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OT: Strange electrical issue

Not VW related but I think it's nothing outside the scope of what we're used to with Beetles. It's about my '86 Citroen

2CV. Below is what happened. BTW: THe 2CV has an alternator with external regulator.

Today my '86 2CV quit charging so he first thing I did for grins was to replace the voltage regulator because I had one. But this made no difference so I put the original back on. I then took the brushes out and took a look at them and they looked fine. After I put the brushes back in the car started charging so I took it for a spin and my add-on voltmeter was BURIED! IT was showing 18 Volts and I knew that couldn't be kosher. I then put the new one back on and I'm getting just under 15 volts. What could taking the brushes in and out have done to cause such behavior? I drove it a good distance today and it's acting fine now. It seems really odd to me.

Reply to
Ben Boyle
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to with Beetles. It's about my '86 Citroen

Some insulating film on the brush or the slip rings.

Reply to
Speedy Jim

You said, "I then put the new one back on...." The new what?

It sounds like a Bosch alternator with the VR built into the brush holder. If one of the VRs is bad, changing the brush holder would have swapped VRs. You should be able to do this a couple of times until you convince yourself that one of the VRs is bad.

OTOH, it's very unusual for a Bosch VR to fail in a way to give voltage that is too high.

Other than that, I'm stumped.

What make of alternator is it?

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----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

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Reply to
Jim Adney

Reply to
Ben Boyle

But it is also aircooled :-)

Joao

72 Super 1302
Reply to
Joao Eliseu

separate item. Remember, this is my

The brand of auto is pretty much irrelevant. While there are lots of different brands of charging system parts, there really are only 2 types of generators and most alternators fall into one of 2 classes.

So is it really an alternator, and not a generator, and who made it?

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----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

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Reply to
Jim Adney

a separate item. Remember, this is my

Reply to
Ben Boyle

understanding is there are a few different brands

Probably also Marchal. Regardless, I have no experience with any of them.

I have to admit that your observations sound really odd to me. I have no idea what would be going on, unless you had the VR wired in wrong at one point.

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----------------------------------------------- Jim Adney snipped-for-privacy@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711 USA

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Reply to
Jim Adney

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