Alternator Light Stays On

[MercuryMarc]

I replaced my faulty generator with a Powermaster 60 amp one wire alternator 2 years ago. I spliced the orange wire from the alt to the Gen light and the system worked well for a 18 months. Now the Gen light goes on brightly when ther ignition is turned, then gets fainter (but still on) when the car is running. The charging system seems fine and I have never had a battery problem. I disconnected the warning lamp and mounted an underdash voltmeter which reads 13-14 volts most of the time. I'd like to have my warning light work again - any thoughts?
Thanks!
Marc in SF
63 Comet Custom Convertible
200 ci '69 six with pretronix ignition and flame thrower coil
http://mercurycomet.net

 

[Anonymous]

Thinking aloud here: I wonder if connecting the one wire from the alt to the idiot lite is a good idea. Granted you got away with it for 18 months but if there ever was a heavy load on the alt I would think that the idiot lite circuit would be far to light to handle it. The function of the idiot lite on the 3-wire alt (I know 1963 had a gen) was to excite the alt initially. I would think the place to connect the one-wire is to the feed wire at the old regulator with a 10 gauge wire.

One-wire alts sometimes don't work well on early cars because the early cars idle slower than the cars the alts were designed for and the engine has to be reved to get the one-wire to come on line.

Food for thought.