Need alternator help

[dvandervossen]

Been working on the truck for a year now. Have it going down the road as a fairly good driver, but I'm not sure its charging. New battery, new alternator, voltage regulator, starter solenoid... Battery appears to drain as I use it over a couple days unless I stick on the charger in the garage. Can someone verify the alternator is connected properly.

[Mr. Jones]

I'm getting,"You are not authorised to view this image!" Can not see what you've got going on.

[totten]

Ck with volt meter. Should be 12.5 on battery holding. Start truck will be around 13.6 charging. STOP engine leave volt meter on battery too see if reading stays there at 12.5 or starts dropping down. If it does, you have a drain. Ck the voltage regulter plug may be loose. MINE was bad replaced connectors worked great after that to charge battery. Tony

[William-in-St George]

Follow totten's advice then try this. To check for a drain: turn everything off including a radio clock. Carefully loosen and remove the positive battery cable and watch for a small spark. Pull fuses one at a time and make this check after each fuse is removed. When the sparking stops you have isolated your circuit. Trouble shoot that circuit. You can also disconnect the battery for a few days. It should hold a strong charge for that length of time, if not replace it.

[Toyz]

Not able to view images on computer; getting "not authorized" message when trying via smartphone.
If you do have a drain, it may be severe enough to affect voltmeter charging voltage reading. It may be worth your effort to find one of the auto parts chains to perform a free load test on batttery AND charging system.
Easy test for drainage is to make sure all lamps switches, etc are off, including courtesy lamps if so equipped; remove negative cable and connect either a voltmeter or a test light between the cable and the terminal. If voltmeter registers voltage or test light illuminates, you have a drain. At that point it's a matter of unplugging terminals and removing fuses one at a time to isolate the drain. A "spark' would indicate a severe drain, a less severe one may not necessarily produce a noticable spark; plus; as I have previously mentioned, sparks and hydrogen gas from a defective or discharged battery MAY not mix well!
Paul

[66fordtrucknut]

Thanks Paul, even I pull that one off, I'm not that electrically gifted. My 78' has a drain on it, wondering how to find it.
Charlie

[dvandervossen]

Uhhhh, turned out the voltage regulator came completely unplugged...

Not sure what happened withe pics. Added them to my album, now my album says its empty

[F7BIGJOB]

Thanks Paul, even I pull that one off, I'm not that electrically gifted. My 78' has a drain on it, wondering how to find it.
Charlie

PM sent- maybe too late, I just noticed what William in St George and Paul wrote