'74 Wagoneer regulator problem
 

This had an old mechanical regulator that wasn't charging the battery
sufficiently, so I went and got a new one, which is solid-state. Plugged it
in, it was charging, a little heavy according to my ammeter, I thought, but
thought i was okay since the battery was probably just low.

Haven't driven it in weeks after being on a battery maintainer the whole time,
and when I got in it to go, the stupid thing is charging at max capacity, about
16 volts, up to the 17s when revved, and almost pegging my 60-amp in-dash
ammeter while boiling the battery. What the heck?

Now I can't find my old regulator that was letting the battery drain whilst
driving. Is it just a bad regulator, or are the new ones not compatible with
the old ones?
KennyH

Horsepower is cheaper than therapy.

Re: '74 Wagoneer regulator problem
 

Buy a new battery, you're admitting it's junk otherwise you wouldn't
have left the trickle charger on it.
God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O
mailto:-------------------- http://www.----------.com/

KHanawalt wrote:
>
> This had an old mechanical regulator that wasn't charging the battery
> sufficiently, so I went and got a new one, which is solid-state. Plugged it
> in, it was charging, a little heavy according to my ammeter, I thought, but
> thought i was okay since the battery was probably just low.
>
> Haven't driven it in weeks after being on a battery maintainer the whole time,
> and when I got in it to go, the stupid thing is charging at max capacity, about
> 16 volts, up to the 17s when revved, and almost pegging my 60-amp in-dash
> ammeter while boiling the battery. What the heck?
>
> Now I can't find my old regulator that was letting the battery drain whilst
> driving. Is it just a bad regulator, or are the new ones not compatible with
> the old ones?
> KennyH
>
> Horsepower is cheaper than therapy.

Re: '74 Wagoneer regulator problem
 

Buy a new battery, you're admitting it's junk otherwise you wouldn't
have left the trickle charger on it.
God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O
mailto:-------------------- http://www.----------.com/

KHanawalt wrote:
>
> This had an old mechanical regulator that wasn't charging the battery
> sufficiently, so I went and got a new one, which is solid-state. Plugged it
> in, it was charging, a little heavy according to my ammeter, I thought, but
> thought i was okay since the battery was probably just low.
>
> Haven't driven it in weeks after being on a battery maintainer the whole time,
> and when I got in it to go, the stupid thing is charging at max capacity, about
> 16 volts, up to the 17s when revved, and almost pegging my 60-amp in-dash
> ammeter while boiling the battery. What the heck?
>
> Now I can't find my old regulator that was letting the battery drain whilst
> driving. Is it just a bad regulator, or are the new ones not compatible with
> the old ones?
> KennyH
>
> Horsepower is cheaper than therapy.

Re: '74 Wagoneer regulator problem
 

Buy a new battery, you're admitting it's junk otherwise you wouldn't
have left the trickle charger on it.
God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O
mailto:-------------------- http://www.----------.com/

KHanawalt wrote:
>
> This had an old mechanical regulator that wasn't charging the battery
> sufficiently, so I went and got a new one, which is solid-state. Plugged it
> in, it was charging, a little heavy according to my ammeter, I thought, but
> thought i was okay since the battery was probably just low.
>
> Haven't driven it in weeks after being on a battery maintainer the whole time,
> and when I got in it to go, the stupid thing is charging at max capacity, about
> 16 volts, up to the 17s when revved, and almost pegging my 60-amp in-dash
> ammeter while boiling the battery. What the heck?
>
> Now I can't find my old regulator that was letting the battery drain whilst
> driving. Is it just a bad regulator, or are the new ones not compatible with
> the old ones?
> KennyH
>
> Horsepower is cheaper than therapy.

Re: '74 Wagoneer regulator problem
 

If your battery had a bad cell, the alternator can put out like crazy
trying to top it up. That could have cooked the last regulator even.

I would get a battery load test done before spending any money.

How are the connections, especially the ground tags. I have seen
regulators go nuts trying to put out enough amps to jump bad or corroded
connections.

How is the fender ground where the regulator is bolted to? A rusty
fender can interfere with the 'sense' connection on the regulator so it
just turns on, no off.

A couple ideas for you...

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

KHanawalt wrote:
>
> This had an old mechanical regulator that wasn't charging the battery
> sufficiently, so I went and got a new one, which is solid-state. Plugged it
> in, it was charging, a little heavy according to my ammeter, I thought, but
> thought i was okay since the battery was probably just low.
>
> Haven't driven it in weeks after being on a battery maintainer the whole time,
> and when I got in it to go, the stupid thing is charging at max capacity, about
> 16 volts, up to the 17s when revved, and almost pegging my 60-amp in-dash
> ammeter while boiling the battery. What the heck?
>
> Now I can't find my old regulator that was letting the battery drain whilst
> driving. Is it just a bad regulator, or are the new ones not compatible with
> the old ones?
> KennyH
>
> Horsepower is cheaper than therapy.

Re: '74 Wagoneer regulator problem
 

If your battery had a bad cell, the alternator can put out like crazy
trying to top it up. That could have cooked the last regulator even.

I would get a battery load test done before spending any money.

How are the connections, especially the ground tags. I have seen
regulators go nuts trying to put out enough amps to jump bad or corroded
connections.

How is the fender ground where the regulator is bolted to? A rusty
fender can interfere with the 'sense' connection on the regulator so it
just turns on, no off.

A couple ideas for you...

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

KHanawalt wrote:
>
> This had an old mechanical regulator that wasn't charging the battery
> sufficiently, so I went and got a new one, which is solid-state. Plugged it
> in, it was charging, a little heavy according to my ammeter, I thought, but
> thought i was okay since the battery was probably just low.
>
> Haven't driven it in weeks after being on a battery maintainer the whole time,
> and when I got in it to go, the stupid thing is charging at max capacity, about
> 16 volts, up to the 17s when revved, and almost pegging my 60-amp in-dash
> ammeter while boiling the battery. What the heck?
>
> Now I can't find my old regulator that was letting the battery drain whilst
> driving. Is it just a bad regulator, or are the new ones not compatible with
> the old ones?
> KennyH
>
> Horsepower is cheaper than therapy.

Re: '74 Wagoneer regulator problem
 

If your battery had a bad cell, the alternator can put out like crazy
trying to top it up. That could have cooked the last regulator even.

I would get a battery load test done before spending any money.

How are the connections, especially the ground tags. I have seen
regulators go nuts trying to put out enough amps to jump bad or corroded
connections.

How is the fender ground where the regulator is bolted to? A rusty
fender can interfere with the 'sense' connection on the regulator so it
just turns on, no off.

A couple ideas for you...

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

KHanawalt wrote:
>
> This had an old mechanical regulator that wasn't charging the battery
> sufficiently, so I went and got a new one, which is solid-state. Plugged it
> in, it was charging, a little heavy according to my ammeter, I thought, but
> thought i was okay since the battery was probably just low.
>
> Haven't driven it in weeks after being on a battery maintainer the whole time,
> and when I got in it to go, the stupid thing is charging at max capacity, about
> 16 volts, up to the 17s when revved, and almost pegging my 60-amp in-dash
> ammeter while boiling the battery. What the heck?
>
> Now I can't find my old regulator that was letting the battery drain whilst
> driving. Is it just a bad regulator, or are the new ones not compatible with
> the old ones?
> KennyH
>
> Horsepower is cheaper than therapy.

Re: '74 Wagoneer regulator problem
 

>Buy a new battery, you're admitting it's junk otherwise you wouldn't
>have left the trickle charger on it.

It's a pretty new battery. The reason I had it on a battery maintainer is that
the Jeep sits unused for weeks on end.

It was a bad regulator. I took it back to Autozone and it even tested bad on
their tester, but was about four days out of the 3 month warranty. (Shows you
how much I drive this thing.)

Since I shop there so much, they went ahead and gave me a new one under
warranty anyway. Works great now!
KennyH

Horsepower is cheaper than therapy.

Re: '74 Wagoneer regulator problem
 

>Buy a new battery, you're admitting it's junk otherwise you wouldn't
>have left the trickle charger on it.

It's a pretty new battery. The reason I had it on a battery maintainer is that
the Jeep sits unused for weeks on end.

It was a bad regulator. I took it back to Autozone and it even tested bad on
their tester, but was about four days out of the 3 month warranty. (Shows you
how much I drive this thing.)

Since I shop there so much, they went ahead and gave me a new one under
warranty anyway. Works great now!
KennyH

Horsepower is cheaper than therapy.

Re: '74 Wagoneer regulator problem
 

>Buy a new battery, you're admitting it's junk otherwise you wouldn't
>have left the trickle charger on it.

It's a pretty new battery. The reason I had it on a battery maintainer is that
the Jeep sits unused for weeks on end.

It was a bad regulator. I took it back to Autozone and it even tested bad on
their tester, but was about four days out of the 3 month warranty. (Shows you
how much I drive this thing.)

Since I shop there so much, they went ahead and gave me a new one under
warranty anyway. Works great now!
KennyH

Horsepower is cheaper than therapy.