3-wire delco alternator, what do i do with indicator lamp?

[Sleeper-Z]

I've got the sensing and main wire, but where do i hook up the indicator lamp? can I leave it empty, ground it, put a resistor, or hook it up to a light?

 

i want to run it w/o an indicator lamp though.

 

thanks,

steven m.

[blueovalz]

The guy who rebuilt my alternator told me some sort of small resistance was needed in this circuit to allow the alternator to work (charge?) correctly. It didn't quite make any sense to me (if bulb burnt out, then alternator quits working?). Anyway, I went back and asked him again about it, and without any specifics he said it does require a bulb or some kind of small resistance.

[Tim240z]

Yeah, I've always been told that most alternators need an excitor of some type. If you don't want to run the light in the cab, you could wire the light right near the alternator?

[mobythevan]

I used a 10ohm 10 watt resistor for this purpose and my 3 wire charging system is working fine. I also put the diode in to make sure the system doesn't feed itself and stay running even when the key is turned off.

 

All working fine like that.

[JMortensen]

The light is somewhat useful since it will basically be an idiot light to tell you if something goes wrong with the charging system. The light I got doesn't pull enough juice to excite the alternator, but a blip on the gas does. I wired mine inside the car and drilled a hole in the ashtray for it. I also had to use a diode like Moby since I had run-on problems when I first started out.

 

Jon