too high voltage im confused

my system is the delco alt with ext. regulator which is new . Ok coming out of the main terminal on the alt i get about 14 volts, coming out of the other side of the regulator and heading to the ign switch i get the same. Now the confusing part the wire coming from the switch to the ballast res. before the coil im getting like 16-17 volts on the other side of the resistor its like 14 volts and the same coming out of the coil to the distributor. I just fried trhe points yersterday trying to figure this one out. I dont understand how im getting the voltage increase after the ignition switch ??? I just ordered the pertonix pointless setup should be here in a few days but im worried ill burn that up with too much voltage. what do you think????

 

just a shot in the dark, its been a long time since i fooled around with the delco alt,with external regulator, did you polarize the regulator? may not have too with the delco, just the best i can do for you at this time

 

no i didnt how do you do that

 

You don't have to polarize an alternator. Generators need the core to be properly magnetized to start, but alternators use the current in the field winding to provide the magnetic field.

The only DC power sources are the battery and the alternator. First, measure all the voltages from the negative battery terminal to make sure that this isn't a bad ground problem. The regulator will try to set the field current to make the sense wire be about 14 volts above its case.

It is possible that you are really measuring AC from the primary ignition circuit. An oscilloscope would show this immediately, but you can check this by disconnecting the alternator and seeing if the voltage is still high. If so, you might have a bad capacitor, which could give a high voltage at the points, and cause arcing and pitting of the points.

 

i did find yesterday a ballast resistor on the inside of firewall that has been bypassed . So i only have the one out by the coil thats inline. Is it common to have 2 ballast res. to control voltage to the distributor and if so where does the 2nd one belong. Ther second one i found looks like it might have been hooked up between ign switch and alt. or starter its hard to tell cause the wires are gone.

 

the ballast should be hooked up between the starter and the coil. you should have 2 wires coming from the little posts on the starter: "R" and "S" . the "R" wire on the starter and goes to one side of the ballast then goes from there to the hot side of the coil. The "S" goes from the starter to the hot side of the coil giving 12v to the points to make starting easier.

 

well i decided to 86 the alternator and regulator for a delco internal reg model. It went right in and the wiring was simple, number 1 terminal over to acc side of ign switch and the 2terminal over to the positive lead to the battery. Charges great about 14 volts and sends about 13.8 13.9 over to the ballast resistor before the coil. Now when the pertronix kit comes Ill probably eliminate the resistor if I can anybody got info on that ????