This morning my
alternator, a one year old 120A Iskra, started causing an
alarm on my
engine panel.
It is controlled by a
Balmar 614
regulator.
I checked the field voltage and it looked okay, about 8 volts.
A clamp-type ammeter on the B+ line to the
batteries shows zero
current even though the
battery voltage is more than a volt below what the
Balmar is telling the
alternator to output.
Also a volt meter on the B+ terminal shows
battery voltage when the
engine is off, and doesn't increase when the alternator is running.
What I think is odd is that even though there's no output, the alternator heats up fairly quickly. I can also feel it kick in because the engine RPMs change a little when the Balmar tells the alternator to start.
I've searched this forum, and reread the section in the Calder book about alternators, but didn't find anything about an alternator that has no output, but still heats up and bogs down the engine.
Any ideas on what the problem could be?