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Strange Alternator Reading?

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Old Sep 15, 2011 | 03:47 PM
  #1  
fomococo's Avatar
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Default Strange Alternator Reading?

My Accord recently had a dead battery, which was replaced. They ran a diagnostic and told me my alternator was bad and gave me the following readouts:






Does the ripple like line in these pictures mean that my alternator is on it's last legs?
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Old Sep 15, 2011 | 07:22 PM
  #2  
PyroProblem's Avatar
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Default Re: Strange Alternator Reading?

I don't really get the scale they're using.. .10 volts and -.10 volts???

Usually when we test alternators, the "tester" has a clamp that goes over the + battery cable and 2 large clamps that connect directly to the battery. The tester introduces a large load on the system forcing the alternator to go to "full output".
The amperage is measured through the amp clamp, voltage recorded at the battery, and the results displayed on the tester...
A good alternator usually will put out ~14 volts and 80-100 amps...

Alternators actually put out an AC voltage that goes through a "diode trio" or rectifier to chop the AC voltage up into more of a DC signal... If you are getting a large ripple effect, a diode may be bad letting some AC voltage (and less DC voltage) into the system...

I'm not 100% on the scale in your pic or why it says "no problems". I dont know why theres no amperage reading either. I'm pretty sure the scale should be more in the 0-16 volt range, not the 10mV range...
I think you should take it somewhere else to get a more definitive test. Hope this helps a little...
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