How to kill an alternator without really trying

[Bernie]

Had the alternator on my truck cook itself today. It seems that even a 140a alternator does not like running two lightbars, strobes, an arrowstick, LED strobes, three radios, a laptop, headlights and the A/C, all while creeping along at under 5mph for over 5 hours. Gee... :hihi:

I was one of the "sweep" vehicles for the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon today, sending an APRS beacon of the position of the last runner and the cleanup vehicles back to the Command Center, which meant having to stay lit up like a Christmas tree (I was the last vehicle and had regular traffic behind me at many points along the route) and the last runner was actually walking, not running, so the group of us (three pickups, three dump trucks, two street sweeper trucks, a van, a bus, my truck and two DOT trucks picking up traffic cones) were creeping along at walking speed for 13 miles. My alternator packed it in just shy of the 11 mile mark.

Time to add that second alternator I think...


DSCN0942 by bwbehling, on Flickr

That was my view of most of the race.


DSCN0929 by bwbehling, on Flickr

My truck

 

[Bernie]

Oh, and when I pulled it and replaced it I took a little time to examine it, then had the parts place put it on their machine...

Stator was shorted, rotor was shorted, diodes were fried and one of the bearings was bad. When I kill an alternator, I kill it dead.

 

[GM Guy]

do it right, or dont do it at all. I think you killed it properly!

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

If this is the 99 in your sig, then upgrade to the newer AD244 alternator VS the earlier CS144.
Would probably be worth upgrading to the external rectifier set-up as well.

 

[Bernie]

If this is the 99 in your sig, then upgrade to the newer AD244 alternator VS the earlier CS144.
Would probably be worth upgrading to the external rectifier set-up as well.

The CS144 that's in there is itself an upgrade, from the CS130 that came on the truck. And, since it was under warranty, that's what went back in. But, I am planning to upgrade to a CS144 200 amp unit (maybe two) with the external rectifier bridges.