Working on a 1 wire alternator conversion on my 79 f150. If I remove the voltage regulator I’ll loose 12v keyed power? If I hook the green/red wire to battery + will I get 12v keyed power back?

 

Is there reason to do it? Just curious as to any expected benefits? Is it a kit or just an adaption like a 3G?

 

First, is it truly a “one wire” Alternator? Or just a modern internally regulated one
Either way, removing the voltage regulator does not mean you lose keyed power. It has nothing to do with it because it’s at the receiving end, not the giving end.
The green with red wire gets power from the ignition switch and sends it to the regulator. Not the other way around.
You can leave the voltage regulator connector intact for now even, and just make sure it doesn’t touch anything. Perhaps adding some tape around it temporarily.
Ultimately, though, you can use that same green with red wire to power up additional accessories. So I rarely recommend getting rid of it completely. Capping it off safely, or attaching it to an auxiliary power stud where you can pull switch power for other things you add later, would be my choices.

 

Reason I asked if it is a one wire or not, is because if it’s just a regular internally regulated alternator, you may very well need to use that green with red wire on the new setup.
Standard alternators simply have their regulator mounted internally. But it still needs a 12v signal to turn on.

 

thank you guys for the reply. I have purchased a CVF pulley kit, and a 1 wire alternator. I was doing some more searching last night and came across a thread on classic broncos where a guy said you need to leave the heavy black wire from the solenoid, and splice it into the yellow wire . Is there a reason for that?

The bit about the green/red wire makes sense. How does the fuse panel get power then?

 

One wire unit don't have to have 12v excitation power. They can be truely one wire. However they may need a little bit of rpm before they excite. Adding a 12v wire will cure that.

 

@beartracks Im not against adding a 12v wire. Where do I add it?

 

If your talking about the alternator you probably wont need it. If you do you would run switched hot to one of the other two alternator terminals that aren't in use. I don't recall which one right off. For 12v to the ignition switch it comes off of the starter relay hot side and runs through a thermal fuse breaker and shouldn't change if you eliminate the regulator. Also you may have to include a diode so that current doesn't feed back and keep the engine running when you turn off the key.

 

It's the "L" terminal I beleive, don't use the wrong one!. What alternator are you using?

 

Your ‘79 gets power for the entire truck, including the fuse panel, from the one single large black wire attached to the battery side of the starter relay/solenoid.
It runs along the inner fender skirt, up to the firewall and across to the driver side. Where, in theory at least, there should be a common terminal stud surrounded by a black plastic protector where it attaches.
From their power goes to some other places, including through the firewall.

So in changing the alternator, you do not have to worry about power to the truck at all. As long as you leave the black wire to the cab intact.
The only wires you’ll be removing are the ones from the old alternator itself, and regulator.
These would include the white with black striped stator wire, the orange field wire, and the other black BAT output wire.

Depending upon your new alternator’s output, you might be able to reuse that. Or not.
But frankly, if it’s over 100 A, I would not use it, and I would replace it with a larger cable.
If you do this, you will be eliminating the function of the ammeter in the dash if you have one. And you will have to safely remove those wires and cap them off.

So give us a few more details.
Does your truck have an ammeter (amp gauge), or does it have a battery indicator light?
And again, which alternator did you buy? What amperage?

 

Thanks for the help guys! I have a 140A CVF 1 wire. I have the ammeter as well.

what I’m seeing, is the yellow off the A on the regulator is the Ammeter, which gets spliced in with the yellow black. That has been removed, so the ammeter will be dead.

The heavy black/yellow on the + solenoid side has also been removed. I gather I need to put that back.



here is a drawing of what I have.

 

T


the trouble is, the heavy power wore off the + side of the solenoid is spliced in with a few other wires that go to the 3 pin connector from the regulator. I’m trying to put back, the things I need. So far, I understand the heavy black/yellow off the + solenoid goes into connector c206 for circuit 37. And, off the + side, to the alternator. Anything I can do about my ammeter? This alternator is internally regulated as I understand.

 

Without adding a shunt of some sort connecting a 140amp alternator to your ammeter would be a dangerous thing to do. Your best bet is add an aftermarket voltmeter and cap the wires to your ammeter or replace the factory ammeter with a look-a-like voltmeter that I have seen offered, but don't recall where. Ammeter were never all that safe technically speaking, but with a 40-60 amp alternator they were less of a concern.

 

Yes, "one wire" alternators are internally regulated. A true one-wire has an internal jumper to excite the regulator to get the alternator working. The GM alternator they are typically modeled after were technically a 3 wire alternator, one big charge wire and two smaller wires that plug into the regulator, one of those wires being 12v+ to excite the regulator.

That said, from alternator you should have a heavy gauge, I am thinking 6-8 gauge since you have a 140amp with an appropriate fuse in-line, that charge wire will connect to the battery side of the starter solenoid. Then you need to make sure you have a power feed into the cab that will route to ignition switch, this should be the black/yellow wire you're talking about as I recall.

From factory that connects to the battery side of the solenoid as well and has a fusable link. If that fusable link is still intact you can continue to use the original wire. If the fusable link is burnt you can replace with a much smaller gauge wire compared to the gauge of wire the fusable link connects to (there's a formula to determine which gauge that I can dig up if needed) or use a maxi-fuse or similar, the other option would be an automotive circuit breaker.

The external regulator and associated wiring can be removed completely and cap off the ammeter feed wire that routes into the cab.

AAW offers a wiring kit for this type of alternator conversion (the same kit comes with the full wiring harness too, or at least did in the kit I ordered). Summit racing has a few choices besides AAW too.


https://americanautowire.com/collect...ion-kit-510475

 

@mterickson thanks for taking the time to write all that up for me. It was very informative and helpful!