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Old 09-06-2019, 06:41 PM
Joel Koontz Joel Koontz is offline
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Default Will it hurt alternator to spin it with no wires attached?

I bought an old (195X)construction Air Compressor that has an old Delco alternator and external regulator on it.

One of the wires to the regulator is broken and looks to have previously been spliced and I am not sure where it should go. The wiring appears to mostly be orginal and is in very poor condition and needs to be replaced. I will replace the wiring, but in the meantime I am working on getting it to run properly.

Gas tank and carb seemed to have turpentine in them and I am in the process of cleaning them.

I have run it for a few seconds by pouring gas into the intake.

For testing purposes I can (hopefully) just start and run it on the battery.

Will it hurt the alternator if I disconnect all of the wiring to it and run the engine for testing purposes?

  #2  
Old 09-06-2019, 06:56 PM
tom s tom s is offline
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When I raced in the early days I would unplug my alt for the run and plug it back in again.Did it tons of time and dont remember any issues?Tom

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Old 09-06-2019, 07:17 PM
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Bill Hanlon Bill Hanlon is offline
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Like Tom says, it shouldn't hurt the alternator at all.

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Old 09-06-2019, 07:56 PM
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OG68 OG68 is offline
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It won't generate anything. Just a shaft rotating on its bearings.
Make sure it spins easy before you start it.

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Old 09-06-2019, 10:04 PM
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Sirrotica Sirrotica is offline
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If you unplug it under load there is a good chance you'll damage it. I've seen it done on a Jeep with a Motorola charging system on it, and it blew the alternator as soon as it was unplugged.

As long as the alternator isn't turning when it's disconnected you should be fine as has already been said.

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