How to check Alternator for function

[MudRunnerTD]

Just did a check off the back of the Alternator and there is no change from idle damn it. New Alternator it is. Thanks gents.

[Hodge]

How did you find that Eric?

Sounds like you got it pin pointed Darren.
I meggared my lead and that's how I found high resistance . But when I physically touched the lead near the motor it was obvious. Anealed copper cable was greeny almost corroded Color and very brittle.

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[dom14]

Just did a check off the back of the Alternator and there is no change from idle damn it. New Alternator it is. Thanks gents.

Darren, comparing to aftermarket alternators, the original Nissan alternator may be still a better one once you have it professionally rebuilt. Usually the rebuild is about replacing the diodes or the regulator, but the auto sparkies usually replace the bearings & brushes as well, as it doesn't make sense to have an alternator with failing bearings or brushes few months down the track after the rebuild. Aftermarket ones are a hit and miss I think. You can end up with a good aftermarket one or a dud. You get warranty but PITA to deal with malfunctioning ones. Genuine ones are pretty pricey I reckon. I usually prefer rebuilding the old genuine one, either by myself or by an auto sparky.

If you left a new battery in the garage bench for two years and only charged it twice for those two years, I reckon the battery might already have some damage and on it's way. I maintenance charge batteries once a month or so when they are on a bench. I also maintenance charge the one on the vehicle once a quarter or so. My batteries give me many years of life 'cos my maintenance habit. Multi stage chargers or pulse chargers are the best.
My pulse charger & the multi stage charger each cost me less than fifty bucks. There are better brandname chargers out there as well. From my experience, maintenance charging can pretty much double the lifespan of a battery, be in the vehicle or on the bench.

[MudRunnerTD]

Darren, comparing to aftermarket alternators, the original Nissan alternator may be still a better one once you have it professionally rebuilt. Usually the rebuild is about replacing the diodes or the regulator, but the auto sparkies usually replace the bearings & brushes as well, as it doesn't make sense to have an alternator with failing bearings or brushes few months down the track after the rebuild. Aftermarket ones are a hit and miss I think. You can end up with a good aftermarket one or a dud. You get warranty but PITA to deal with malfunctioning ones. Genuine ones are pretty pricey I reckon. I usually prefer rebuilding the old genuine one, either by myself or by an auto sparky.

If you left a new battery in the garage bench for two years and only charged it twice for those two years, I reckon the battery might already have some damage and on it's way. I maintenance charge batteries once a month or so when they are on a bench. I also maintenance charge the one on the vehicle once a quarter or so. My batteries give me many years of life 'cos my maintenance habit. Multi stage chargers or pulse chargers are the best.
My pulse charger & the multi stage charger each cost me less than fifty bucks. There are better brandname chargers out there as well. From my experience, maintenance charging can pretty much double the lifespan of a battery, be in the vehicle or on the bench.

Thanks Dom,

I bought an up spec 125amp one of Patrolapart today for $400. the OEM was around $1000 which was crazy and cheap ebay for $140. I didn't really think about rebuilding given it has 280k on it, i figured it had done a good job.

I am using a Noco Genius G15000 smart charger which is a beast and I'm really happy with it. https://no.co/g15000

yeah i was a little slack with the maintenance of the replacement battery as it sat a while. I have been a bit more active now i have a decent smart charger and been rotating my huge collection of battery across the charger regularly.

The 2 Optima D31A batteries that i had under the bonnet of the GUIV lasted 7 years which is awesome and the accessories battery died 2 months ago. I should have replaced the drivers while i was there but thought it was ok, as soon as i put winch load on it up at the snow it crashed to zero so it was due. I wonder if that crash caused damage to the alternator too as it happened basically straight away?

I have the charger topping up the battery every other day until the alternator arrives (this week i hope) then we are good to go.

[dom14]

Thanks Dom,

I bought an up spec 125amp one of Patrolapart today for $400. the OEM was around $1000 which was crazy and cheap ebay for $140. I didn't really think about rebuilding given it has 280k on it, i figured it had done a good job.

I am using a Noco Genius G15000 smart charger which is a beast and I'm really happy with it. https://no.co/g15000

yeah i was a little slack with the maintenance of the replacement battery as it sat a while. I have been a bit more active now i have a decent smart charger and been rotating my huge collection of battery across the charger regularly.

The 2 Optima D31A batteries that i had under the bonnet of the GUIV lasted 7 years which is awesome and the accessories battery died 2 months ago. I should have replaced the drivers while i was there but thought it was ok, as soon as i put winch load on it up at the snow it crashed to zero so it was due. I wonder if that crash caused damage to the alternator too as it happened basically straight away?

I have the charger topping up the battery every other day until the alternator arrives (this week i hope) then we are good to go.

Yeah, for $400, you can get a decent one for sure. Ebay ones can be nothing but trouble unless you're lucky. Rebuild is usually about $200. I had mine rebuilt by local sparky for $160 many years ago. It's been really good ever since, except I recently upgraded the alternator to a 115amp one. Mine already had 300k on it when I rebuilt it, so I reckon your old one is still good for a rebuild if you want to.

It makes sense the alternator dying after battery dying from the winch draw. The winch would've tried to draw the lacking amps from the alternator and the old tired regulator might have cooked as a result. I've been told, for winches, more CCAs you have the better, so the optima spiral wound core batteries are the best I reckon for their high CCAs.

You can leave the smart charger connected to a bench battery indefinitely. The float amps it would draw in should be pretty low and I doubt it would affect the electricity bill to something you would notice(unless of course the battery is already stuffed ). Ideally, the smart charger should cut off the amps to nothing when the battery is 100%. I don't leave my batteries connected to the smart charger all the time 'cos I tend to do it manually.

7 years is a pretty good lifespan. No argument there.