Alternators

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Nov 13, 2005
59
- - miami
I have 1990 30' The last oner had a new alternator instilled it works fine (but) I no longer have working tack . Can I get some help how to fix or what to look for.Thanks Suds
 

Jon W.

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May 18, 2004
401
Catalina 310 C310 Seattle Wa
No Tachometer reading.

Sorry for the slow response, but this is kind of a tough one from a distance. You don’t say what alternator you have, but there should be an output terminal on the back of the alternator, maybe labeled “P” or “AC Tap”. There should be a wire connection from this to the Tachometer. The wire may not be hooked up, or broken, or the tachometer may not work. It may be helpful to know if it was working with this alternator and just quit, or if you never saw it working. If you have and can use an ohmmeter, you could do some basic circuit checks.
 
Feb 26, 2004
23,003
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
Also

if your batteries are fully charged, like from being plugged in ALL the time, the tach won't work because the batteries are "FULL." Stu
 
Oct 30, 2005
5
Catalina 30 Benicia, CA
Batteries condition does not matter

It does not matter how full or how discharged your batteries are or how many full or discharged batteries your have, they have nothing to do with the Tachometer working or not working. Except for the fact those batteries are important in order to get the engine started in order that the Tachometer can then do its reporting. An electric tachometer can be hooked up to a alternator, but some are driven by a sensor that is pulsed by a magnet on the fly wheel. Universal 25's and 25xp's drive from the alternator which continues to generate electricity regardless how full the batteries are. It is the regulator that "regulates" the amount of electricity that is allowed to pass to the batteries. The alternator is constantly generating electricity so long as it is truning. A tachometer simply picks up the current pulse that is gererated by the alternator/generator and translates it to an RPM reading. Which is calabrated by alternator type pully dia., etc. The tach does not care about batteries, refrigerators, VCR's etc. Just the electric pulse that is created each and every time the alternator rotates. Check your wire dioghram then check your wires. Good luck
 
L

larry

Need new Tach?

If it turns out that your Tach is faulty, give catalina a call in southern cal. They will then give you the name and phone number of the company that supplies their oem tachs. I did this a year ago, the supplier will want to know the year and engine model as well as the alternator type inorder to calibrate the tach. They made it real easy and cheaper than any I found on my own. Plus it has an hour meter built in which allowed me to remove the old one and replace it with an oil preasure guage. Good luck
 
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