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Man I didn't know one of our alt's could put out 34.5 volts! unregulated high 15's maybe but I guess I've never had one that was disconnected from the battery while running.



And that was at normal idle. I measured over 60 volts at high idle. I can easily see Andrewh's measuring 100+ VDC at cruise rpm.

I had an electrical burnout in my 84 RC once. I was on a trip, and the alternator was overcharging an cooking the battery. A buddy told me to take off the negative cable from the battery and drive to the local parts store for a new VR. I made it about 30 feet when the whole engine comparment elecricals smoked. It seems the battery was acting as sort of a buffer even though it was overcharging, and protecting the rest of the sysstem. removing the battery let the current flow unchecked and toasted my whole ignition. The smarter thing would have been to remove the field wire from the alternator, and run on battery power to get to a parts store.