2006 mustang v6 blinking battery light

[bobs77vet]

well my plain jane v6 mustang convertible with 70,500 miles has a blinking battery light and "check charging system " note is displayed on gauge.

this is an intermittent issue and sometimes its just the battery light without the "check charging system" display.

I went to advance auto and these were the results. as expected the high school kid didn't know what any of the results meant. so looks to me like "phase open" means the internal workings of the alternator or voltage regulator are playing games with the sensors.....the question is do I immediately need to replace the alternator or do I have time before it craps out? thks Bob

 

[mrvette]

IF that phase open was a stored code, yes I would have to say the alt needs replaced....but it was obviously working ok on the ripple test, if it had an open phase then, the ripple would be trough the roof....also when that ripple test was done, obviously no heavy load on the alt at that instant, like fans/HVAC typical ripple is much higher then.....:smash:

 

[bobs77vet]

we did go through several tests under load/no load/ idle/ 2000 rpm

what does the ripple test measure?

 

[bobs77vet]

does this sound correct? from a similar post off of the internett "Actually, most automobile alternators use 3 phase AC to DC. So it is not a normal 4 diode full wave bridge rectifier circuit which is what single phase AC uses to convert to DC. Also, Diodes don't short. They can burn open, but never have I seen or heard of one shorting. Also, if one opens, you will simply lose 1/3 of your wave, which will cause a fluctuation in the DC that is output to the electrical system. This is still not good, and can cause issues, but will not prevent the alternator from charging. They are also not easy to test unless you are familiar with the layout of your vehicles alternator, and you can see which diodes are which-this usually isn't possible as they are contained within a plastic housing, mounted inside the alternator. SO, basically, buy a new alternator"

 

[mrvette]

The normal failure mode for most power diodes is to short out, being as that is true, I suspect there is a internal fuse network to protect all 6 of those diodes, so when it opens, the diode is not in circuit, so it's 'open'....when in fact I bet it's shorted.....

Phase....ok power generation depends on 3 phases, don't matter if its at a nuclear plant or in your alternator.....

obviously out of the 360 deg. in a circle, 3 phases are in synch with each other, but 120 degrees phase shift.....it's all the same looking to a voltmeter or oscilloscope as you look at ONE phase, if you have a dual trace scope like my Techtronics, we can look at one phase and compare to another, if had a scope with 4 inputs, could see he third, and see that out of the 360 deg....they are all 120 deg out of phase....

I got a chance to stand on the gen deck of a full tilt Nuclear power plant under operation, some 30 years ago, lets just say I was impressed, understatement of the year......


Ripple on the alt out stud is caused by the forward conductions of the diodes as the spinning electromagnet with is the armature/belt driven....passes by each section of the field windings, the copper confusion you can see through the vents.....as the magnet gets close to the field coil/core segment the output of the field coil rises peaks out, and declines as the magnet goes away, on to the next field coil....what you have is any given set of diodes/TWO per phase and going into conduction then relaxed as the field coil is not doing anything, so you see a switching pulse on the output....kinda like if you hung a scope on a a/c line at home, you monitor the 110v and it's looking kinda happy and bored.....then you switch on something on that line, lightbulb, toaster....and see the spikes on the line....

hope this helps, if not PM or keep it in the thread ok by me....

:shocking::beer:

 

[bobs77vet]

ok thanks i found a delcoremy new alt from rock auto at a good price i will just buy it and put it in. thks Bob