Voldad Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 I am replacing a 12v generator with a 1 wire GM alternator on a 1964 Falcon. I need a schematic or instruction on what to do about the existing voltage regulator mounted on the firewall. How to bypass while keeping power to whatever it feeds? Thank you for any assistance you can offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 2 minutes ago, Voldad said: I am replacing a 12v generator with a 1 wire GM alternator on a 1964 Falcon. I need a schematic or instruction on what to do about the existing voltage regulator mounted on the firewall. How to bypass while keeping power to whatever it feeds? Thank you for any assistance you can offer. Why oh why do you want to use a one wire alternator? Seems that simply using a 65-up Ford alternator would be a lot simpler, especially the brackets. And frankly the whole point of a "one wire" alternator is that there's only one wire to connect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 https://www.hotrod.com/articles/install-high-output-ford-3g-alternator-older-fords/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voldad Posted June 14, 2020 Author Share Posted June 14, 2020 (edited) Thank you. I will work through this and see if I have any difficulties. I appreciate your quick reply. Looks like this is not a one wire so doesn’t really help. Thanks anyway. Edited June 15, 2020 by Voldad Further reading showed issue (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 Voldad, I simply connected the alternator output to the regulator output [ Bat on mine] , thereby bypassing the regulator. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voldad Posted June 16, 2020 Author Share Posted June 16, 2020 (edited) Ben and others, I have included a schematic of my voltage regulator. My thought is to remove the voltage regulator and replace it with a junction block. Feed the block with the Blk/Y from the solenoid hot, attach Y- horn relay and Y/Blk high beam and Blk/Y directional signal to it and forget the white and the black generator wires. Any thoughts? Thanks Edited June 16, 2020 by Voldad (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 Google is your friend... By the way, that yellow/black wire does not go to the high beam, it goes to the GEN indicator light. Every load on the car runs from the BATT terminal. Your one wire alternator won't operate the indicator light, which is yet another reason not to use one of those. This is for the 1965-up alternator with external regulator. http://www.blert.net/comet/gen2alt/ This is for the later 3G internal regulator FORD alternator. https://www.fordmuscleforums.com/threads/260-generator-to-alternator-conversion.521826/#post-1890265 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voldad Posted June 16, 2020 Author Share Posted June 16, 2020 (edited) I get that you don’t care for the one wire alternator. That is what I have. I am going to dance with the one I brung. I was going by the wiring diagram for the high beam. Granted I might be reading it wrong. Edited June 16, 2020 by Voldad (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 (edited) Ok then. Tie all the regulator stuff down to a junction block as you planned. If the 2 wires going down to the generator are a separate piece, just take it off. If not, be sure to put that indicator light wire (Y/Black) on it's own post so it is not connected to anything. To be clear, "BAT" stuff all ties together, everything else is separated. Run a BIG wire (#8 or so) from the terminal on the back of the one wire alternator to either end of the positive battery cable. Done. P.S. Save your generator parts. Edited June 16, 2020 by Bloo (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voldad Posted June 16, 2020 Author Share Posted June 16, 2020 Thanks, I have a 6 gauge wire with heavy connectors for the 1 wire to battery (solenoid hot terminal). Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 12 hours ago, Voldad said: I get that you don’t care for the one wire alternator. That is what I have. I am going to dance with the one I brung. I was going by the wiring diagram for the high beam. Granted I might be reading it wrong. Just so we're clear, the diagrams I provided apply to your one-wire alternator also. The BATT terminal on the alternator is the location for every powered circuit on the car. You can simply run a wire to whatever junction block you have if that's easier. The one-wire will not operate a GEN light, so you'll just have to ignore that. The old regulator is irrelevant. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 The one wire alternator have a common glitch. They don't start charging until you excite the rectifier with some higher rpms. I have a couple of one wires and they don't show a charge (you now need a switched volt meter) when first started up. I usually wait long enough to at least get the oil fully distributed, often longer on a cold day. Then you need to goose the engine pretty good to get the one wire alternator to kick in. After the thing gets excited its good to go. It isn't just the most common GM one wires, I did a later Chrysler that does the same thing. No reason a Ford would be any different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voldad Posted June 16, 2020 Author Share Posted June 16, 2020 Joe, Thanks for the clarification. I have been sloowwly beginning to understand. I did find an 11 volt indicator that solves the idiot light issue, although at an additional cost. If I do this again I will go the 3 wire route. My friend at NAPA recommended the one wire and I had already purchased and mounted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 53 minutes ago, Voldad said: Joe, Thanks for the clarification. I have been sloowwly beginning to understand. I did find an 11 volt indicator that solves the idiot light issue, although at an additional cost. If I do this again I will go the 3 wire route. My friend at NAPA recommended the one wire and I had already purchased and mounted. FYI, there's a reason why GM never installed a one-wire alternator in a production car. They were developed for agricultural and construction equipment where the engine operates at a somewhat fixed RPM range. Think about it - GM cuts corners to save every penny possible when they build a car - if they thought they could leave out that extra copper, they would have. The aftermarket convinced everyone that they need to use a one wire system, THEN they sell them the extra cost voltage sensor module that adds those wires back in, when the original alternator already had that function for free. DOH! Your friend needs to educate him or her self. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leon bee Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 An interesting discussion, Voldad, thanks for being gracious about everything and welcome to the board. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
54vicky Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 you may want a volt meter that reads higher than 11 volts as you should easily exceed that voltage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 About 14.7 volts running, probably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_padavano Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 (edited) 27 minutes ago, 54vicky said: you may want a volt meter that reads higher than 11 volts as you should easily exceed that voltage. That's not what he's talking about. The aftermarket sells a voltage sensing module that turns on the GEN light if the voltage drops below 11 volts. As I pointed out before, you pay a premium for a one wire alternator that deletes those functions that the OEM style has for free, then you pay an extra $30 for this module that puts them back in. Nice work if you can get it... https://www.ronfrancis.com/prodinfo.asp?number=LS-11 Edited June 17, 2020 by joe_padavano (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voldad Posted July 19, 2020 Author Share Posted July 19, 2020 I think I will go with my low voltage indicator being that the engine won’t start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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