90 civic si hatch electrical / voltage regulator problem?
03-10-2004, 09:23 AM
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90 civic si hatch electrical / voltage regulator problem?
I am stumped here and need some help. Three months ago I measured my voltage across the battery and with the car on it read 19 volts so I got a new alternator and it went back to 14 the other night all my lights started to get really bright then back to normal this went on for ten minutes then the battery light came on and went back to normal then the light went off and it started doing it again. now this is happening all the time i am suspecting that my voltage regulator is going out again do you have any idea what might be causing this I read the manual and saw an electronic load detector in the schematic but It dosen't tell me where on the car it is. could that be the culprit
thanks
thanks
03-10-2004, 10:52 AM
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Re: 90 civic si hatch electrical / voltage regulator problem? (anomale)
You could have it tested in an auto shop. But if you battery light (dash) is flickering on and off, lights are dimming and brightning up, voltage across battery is too high or too low, your alternator is grounded properly and your altenator belt is not slipping, then it is most probably the voltage regulator.
fs
fs
03-10-2004, 10:52 AM
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Re: 90 civic si hatch electrical / voltage regulator problem? (anomale)
http://www.binghamtonlife.com/...l.htm Theres some really good wiring diagrams on this page . Your voltage regulator is inside the alt. The ELD is in the main fuse box http://www.binghamtonlife.com/...5.jpg
03-10-2004, 11:06 AM
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Re: 90 civic si hatch electrical / voltage regulator problem? (GIQVANNI)
Do you have a high power stereo by any chance? When not capped they tend to wear voltage regulators quite quickly.
03-10-2004, 11:15 AM
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Re: 90 civic si hatch electrical / voltage regulator problem? (Jet Black)
I do and what would be the proper way to cap it(value of the cap and wiring) I have Three amplifiers using 4 gauge wire pos is direct to the battery and neg is to chassis ground.
03-10-2004, 11:36 AM
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Re: 90 civic si hatch electrical / voltage regulator problem? (anomale)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by anomale »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I do and what would be the proper way to cap it(value of the cap and wiring) I have Three amplifiers using 4 gauge wire pos is direct to the battery and neg is to chassis ground.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Ouch.... They are called capacitors and prevent your electrical system from taking a beating when your amps needs alot of current (bass hits and such)... your battery powers up the cap and the amp draws current from it.
You really need that...
fs
Ouch.... They are called capacitors and prevent your electrical system from taking a beating when your amps needs alot of current (bass hits and such)... your battery powers up the cap and the amp draws current from it.
You really need that...
fs
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03-10-2004, 11:41 AM
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Re: 90 civic si hatch electrical / voltage regulator problem? (filthy_shovel)
Allot of ppl say caps are useless...its kinda controversial. But IMO they reduce wear on parts by normalizing curent drain. They basically act as an extremely low pass filter.
I think the general rule of thumb is 1 Farad for each 400W peak you have.
A cap is placed in parallel with the power to the amps. Make sure you charge it with a charging resistor BEFORE plugging it to the battery or bad things will happen.
You might also want to consider upgrading your alternator to a higher amperage one, that will improve things too.
I think the general rule of thumb is 1 Farad for each 400W peak you have.
A cap is placed in parallel with the power to the amps. Make sure you charge it with a charging resistor BEFORE plugging it to the battery or bad things will happen.
You might also want to consider upgrading your alternator to a higher amperage one, that will improve things too.
03-10-2004, 11:50 AM
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Re: 90 civic si hatch electrical / voltage regulator problem? (Jet Black)
Whats a charging resistor ? Never seen one . Im thinking about putting a cap in my car , so I would like to know more . Also do you know where I could get a upgraded 1st gen b16 alt. ?
03-10-2004, 11:51 AM
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Re: 90 civic si hatch electrical / voltage regulator problem? (Jet Black)
I have looked around for a higher amperage alternator but can not find one anywhere do you know of any place that sells them. also you said to charge the cap with a charging resistor? I've never heard of a charging resistor, did you mean discharge with a high value resistor.
03-10-2004, 12:03 PM
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Re: 90 civic si hatch electrical / voltage regulator problem? (anomale)
Nope...I mean charge it with a charging resistor.
l'll spare you the lengthy math, but basically a capacitor's charge increses in such a way that the current it draws is inversely proportional to the voltage difference between the cap and the charge system.
Technically when the cap is at 0 volts it will pull "infinate" amps which is bs, but basically it will pull an extreemly large ammount of current and will burn out allot of electrical stuff in the process. The solution is to place a small value resistor (100 ohms is ok) in series with the cap and the charging system. This will limit the current flowing through the cap to teh value permitted by the resistor, so for a 100Ohm resistor, V=IR => 12/100 = I or 0,12 amps will flow. That should charge up the cap in a couple of minutes. Lower values of resistors will flow more current and charge quicker.
You can check how filled it is by checking the voltage at the terminals of the cap _when its not_ plugged into the chargeing syustem. Once it gets to about 10-11 volts you can pretty much just plug it directly in...its charged enough.
l'll spare you the lengthy math, but basically a capacitor's charge increses in such a way that the current it draws is inversely proportional to the voltage difference between the cap and the charge system.
Technically when the cap is at 0 volts it will pull "infinate" amps which is bs, but basically it will pull an extreemly large ammount of current and will burn out allot of electrical stuff in the process. The solution is to place a small value resistor (100 ohms is ok) in series with the cap and the charging system. This will limit the current flowing through the cap to teh value permitted by the resistor, so for a 100Ohm resistor, V=IR => 12/100 = I or 0,12 amps will flow. That should charge up the cap in a couple of minutes. Lower values of resistors will flow more current and charge quicker.
You can check how filled it is by checking the voltage at the terminals of the cap _when its not_ plugged into the chargeing syustem. Once it gets to about 10-11 volts you can pretty much just plug it directly in...its charged enough.
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