troubleshooting charging system

[coloradotrout]

Ouch! that would stink! but the orig. battery would not hold a charge very well even on the battery charger, so it was probably bad. It would charge up pretty quick, and then seemed to die in 3-4 days. The new Optima at least seemed to hold the charge for 2-3 weeks.

 

[coloradotrout]

Latest update. It appears to be charging now. I bought a $3 voltmeter from Harbor Freight (on sale.. get one for each room of the house!!) Switch off was 12v DC or just under. Engine running was 12.5-14V and with my clamp on current gun, I see 5-10 amps on the wire. If I unplug the alternator, there is no amperage on the wire. So.. I'm cautiously optimistic that the problem was a bad connection somewhere. The Vs fluctuate as the battery charges.. which I presume is the role of the rectifier/regulator. Now the big task is my engine overhaul.. under a seperate thread here.

A huge thanks for all the advice.. even if it was not used this go-around, it will come in handy down the road I'm sure. Tractors get a lot dirtier than cars.. so I guess the lesson is that dirty/corroded connections can be a real problem.