Anyone know of a source for an “electronic” voltage regulator that puts out no more than 14.2-14.4 volts?

[moparx]

i tried a couple of electronic regulators that were supposed to replace the points style that was factory on my charger.
neither worked........
so i replaced the single field 35[?]amp alternator with a dual field 78amp squareback from a K car. i did the alternator bypass [went from the alternator output stud to the starter relay battery post].
the amp gauge now reads the amps discharging when the accessories are used, while an aftermarket volt gauge reads a constant 13.9-14.1 volts.

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

Years ago I owned a 71 Challenger. All of a sudden it started over charging. I cooked a few batteries. It would blow the caps off. Literally. I changed voltage regulators. Cleaned grounding sources. Added grounds here and there. Had it to 3 different garages. One was a Chrysler dealer. No one could find the problem. One day I was laying on the driver's side floor just looking to see if I could find anything, and I mean anything. I was looking at all the connectors, when I found the connector for the steering column to the main harness had a black streak in it. I tried to pull it apart. I could not budge it. The black streak was where the main hot wire connected. The heavy, what #10? wire. I said SHOOT. I disconnected the battery and clipped the wires on both sides of the connector, connecting them with a butt connector. I reconnected the battery and started the car. BINGO, it fixed my over-charging problem. I drove it for many years after that and it worked flawlessly. Your car is an older car if I remember correctly, so I am not that familiar with the wiring of the older cars. But check your hot wire going to your ignition switch, or possibly even the switch itself. I'm just another idea out there, but it's worth a look.

That would be a regulator reference circuit voltage drop issue, very common with the ’70 and later column mounted ignition switches. The Molex ignition switch connectors used at the lower column are under current rated for that purpose, they have been an issue since day one. Any resistance between the battery and the VR reference will cause over voltage at the battery. Replacement ’70 and up ignition switches came with the main power feed and acc out wires extended and separate from the Molex to by-pass the Molex and use Packard terminals. The Packard’s are not much better however.

For this thread about a ’67, this connector is not present, connection is directly at the back of the switch. Reading this thread, not seeing a voltage drop number between the battery positive post and the “IGN” terminal. Looks like the VR “IGN” terminal and the battery positive post have been jumped however with no change. That should have eliminated voltage drop on the reference circuit at the VR as the cause.

 

[Nacho-RT74]

Hence why source the reg straight from batt is a good way to bypass all conections and discard the VR itself. Then track the wiring all the way up to the ign switch.

 

[toolmanmike]

Years ago I owned a 71 Challenger. All of a sudden it started over charging. I cooked a few batteries. It would blow the caps off. Literally. I changed voltage regulators. Cleaned grounding sources. Added grounds here and there. Had it to 3 different garages. One was a Chrysler dealer. No one could find the problem. One day I was laying on the driver's side floor just looking to see if I could find anything, and I mean anything. I was looking at all the connectors, when I found the connector for the steering column to the main harness had a black streak in it. I tried to pull it apart. I could not budge it. The black streak was where the main hot wire connected. The heavy, what #10? wire. I said SHOOT. I disconnected the battery and clipped the wires on both sides of the connector, connecting them with a butt connector. I reconnected the battery and started the car. BINGO, it fixed my over-charging problem. I drove it for many years after that and it worked flawlessly. Your car is an older car if I remember correctly, so I am not that familiar with the wiring of the older cars. But check your hot wire going to your ignition switch, or possibly even the switch itself. I'm just another idea out there, but it's worth a look.

My Super Bee had a similar issue. No crank, lift the hood, wiggle the wires at the bulkhead, slam the hood, start it up, and drive away. A couple butt connectors and a short piece of 10 gauge and it wa fixed. Not properly repaired but made to work.

 

[my1966charger]

I have 3 various, different electronic voltage regulators that all put out 15.2 to 15.5 volts on my 67 which I consider excessive. Unfortunately my efforts to put a mechanical voltage regulator on it have been unsuccessful and I’ve tried 3 different ones. All produced a rapidly flickering amp gauge and flickering lights. Spent a lot of time on this and been through everything and the alternator without success.

So now I’m on the search for a source of an electronic voltage regulator that reliably puts out in the area of 14.5 volts. Hopefully someone has found one somewhere. If so, can you pass on the info, please.

Should have been clearer - this is on a stock 67 GTX with single field alt., points, etc.

On eBay. I was able to buy Adjustable electronic regulators For both the single And dual field alternator And I was able to adjust The voltage to 13.5. it has an adjustable screw on the back. It works great. It's something that has to be searched for on eBay.

 

[Nacho-RT74]

On eBay. I was able to buy Adjustable electronic regulators For both the single And dual field alternator And I was able to adjust The voltage to 13.5. it has an adjustable screw on the back. It works great. It's something that has to be searched for on eBay.

This is a good option… HOWEVER, if the problem comes from another issue, this could be a patch, and not really the fix. I think the correct (or not) regulator operation being sure is getting the correct sensing voltage rate must be discarded before proceed with this upgrade.

 

[RexEvans]

I have 3 various, different electronic voltage regulators that all put out 15.2 to 15.5 volts on my 67 which I consider excessive. Unfortunately my efforts to put a mechanical voltage regulator on it have been unsuccessful and I’ve tried 3 different ones. All produced a rapidly flickering amp gauge and flickering lights. Spent a lot of time on this and been through everything and the alternator without success.

So now I’m on the search for a source of an electronic voltage regulator that reliably puts out in the area of 14.5 volts. Hopefully someone has found one somewhere. If so, can you pass on the info, please.

Should have been clearer - this is on a stock 67 GTX with single field alt., points, etc.

May need to to add a resistor in output wire to reduce to your preferred output, since you
were sure the grounding and all were good. bulkhead connector connections cause a lot of grief, make sure they are cleaned well. I have a 67 Charger and added the power master alt to get decent out put. Can run a bigger wire to battery and not run it all through the amp guage as they will not handle even 70 amps well. 35-70 amp alternator not enough nowadays in my opinion.

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

May need to to add a resistor in output wire to reduce to your preferred output, since you
were sure the grounding and all were good. bulkhead connector connections cause a lot of grief, make sure they are cleaned well. I have a 67 Charger and added the power master alt to get decent out put. Can run a bigger wire to battery and not run it all through the amp guage as they will not handle even 70 amps well. 35-70 amp alternator not enough nowadays in my opinion.

Under what conditions would there be anywhere near 70 amps running through the ammeter on a healthy all stock original charging system?

 

[AR67GTX]

I got the alternator from my 66 swapped over to the GTX. Only about 9 degrees out when I finished but I cracked the door open long enough to fire it up for a minute.

With the lights off my amp gauge at idle or reving, was dead steady at a slight charge. Turned on my headlights and got a bit of minor needle wiggling in the needle but not of much sweep - probably about as expected with a mech VR. Barely perceptible pulsing of the under-dash interior light. Reving the motor a little didn’t change anything.

So, looks like my 6 or 7 year old rebuilt alternator from Auto Zone is mostly at fault and I need to be looking for another. The output/load test they run on these things must be unable to identify some weak components. I also remember my 66 having a light harness ground on the right side of the grill. I think it must be behind the headlamp trim and I need to see if I can find it and make sure it’s good.

Any thoughts?

 

[Nacho-RT74]

Please, don’t confuse the ammeter reading with volts… they use to be related… or not, depending on failure.

once I got 18 volts at iddle and half way of discharge reading, and up to 24 volts revving up and amm barelly going to charge.

the fail was indeed into the alt. One of the rotor vent vanes was barely touching one of the diodes banks stator contact while spinning. This produced a pulsating short. The fix was fairly easy, just bend the stator wire end at the diodes bank terminal/junction to save this touch.

 

[AR67GTX]

Please, don’t confuse the ammeter reading with volts… they use to be related… or not, depending on failure.

once I got 18 volts at iddle and half way of discharge reading, and up to 24 volts revving up and amm barelly going to charge.

the fail was indeed into the alt. One of the rotor vent vanes was barely touching one of the diodes banks stator contact. This produced a pulsating short. The fix was fairly easy, just bend the stator wire end at the diodes bank terminal/junction to save this touch.

Im not completely sure whose post this is in response to - I’m assuming a response to 72 Roadrunner GTX in #48?

 

[Nacho-RT74]

No… you are talking about your ammeter readings on your last post, but your initial problem began as a voltage problem. Hence why I replied that.

did you measure voltage on your last check?

 

[AR67GTX]

Yes, kind - of. I glanced at my under-dash voltage gage and it was reading right around 14 volts which was where I last adjusted the mech VR to. I didn’t run it long enough with the door open (9 degrees out) to put my multi-meter on it, but I’ve run this VR on both of my cars and it’s been consistent on voltage after I got it set.

 

[RJRENTON]

I have 3 various, different electronic voltage regulators that all put out 15.2 to 15.5 volts on my 67 which I consider excessive. Unfortunately my efforts to put a mechanical voltage regulator on it have been unsuccessful and I’ve tried 3 different ones. All produced a rapidly flickering amp gauge and flickering lights. Spent a lot of time on this and been through everything and the alternator without success.

So now I’m on the search for a source of an electronic voltage regulator that reliably puts out in the area of 14.5 volts. Hopefully someone has found one somewhere. If so, can you pass on the info, please.

Should have been clearer - this is on a stock 67 GTX with single field alt., points, etc.

Out of curiosity, why stipulate the narrow range voltage of 14.2 to 14.4 volts? It's highly unlikely that the dead band of the voltage regulator cannot control that close. The internal voltage regulating ccomponents (the internal voltage divider network have a 10-15% tolerance) and a mechanical voltage regulator has even a greater dead band tolerance. IMO....a few tenths of volts will not be detrimental to the battery. Just my opinion of course......unless over ridden by "my buddy" said rule......
BOB RENTON

 

[AR67GTX]

Right, I figure 14.2 to 14.4 volts gives me enough buffer room to comfortably stay under 15 volts in worse case basis. Much better than starting out at 15.2 to 15.5 and seeing spikes up near 16 potentially. I don’t know why we need that much voltage. I keep my new RAM set on the gauges view and it runs mostly 13.8 to 14 volts. Highest I’ve seen was a brief 14.2 a few times.

 

[Nacho-RT74]

Yes, kind - of. I glanced at my under-dash voltage gage and it was reading right around 14 volts which was where I last adjusted the mech VR to. I didn’t run it long enough with the door open (9 degrees out) to put my multi-meter on it, but I’ve run this VR on both of my cars and it’s been consistent on voltage after I got it set.

Cool!

remember, if everything is correctly sourced from alt side of the charging network like factory did, what reads the amm on Charging side is the load demand by the batt to get fully charged back. What you read on discharge side is what the car demands and the alt is not able to source, so the batt is sourcing that. So you can get a death centered ammeter reading if batt is fully charged but volts rate can be still out of the rate you wish (For whatever reason)

 

[matthon]

I greatly appreciate the simplicity of older cars.
My Valiant lights started to flicker, it was the + connector on the VR.
My 64 battery died, I knew the issue was limited to a few possibilities, wiring, VR, battery, it was the alternator.

For what it's worth, MSD, solid state VR, grounded VR/alternator case to a ground hub, then the battery, charge wire directly to starter solenoid, ammeter disconnected, etc.

Charged battery, tested VR, replaced alternator with one of the many spares I have.
It now charges at 12 volts even, less than the parts store one that only lasted a few years, but it's an old Mopar original piece and it hasn't waivered from 12 volts in weeks.

I was going to try another old one, or worse buy a new one, but this car has limited needs (lights/heater fan/radio) and it stays at 12 volts.

 

[hunt2elk]

I greatly appreciate the simplicity of older cars.
My Valiant lights started to flicker, it was the + connector on the VR.
My 64 battery died, I knew the issue was limited to a few possibilities, wiring, VR, battery, it was the alternator.

For what it's worth, MSD, solid state VR, grounded VR/alternator case to a ground hub, then the battery, charge wire directly to starter solenoid, ammeter disconnected, etc.

Charged battery, tested VR, replaced alternator with one of the many spares I have.
It now charges at 12 volts even, less than the parts store one that only lasted a few years, but it's an old Mopar original piece and it hasn't waivered from 12 volts in weeks.

I was going to try another old one, or worse buy a new one, but this car has limited needs (lights/heater fan/radio) and it stays at 12 volts.

An even 12 volts? That isn't even a fully charged battery. I have never seen any of my cars regulate that low.

 

[matthon]

I don't understand it myself.
I went through multiple defective aftermarket alternators when I put this car together.
A complete nightmare of new garbage.
Parts store even gave me a new battery at one point, I think at alternator #3, because I showed up in the parking lot with tools to replace the alternator and a dead battery, so it was the only way I was leaving.
Finally got one that charged correctly, I forget what it was, high 13 to low 14.
The wiring is in excellent condition, and I even had multiple VRs to try just to make sure (keep parts in stock because everything is becoming more garbage-like by the minute).
These are the solid state VRs that appear stock.

When that one went this time a month ago, I had accumulated a half dozen used alternators, picked one out and haven't had any issues since.
I did test the existing alternator and VR after I charged the battery back up, definitely the alternator.

Car starts every time without issue, lights, radio, blower fan all work, stays at 12 volts.
Drove it yesterday, tested it too, 12 volts even, at the battery, starter solenoid, alternator, never saw that before, except the last time I tested it.
I keep a meter with me and jumper cables lately because it didn't make sense, but it works.
Planning on trying another alternator when it warms up.

 

[360Chris]

I have 3 various, different electronic voltage regulators that all put out 15.2 to 15.5 volts on my 67 which I consider excessive. Unfortunately my efforts to put a mechanical voltage regulator on it have been unsuccessful and I’ve tried 3 different ones. All produced a rapidly flickering amp gauge and flickering lights. Spent a lot of time on this and been through everything and the alternator without success.

So now I’m on the search for a source of an electronic voltage regulator that reliably puts out in the area of 14.5 volts. Hopefully someone has found one somewhere. If so, can you pass on the info, please.

Should have been clearer - this is on a stock 67 GTX with single field alt., points, etc.

Hello, Mopar Action April 2022 has an article on this very issue. the short answer is check out ebay seller; mcgworld_1 I bought one but have not installed it yet. Stock looking, but has adjustable pot on the back, can be set to 13.9v for long battery life.
contact me if , i"ll try to send pix of article.