Quote:
Originally Posted by rotorwrench
In the helicopters I maintain, the manufactures use either a calibrated shunt wire (calibrated by length and gauge of the bypass wire) or they use an actual shunt assembly that is taylor made for the voltage and amperage capacity of the system. The shunt assemblies are available from several sources. If your 12-volt 60-amp system will need something to drain off the excess amperage if it ever exceeds 30-amps otherwise it can damage the amp meter. The original Model A amp meter was only 20-amp so that one must be from something else. I know the repro meters for model A cars are crap. They basically won't work at all compared to an original. The Ford tractors may have used a 30-amp.
Just to add: The split type lock washers will work much better than any type of star lock.
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Thanks. As mentioned above, do you know if the momentary pegging of the needle will hurt the overall performance of these gauges or permanently throw off their readings? It only pegs when the alternator spins up to speed, then the gauge immediately drops to the 10-15 range. I suppose that's due to the alternator's self-regulating feature. The needle is centered when the engine is off. Even with the headlights on and turn signal on, the amp gauge reads steady in the 15 range, so the alternator's regulator is working.