MTFCA Forum

Anyone know anything about this Texas T alternator, or maybe it's a generator I don't know? It's not hooked up and I don't know if it works, I'm guessing it's 12 volts? Does running the truck without a battery cause harm to the alternator?

The best thing is to call Birdhaven. They will know. Somehow when my dad was messing with it he lost a wire that carries the charge to the battery and didn’t know that it had a diode in the wire and wouldn’t charge very well. Birdhaven helped me sort it out, this was one of the earlier alternators. Works great now.

I don't think it did any harm to the alternator. I have one on the 1926 touring for 12 years (from before I knew to work on T's). Once the wire broke and I didn't see it. We went home for over 60 miles with the broken wire. At home I just reconect the wire and the alternator is still working, this was 8 years ago.
Normaly an alternator need current to make current. With a broken wire the alternator will not make any current and will not burn it self as the three brush gererator does.

Just my opinion
Andre
Belgium

I have one on my car. I had a different brand previously with the same results.

My car has 3:1 gearing with a Ruckstell rear end. I will convert my experience to the stock gearing of 3.6:1. I changed out the ammeter to a voltmeter which I feel keeps a better eye on the condition of the battery. I have a distributor. I have a 12 volt system.

The alternator in Ruckstell high just keeps up with the electrical load at 25 mph, about 12.4 volts (20 mph stock gearing). At 25 mph or less speed I will use the Ruckstell low (20 mph stock gearing). At 30 mph (24 mph stock gearing) in Ruckstell high the voltmeter shows 13 volts. At 35 mph (28 mph stock gearing) the voltmeter show 14 volts. At 40 mph or higher (32 mph stock gearing) the voltmeter shows 15 volts.

Burning my lights will increase the speed slightly where the alternator keeps up with the electrical loads. I don't know for a fact but suspect that with a 6 volt system the alternator will start to keep with the electrical loads at a lower speed.

The voltmeter has been a good change to my car. It allows me to look at the rest voltage of the battery before starting the engine. I have a battery cutout switch on my car to eliminate any current drain when parked. I think the voltmeter draws a small amount of current even when the engine is off.

Anyone know what "series" Delco alternators were used in these conversions by Texas T Parts, I have one with visible stator overheat damage I would lie to repair myself. George

If you are running on mag the engine will run without a battery. Since the alternator does not put out at idle, running on Batt will not work without a battery. If you do not have a battery I would suggest having some kind of load on the alternator, for instance burning the lights.

No mag, this one has a True Fire ignition and I'm running it off of (don't laugh) two 6 volt lantern dry cell batteries. I have not idea why it was changed but it's the way it came when I got it.