Good Alt. Bad Alt?

[MoparManicMechanic]

My alternator is putting out 20-25 amps at 2,00-2,500 rpm. There is nothing that I can find pulling that many amps. The lead going from the solenoid to the battery is only saying 5 amps, the ingintion coil says 5 amps. Where else could the amps be going. I posted earlier that the fans I have may have been pulling 40 amps, but I check them and they are pulling 25. So I can't figure out where the other 10 amps are going, any one know why the lead coming out of my alt says 25 amps when the battery is charged and the ignition is only pulling 5 amps? Good alt bad alt?

Bob

[NYrr496]

Start pulling fuses and see if the amp draw goes away.

[Tiamat]

Mechanical or electronic regulator?

[MoparManicMechanic]

I am supposing it is an electronic one. It sits on the firewall with the plastic coating on the back of it. That means it is electric right?

I would start pulling fuses, but nothing else is on. Do you suppose there could be a short some where?

Bob

[dartracer]

Thats why you start pulling fuses. When the draw stops you found the circuit thats pulling the amps.

[MoparManicMechanic]

I got it figured out. I just put a portable amp meter across the fuses and "0" across the board. What was happening was the fans would come on, pull a draw on the battery while I was walking from the drivers seat over to check the current coming out of the alternator, because the engine was at idle they pulled current from the battery. So it would pull 40 amps while it was charging the battery back up... I checked the current going to the battery when the battery was charged and it was getting about 5 amps with the engine at 2,500 rpm. The electronic ignintion is pulling about 5 amps, so together they are pulling 10 or so plus the 22-24 from the fans makes 32-34! It took a while for me to figure out I was checking the amp draw on the alternator when it was charging the battery, and checking the amp draw on the battery after it had charged, that is where I was missing the extra current. Sorry, false alarm, but your answer did get me to check the fuses which led me to re-check the alternator when it was not generating current for the fans plus recharging the battery. Everything is cool.  Thanks!

Bob