]

i'v looked through dads spares and come up with a 50a 12v hitachi alternator wiithout an in built regulator can i just swop this for my weedy 35a one in my 70 zon? is the original regulator up to the job of 50a rather than 35?

[Clan]

Originally Posted by tony lewis

i'v looked through dads spares and come up with a 50a 12v hitachi alternator wiithout an in built regulator can i just swop this for my weedy 35a one in my 70 zon? is the original regulator up to the job of 50a rather than 35?

i would think so , the 140 had a 35 A BOSCH alternator and had a 55A version with fuel injection , they both used the same SEV regulator ...

[tony lewis]

whoooooo hooooo fantastic great news cheers mate will stick it in next week :-) no more dull red light on next winter for me when its ****in down and i'v got me lights and heater /wipers/stereo on

[Derek UK]

Don't get your hopes up too high. Bosch goes with Bosch and as far as I now won't work with a Motorola/SEV regulator. Might mean that either type may not work with your Hitachi one.

[222s]

Originally Posted by Derek UK

Don't get your hopes up too high. Bosch goes with Bosch and as far as I now won't work with a Motorola/SEV regulator. Might mean that either type may not work with your Hitachi one.

^^^This. OEM Bosch alternators were specced with a Bosch regulator, OEM Motorola used a Motorola regulator & previous discussion on here strongly suggested that they were not interchangeable. Worth having a search for the thread. Also worth looking through the relevant factory manuals on www.volvoamazonpictures.se

[amazon69]

If you clean all your earths you'll probably get all your 35amps back, which is more than enough to run what you want, even in winter. And it's not a good idea to swap regulators about. Trust me.

[tony lewis]

ok here goes with my stupido thunkin if its 50a bosch or 50a hitachi if its just wires goin to the regulator and no computery crap how is the reg goin to know whether its a bosch one or hitachi? excuse me if i'm dim just interested :-)

if it doesnt work i could just swop the reg for the appropriate jap nissan one couldnt i?

[Ron Kwas]

Tony;

I have to agree with other posters about non-cross-compatibility of Alts and Regs...unless you perform a careful engineering study taking into account all factors, I would recommend pretty strongly against "just trying it".

I agree that theoretically, all the Reg does is close a switch connection (either mechanical or electronic) when system voltage is below a reference point, to allow Alt Field current to flow, which results in an output from the Armature...what's so difficult about that?

Practically however it is never that simple, and I have yet to hear ANY success stories from people who have tried mixing and matching...it sort of like mixing wine and beer...ill advised for the oft resulting headache...at best, a wrong combination won't work...at the worst, electrical smoke, fire, and brimstone will occur (and BTW FYI, none of the components of the charging system are fused)...you have been warned!

Perhaps a better low budget solution would be procuring a used Bosch internally regulated ~60A Alt and installing that. Beefy output, Reliable, Solid State Reg, etc.

Regarding the "no more dull red light on next winter"... installing a higher output alt will not address that! See (The Other Condition): http://www.sw-em.com/AMP_Indicator_ON.htm

Cheers from Connecticut!

[tony lewis]

just read the article so even if i uprate the system to an alt with an inbuilt reg do away with the reg outboard and have everythin electrical on, its measuring voltage drop at the indicator lamp, and will glow dimly to show this even though its perfectly happy still charging at a slightly lower voltage than the norm?

[tony lewis]

just read the article so even if i uprate the system to an alt with an inbuilt reg do away with the reg outboard and have everythin electrical on, its measuring voltage drop at the indicator lamp, and will glow dimly to show this even though its perfectly happy still charging at a slightly lower voltage than the norm?

damn shame as i thought i'd found a free upgrade


i still want more amps/charging capacity for future mods etc so will look into an alt now of around 50a with an inbuilt reg and bypass the one i'v got