Battry discharge

[patrickg]

LarryC, Don't know how much a new one would cost but 1/2 for replacing a diode is kind of high! A diode (press or stud mount) should only be a few bucks, at most, and labor to install considerably more.

Should this sort of thing happen again... diodes are one of the common failure poiints in an alternator (after brushes). A cheap meter will detect a bad diode and they are easy to replace, Bird has done it, several times.

Patrick

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Bird has done it, several times )</font>

Nope, always let someone else do it. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif I was working in my dad's auto parts store when alternators started replacing generators in cars. Dad threw a little annual barbecue and invited all the mechanics in town, and had factory reps there to explain new things to the mechanics, and I'll never forget that.

The rep mentioned to the mechanics that "I know a lot of you just short across the two terminals of a generator with a screwdriver to see if you get a spark" to see if the generator is working. He said, "You can do that with an alternator, too, and if you get a spark you'll know it was working before you did that". He then explained about replacing diodes, but told the mechanics, "You don't want to do that; just replace the alternator with a rebuilt one and send the old one in to be rebuilt." Quicker and more profit. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif