For me the benefit of the new smaller pulley was getting a belt on and off since the LN alternator's rotor centerline is a little higher than stock.
Something to consider.

 

 

I tried the headlight trick today, and it seemed to halt the fluctuations.

 

Mine is gold but same size as OE pulley, 2 7/8's or there about.

 

I know you can get the aftermarket pulleys in any size, I've never seen anyone bother to get the aluminum turned pulley in a stock size. I'll never just call them "gold" again.

 

Despite the reported and documented voltage fluctuations (for some 6.0L owners) and the yet unanswered resolution to the same... with the concern being dropped by both the manufacturer as well as the vendor of these alternators... the L-N 230 is STILL a great alternator, and could be well worth coming up with a quick and dirty solution (such as turning on the blower during GPCM activation) to mitigate the brief fluctuation period.

Or simply waiting longer with the key on before starting, so as to consume more of the 180 second total potential GP on time prior to cycle time out... and doing this waiting before the alternator is energized.

The other day I left my lights on. My truck doesn't have auto lamps. I had gone through an old dark tunnel during the day, and parked facing the sun, and missed it. Nine hours later, the temperature dropped, and my 10 year old batteries balked. I needed a jump. After practically killing the Chevy truck who kindly pitched in for the assist (the owner reported sparks were flying out of his hood), I was up and running again and have not had a problem since (about 20 start cycles so far).

The LN 230 literally CHARGES batteries, at idle. It doesn't pretend to charge them. It doesn't half azz charge them. It charges them, like plugging them in to a wall. This assessment isn't metered or measured. But it is palpably different than my experience with the OEM and equivalent alternators that the LN-230 replaced. I thought about replacing the 10 year old batteries, but I changed my mind. The batteries didn't fail. Neither did the charging system. I failed to turn off the headlights. And the LN-230, along with the more robust charge wiring recommended by LN, forgave my failure, and allowed me to quickly carry on, without having to plug into AC power.

The large frame of the LN-230 is what separates it from other alternators promising even more amp generating power. The question is, can the smaller frames of the other high amp alternators dissipate heat as well as the LN? Without noise and EMF inducing remote bridge rectifiers telegraphing stray AC all over the engine sensors? And without an external fan begging to catch one of my shirt sleeves when reaching over to check transmission fluid?

These are some reasons why, despite the known issues of the LN-230, it may still very well be one of the least of all electrical generating evils on the palette of options we have to choose from.

 

I always enjoy your assessment and narrative, Y2K. Hope you're doing well.


I've been thinking about using a 12vdc step-up boost converter to bring up the sense a tenth or two voltage wise, at least for the GP timed event. But right now I've got other things to do, and haven't been doing them quickly. The base circuit would only cost about $3.

 

Annnnndd, we're back to copper farm and Capacitor pack as/or instead of a second battery... Or we can go Randy's route...

 

Won't be doing the capacitor trick unless I'm thinking of going back to Alice's early years. And I buy a Delorean.

That third battery box has been sitting on my shelf for maybe ten years. Almost there ...... almost there,


A step up converter could bring the sense from 14.4 to 14.5, so the alternator thinks it's at 14.5 and calms the current output down a little. Maybe just enough to let the GPCM do it's thing correctly. You could even add an SPDT timed relay so after three minutes the relay comes back to direct, non-boosted sense, post-GPCM.

Back to rubbing a cam while calling it "My Precious".

 

Just don't wear the Ring too long -- it could go to (get into) your head... Bilbo...

Your friend Frodo...

 

This past week I removed the small pulley from my L-N alternator and installed the OE larger pulley. The fluctuating voltage issue at cold engine start-up has not been resolved by swapping pulleys on my truck.

David

 

 

i keep thinking about getting a LN to keep on the shelf for when my alt goes again... but can never justify doing it...

 

 

other than my winch which occasionally gets used and occasionally pull a cargo trailer the only thing thats been added to the truck is some gauges to monitor some things... outside of that her damands are what she came with from fac-toe-ray...