I bought it without seeing it was a 1 wire. It has the plastic cap over the plug terminals for the exciter wire. Am I able to simply remove the cap and plug it in? I have read that some can and some cannot be operated this way. Will it hurt anything to try it out? Thanks guys!

 

Yes, most will work that way, and I actually prefer it. Your 'alt' idiot light will function properly and you gain peace of mind knowing that the regulator has been turned on with the key.
You may have to do some wiring if you're currently external regulator. Make a small jumper with a spade terminal on each end. Place that across the brown (idiot light/ign) to the blue or white at the regulator plug. Then, pick that up at the alternator.

 

Thanks for the peace of mind. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to fry out this alternator. Its a 77, so internally regulated. Its 150 amps. do you think I should upgrade the charging cable (battery to horn relay and relay to alt) ? OR could I add a heavy cable from the alt to the battery? Thanks again!

 

I suppose that depends on your powered accessories. If you have a huge stereo or electric fuel pump/cooling fans, yes. If it's just factory stuff, the factory wiring will be fine. Of course, I'm a firm believer in overkill, so I'd do a minimum of 8ga.

 

Just factory stuff at the moment, but as another firm believer in overkill I went big with my replacement lol. someone else said 4ga to me which seemed crazy heavy. I have 8 ga on hand now.

 

8 will help, but 4 will allow full delivery.

 

If the alternator is really capable of a 150 amps, but the charge wire will only carry 100, the first time alternator output maxes out that missing 50 amps will be in the form of heat and melted wires.

Depending on the length of the wire, I would think 8 gauge would be enough. When in doubt, go bigger.

 

This is true.

 

When you take the plastic cover off the regulator, take a close look at the terminals. If there is a piece of metal connecting the two terminals, ( it will be close to the bottom inside of the terminals) You can NOT use it as a three wire. If there is not a connecting tab between the terminals, chances are good you can.

 

Hey, thanks for the responses guys. So I went ahead and tried to run it as a 3 wire earlier today. it worked fine, but the GEN light was on when the car was turned off. I haven't removed the plastic cover over the regulator, but because the light was on I'm assuming it has the bar between the 2 terminals as Stellar suggested. (it was still charging though, verified with a known good voltmeter) I unhooked the exciter/sensor plug and the light went out, and it still charges at idle. So far it seems ok, but I am weary of some of the threads I've read about idle charging problems, especially with heavy load on the system. As to the charging cable size, I plan to go directly in-between the 2 suggestions and go with 6ga wire. I feel this is the best option at the moment, seeing as ill literally never go anywhere near the max output of the alternator. (totally overkill for me lol) Would it be better to upgrade the original charging wire or run a fresh wire from alternator to battery? Would both upgrades be a good combo in this situation? Thanks again for any suggestions guys!

 

The sense wire is hot at all times, key on or key off. If there is a tab connecting the two regulator terminals, the sense wire will feed the excite wire (light wire) when key is off causing the charge indicator light to stay on with key off.

 

Have you tried to contact the alternator manufacturer for instructions/answers to your questions?

 

Ok, so that explains the light issue. As for calling the company, I don't know who made this thing! I bought it at a flea market for cheap as a "give it a try" kind of thing. It has no badges, stamps, or any other kind of indicating markings. I will say that it seems to be working great so far.

 

What about cutting the bar out between the terminals?

That's a good tip about the bar; I'd never seen it. So, wouldn't that keep the regulator on all the time and create a draw?

 

I have heard that the regulator itself is different. perhaps the difference is the bar? Also an update. The car went 200 miles today and read 14.6 volts all the way. It has a whirring sound at idle. I feel like my old k1500 used to do that, I just have to get used to hearing it from the Olds.