Thanks to Charlie_S for sending me an old VR to experiment on......

This idea started after the electronic upgrade I got crapped out after 6 months (3 month warranty) and I took it apart to find it to be a very simple design, but not properly heat-sinked.

I found this site:

http://homepage.sunrise.ch/mysunrise/jo ... oltreg.htm
(edited 2008-07-23: above link no longer valid)
try:
http://jhau.maliwi.de/mot/voltreg.htm

with a design that was very similiar to the electonic VR I just took apart and figured that I could make one that was properly heat-sinked that fit in an old points style regulator case for less cost than gambling on another electronic VR. Plus if it did break, I would be able to fix it because I would not be using surface mount devices (SMDs) in it's construction, but the typical wire-lead components.



So far it's working great, with voltage at the battery from 14.25 (no load)to 14.3 (load), compared to the points 14.8 (no load) and 14.4 (load).

The reading at the electronic VR is a consistent .1 V lower than battery voltage too. (with the points regulator it was about .3-.4 volts lower than the battery voltage)

Hopefully it last longer than the previous electronic VR (the old points regulator is still in the trunk... )

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

I thought about making that before. Hmm always wanted an excuse to break out the etching acid.

How does it hold the output over temperature? I mean, heat soaked engine compartment vs cold start.

Haven't had it in long enough to test for heat effects.

But since there's no heat compensation in the circuit, I would assume it would keep the same voltage no matter what.

(you don't need etching acid if you don't mind an ugly side of a circuit board..............)

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Interesting project. I'm curious, what brand and model electronic voltage regulator failed on you? There are a great many different ready-built electronic regulators for the early charging system, and some of them are considerably more robustly built than others.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Wells VR706

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Thought so. I never had much luck with Wells' stuff. Always seems cheaply built. Their VR706 is tempting to buy 'cause it looks a lot like the original points-type regulator, but you're right: they fail.

I like some of the other alternatives better.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

FYI: I figure it cost me under $10 to do this (I already had some components, but I know the components that I didn't have could have been bought cheaper if they were part of a larger mail order (i.e. digikey))


(which is considerably cheaper than your 'good list')

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

It looks like an interesting project.

A couple years ago I bought a new regulator from J.C.Whitney for the TMC '65 Barracuda - it had all surface mount electronics inside and cost $10. Most (or all?) of the aftermarket regulators that were mechanical are now electronic, as it is much cheaper. It worked fine, as far as I can tell.

The case was *almost* identical, but if you take the cover off the old one and transfer it to the new it'd be very hard to see the mod.

Just as a data point, I've had pretty good luck with Wells electronic VRs for the old "1-wire" alternators. Actually I should say I've had good luck with "A Wells regulator" because I've never had to replace the one that I got....

Nothing's consistent these days. In 30 years of fooling around with Mopar electronic ignition systems, there's ONE component I've never had fail- the pickup coil inside the distributor.

Until yesterday :-p Brand new one, too, in a franken-distributor built up specifically for a modified mechanical advance curve. And yes, I've ruled out everything else- plugging in a known-good distributor to the pickup connector and spinning the shaft yields a nice fat blast of sparks from the coil. When the bad one first quit, I fooled around, set the reluctor gap, and it started working so I figured that it was either incorrectly gapped or there was a bad connection at the 2-pin hermaphrodite connector, but nope. It just quits (usually after sitting overnight). Wierd. Must have a broken wire down in the winding somewhere.

_________________

I'm bumping this because of various voltage regulator problems popping up, and this is another alternative.............

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

The link doesnt seem to be working. Could you post the info?

I dont mind fiddling with a soldering iron and this looks like a good project!

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AP6

well that sucks.........

Some info here:

http://edsvitilspot.multiply.com/photos ... _Regulator

I'll see if I can find a wiring diagram.......

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Well I found a printout of the circuit..........

Good thing the printout had a nice header............ found the new location:
search terms 'joergs motorcycle pages voltage regulator'

http://jhau.maliwi.de/mot/voltreg.htm


Note: D1 & D2 set the output voltage. Depending on components used (you don't need to exactly match the components), you may not need D2 and/or a different voltage value for the Zener D1. I didn't need D2.

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Ed,

Sounds like you got some good results and I'd like to see some similar results in my Dart. How closely did you follow the circuit diagram you linked to? What changes did you make, exact parts? And, what did you do with the heatsink, I didn't see it after your photo of all the parts?

Also, can we entice you to do a more in-depth thread on how to duplicate your VR so it can be put in the electrical FAQ? If you need any graphics done (i.e. modified circuit diagram) let me know.

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'66 Dodge Dart

You can see the heat sink in the lower left photo.

It was a radio shack one for a to220 case. 276-1363


Referencing this:

http://jhau.maliwi.de/mot/voltreg.html

Mine is just about an exact copy, just needed to cross-reference the parts.

D1 13 volt zener (local store, not radio shack)
D2 I didn't need it. (got voltage I wanted without it)
D3 6 amp Diode from radio shack 276-1661
D4 added between DF and D+, mentioned in Joergs writeup, = D3 6amp
T1 Used 2N3906 PNP or any small to92 equivalent
T2 Cross-Referenced to NTE2344 to220 darlington PNP 12amp at local store, cross reference at digi-key for other options
C1 2 100uf caps in parallel (200uf total)
R1-R4 as on Joergs page


Joerg has good writeup............

i.e. read IT

http://jhau.maliwi.de/mot/voltreg.html

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes