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the typical Delco alt needs two things to get the current flowing to the rotating magnetic field. One: Enable (my term, others say 'excite'). This is the #1 on the plug at the rear Two: RPMs: they were designed this way so you wouldn't have 3-7 amps flowing thru your slip rings and brushes should the engine die. One wire alts need more RPM to turn on because they don't have the enable circuit to help them. The residual magnetism in the rotor induces ( ask Dell about Mr Faraday ) a small amount of current in the stator (stationary) winding. This miniscule electricity is rectified by the diode trio - (no it's not a triode, that's a vacuum tube!) and this little signal turns on the regulator, and current is sent to the rotor to begin making electricity. If you don't have the enable wire, you have to spin the rotor faster to get started, and more engine RPMs. The self-excite one-wire I built back in my NH days came alive at 1/3 throttle on my '41 9N, but it was designed for AG use, and not for some old chevy impala that will see alot more RPMs. HOWEVER, once the alternator is turned on, it will charge at low RPM if it is a proper AG alternator. I still sell a few of the wide pulleys on ebay for Delco/N applications. As for specially designed regulators, yes. make sure they're not junk if you go buy one. If it's less than ten bucks, it's worthless. Rectifiers for one wire? Never heard of such a thing. Another important factor is the stator winding. A low amperage stator will work better at lower RPMs ( Dell, tell them about Wye vs. Delta sometime ) even though they have less TOTAL output. Be realistic, how much do you need on a N series? As for the second wire, the SENSE wire, the VREG has that information inside the alternator, but you can run a higher voltage if you use a separate sense wire from somewhere else on the vehilcle with a 3 wire. There again, how much does a N really need? My 54 Ford Sedan has a three wire. That's the one the real engineers came up with, and that's what i'm sticking too. Off my soapbox now Jim Cox
Former Product Engineer
Case/New Holland Remanufactured Electrical
(but nowhere near as smart as Dell !!!!)
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