[Kevin in NJ]

I never understood the alt people.

Please go look up how you have to have the belt on a car with an alternator. The belt is expected to be very very tight and have a 2/3 wrap.

Never can happen on the A.

So how is it supposed to put out a full current?

To get the 60 amps you need a larger diameter pulley. There are charts on the net go look it up. You need something like a 3" diameter pulley to transmit the 1 HP or so of energy into the alt to make the current. (the numbers are not quite right I am working from memory) They put on a small pulley to get the speed needed on the A.

So right off the bat there are a couple of reasons why the alt is just not giving you what you think you are getting. Throw in the smaller pulley apparently lowering the life of the belt and the other problems with electronics failing and power draw when off (some regulators do this) please explain how this is a better solution?

My brothers car has been running with the same gen never touched since he was 15 in 1970. First run the armature flung the solder. He did a 'temp' repair then and has not touched it since. He keeps it cranked up and runs direct replacement halogen bulbs. He will run with the headlamps on during the day to not over charge the battery.

He only gets like 6 to 10 years of life out of the batteries. Not bad considering more then once he put a used battery in the car.

Probably it for some guys using a quality band regulator with a generator is their best solution.