Re: Pulsing Alternator (Ithought it was just me)

[rebryant@domain.elided]

     Epp/John/All,
     
     Ok everybody, It's time for everyone to come out of the
     closet. I thought my Scout was the only one with this 
     headlight mystery!!
     
     This could be as big as the "no hot start" syndrome!!
     
     So it was written:
     
     >But although I say my needle is where I expect to be at any
     >given time, it spikes upward from that point at a rate of about 
     >1/sec and almost 1/8 scale at idle.  It's enough of a spike that 
     >I can see a visible flashing in the lights. The frequency 
     >increases with engine rpm, until it's almost vibrating at
     > highway speed Is this what you're seeing?  You said, though,
     >you didn't see it at idle.
     
     
     
     I have the exact same problem but it has been much worse.
     My headlight has actually burned itself out as a result
     of this fluctuation (more than once). It was/is driving
     me nuts. I say "was" because it seems to come and go,
     sometimes for months at a time. 
     
     The fluctuations are not in any pattern but it seems to
     happen more often on bumpier streets. But when it is one
     of times when it has not been fluctuating, it doesn't
     matter how bumpy the road is, the lights/ammeter are rock
     solid.
     
     When I get my Scout back on the road (tranny problem),
     I am going to see if I can pinpoint the source of this
     problem. As it was starting to flicker a little bit when
     I parked it.
     
     I'm thinking it can only be a voltage regulator problem,
     but if replacing the alt/reg didn't fix it then I'm at
     a loss as to the cause.
     
     The only way for the lights to get brighter is for the
     voltage to increase, right? I mean the resistance of the
     bulb isn't changing, so what's left. Mr. Ohm didn't give
     us many choices : 55w bulb with 12v gives us 4.58a and 
     2.6 ohms. Assuming a perfect world of no losses (no other
     drops in the circuit).
     
     If anyone has any brainstorms on this, let us all know.
     
     
     Russ in Tucson