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What's this wire for ?
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lboos
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 8:55 am    Post subject: What's this wire for ? Reply with quote

I was looking over the engine on my 71 SB and found this wire not connected on the Gen. aft of the hold down strap, I have not had prob. with the gen, no warning lights or weak batt. everything seems to be normal, should I just keep on driving like this ?
The last time the engine was worked on was last may when I had the engine rebuilt, since then I have been driving it with no prob. thanks for any ad
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NachoCar
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 9:00 am    Post subject: Re: What's this wire for ? Reply with quote

I'm no electrician....but I just bought a black alternator that had a ground wire.

That's my guess
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raydog
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 9:12 am    Post subject: Re: What's this wire for ? Reply with quote

Yes, it's a ground wire. Just secure it with a screw at the tapping right next to where the wire is in your pic.
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Glenn Premium Member
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 9:26 am    Post subject: Re: What's this wire for ? Reply with quote

Sure looks like it gets grounded to the threaded hole in the alternator.
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60ragtop
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 9:32 am    Post subject: Re: What's this wire for ? Reply with quote

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ashman40
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 11:54 am    Post subject: Re: What's this wire for ? Reply with quote

Above replies are correct. That should be the D- ground wire running between the generator body and the VR body. By connecting the grounds between the two it ensures the generator output voltage, as read by the VR, is measured from the same ground potential. Will it work without the wire connected? Sure, but the voltage reading could be different, resulting in a small over or under charging condition.
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lboos
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 2:01 pm    Post subject: Re: What's this wire for ? Reply with quote

Thanks for all the info. I looked all over for the right screw, took the one out of my 72 and matched it at the hardware store, I guess I'm all legal again Wink .
Thank you all.
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Rome
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 7:32 pm    Post subject: Re: What's this wire for ? Reply with quote

Quote:
took the one out of my 72 and matched it at the hardware store
I "think" the size was M5 x 0.75 mm and about 4 mm long, but good that you're all set.

Next time you're back at the engine and feeling productive, you can loosen the generator clamp (13 mm wrench) and rotate it clockwise 1/4 turn so that the clamp joint is pointing straight to the right; at "3:00" position. The clamp has preformed bends that conform to the underside of the generator support. Use a box-end wrench to hold the nut on the underside, and a socket with extension to reach down to the bolt.
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lboos
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 30, 2021 6:53 am    Post subject: Re: What's this wire for ? Reply with quote

Rome,
Thanks for that helpful info. on the gen. clamp. I like to keep things the way they were meant to be. I readjusted the clamp.
You can learn something new here everyday. Wink
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MrGoodtunes
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 31, 2021 8:49 am    Post subject: Re: What's this wire for ? Reply with quote

ashman40 wrote:
... By connecting the grounds between the two it ensures the generator output voltage, as read by the VR, is measured from the same ground potential. Will it work without the wire connected? Sure, but the voltage reading could be different, resulting in a small over or under charging condition.

Thank you @ashman40 for this explanation (as well as your many other helpful posts). It motivated me into hooking up such a wire from alternator case to voltage regulator mounting bolt:
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But then, I re-read more carefully; and caught this part:
ashman40 wrote:
... That should be the D- ground wire ...


I'm pretty sure that D- is one of the 3 wires (D-, D+, DF) running from the plug on top of my ~1973 alternator to its external voltage regulator. So maybe it's a wasted effort, tho surely can't hurt. And it was a good excercise, taking things apart, cleaning out 29 years of accumulated funk since building this setup for my buggy which has gone ~92,000 miles without the newly added ground wire.
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TK-CS
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 31, 2021 3:51 pm    Post subject: Re: What's this wire for ? Reply with quote

I think that's not neccessary on the externally regulated alternator. The brown wire is already there in the plug.
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MrGoodtunes
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 01, 2021 8:39 am    Post subject: Re: What's this wire for ? Reply with quote

TK-CS wrote:
I think that's not neccessary on the externally regulated alternator. The brown wire is already there in the plug.


Thanks for confirming. Coinsidentially, it was the brown color match that first clue'd me into re-reading and noticing "D-" and "ground wire" were used interchangeably; when in fact, my choice of using a brown wire was because it was the only piece of wire in my stash with a good length and gauge for this job; its color was just a side bonus, brown being a color similar to Earth ground.
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