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Section : Electrical Equipment
Alternators, dynamos, lights, wipers, etc.
Posted By : Gary Wallis, 22-Apr-2004, 00:58am
My Mk 11 Vitesse, purchase last September came with a Kenlowe fan already fitted. This draws 15 amps when operating which suprised me but explained why my
battery kept going flat ( I use this car daily on short journeys at speeds lower than 20 mph on average). Does anyone know if this draw is the average? The
Vitesse has a 'new' Dynamo fitted but it can't keep up.
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Posted By : Chris Mills, 22-Apr-2004,
08:53am
Hi Gary
I can't comment if 15 amps is average or not, but you can check what the Kenlowe should be drawing by
Watts ( divided by ) Volts ( ie 12v ) = Amps
The Kenlowe motor wattage should be on a plate attached to the unit, the voltage is the std 12v.
Working the formula the other way, your Kenlowe should be showing a wattage of 180 watts. Any minor fault, poss rubbing motor or worn bearing would
increase amperage draw.
When you took your reading of 15 amps draw, did you have any other electrical equipment on at the time ?
Given that your dynamo is " new " , if the above works out to be correct, it's worth looking in your manual on how to check voltage requlator box, one
final thought, hows the fan belt tension.
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Posted By : Gary Wallis, 29-Apr-2004,
11:04pm
Hi Chris,
Thanks for your comments. Although I have an A level in Physics, I have forgotton most of what I learnt about electrical energy. Your reminder on
the Watts/Volts=Amps formula has been a great help, not just in this problem, but overall.
Having said that, On reflection, I think that my main problem is actually quite simple, Driving 10 miles per day at an average of 5-20 miles per
hour, the dynamo wouldn't keep up whilst I have a Kenlowe fan fitted. I either have the choice of removing the kenlowe and reverting to the
original fan set up or fitting an alternator. I have decided that fitting an alternator is preferable.
Thanks again for your response,
best wishes
Gary Wallis
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Posted By : David Rumens, 22-Apr-2004,
06:56pm
15 Amps does sound a little bit on the high side but it may be the way you are measuring the current.
Even so an electric fan coupled with the other electrical equipment will run the battery down on short runs e.g. Brake lights, heater fan and maybe
lights.
Winter is the time when most of the electrical equipment is in use and at low revs the Dynamo will not charge the battery.
It you are happy that the battery is ok then may be you should consider fitting an Alternator.
See Feb 04 Courier.
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Posted By : Gary Wallis, 29-Apr-2004,
10:52pm
Thanks for your reply David. I read your article in the Feb edition of the Courier and have decided to go down this route as
1. I use the Vitesse almost every day in slow moving traffic (I live in central London) and
2. I plan to add more electrical system reliant devices in the future.
Thanks for your help
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Posted By : Gary Wallis, 14-Jun-2004,
08:11pm
Hi there,
2 Months on and I fitted an alternator yesterday, however, when driving with Kenlowe fan operating, ammeter shows around 7 amps draw. On starting
cold, there is a positive charge of around 3 amps which dies off after about 5 minutes to 0 but as soon as the fan kicks in (about 10 Mins), I'm
back to a 7 amps draw and when idling with no other electrical drain, this zips up to 15 amps, which is where I was before I installed the
alternator. Because I drive lots of short journeys in traffic, it won't be too long before the battery runs flat, although this is going to take
longer than when I was relying on the Dynamo
I know little about vehicle electrics, but I was expecting the alternator to compensate for the amperage that the fan was sucking up. Is this
unrealistic?
Thanks in advance for any help
Gary Wallis
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Posted By : Michael Davis,
15-Jun-2004, 10:29am
Not entirely sure here but...
"7 amps draw and when idling with no other electrical drain, this zips up to 15 amps"
Does this imply that at speed, the alternator was suppliying the other 6 amps? In which case it looks like your alternator is not supplying the
full current it should be capable of at high revs and at idle it's not doing much at all.
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Posted By : David Styles,
15-Jun-2004, 03:23pm
the other thing I was thinking about was your Battery...
It might not be holding charge..
surely you should be able to run a kenlowe off a charged battery for quite some time... hours probably...
a charged battery plus an alternator... indefinitely.. surely...
but a battery that won't hold any charge...
well.. when the battery gave up on our Euro Box, it wouldn't start if you left the lights on for 5 mins... !
and no amount of bump starting and waiting for the battery to charge would help...
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Posted By : Gary Wallis,
05-Jul-2004, 11:25pm
Well, the inevitable happened, after driving at night in rain (windscreen wipers going) battery ran so flat that the wipers stopped
working, very scary I can tell you.
So I assumed that the alternator was duff (reconditioned from Quiller triumph) but testing this at my local garage showed output from
alternator was 25amps when fully loaded, i.e lights, wipers etc. and around 8 amps on normal load with a requirement to top up the
battery. Apparantly this is within the normal operating criteria. However this was of course measured from the output of the alternator
rather than the actual flow of electricity around the car's circuits. My ammeter, installed by a previous owner, seemed to be giving me
a different (albeit a more realistic) picture so the first job that I want to achieve is ensuring that the wiring of the ammeter is
correct. I can ascertain that the positive side is conected to the starter solenoid but cannot trace the negative side due to the
concealment in the harness. Can anyone tell me the correct wiring procedure?
Many thanks in advance
Gary Wallis