Lights, Music, Wipers - Shut down, Am I overloading the Alternator? Options

[aveale]

Family,

With the wipers on full, the radio cuts out and comes back on, then cuts out (I am assuming when the motor needs more "load" it sucks the power from the radio).

Am I overloading the Alternator???

I have a very small (1985) Blaukpunkt (sp) radio that ain't no boomer.

This can also happen at night when I switch to my high beamers.

Comments/solutions anyone?

T

[Spoke]

I don't think it's your alternator since if the load were to cause the voltage to drop, it should only drop to the battery voltage then the battery takes over.

I would suspect something in the wiring including not-so-good ground or power connections. There is a 12V power lug behind the fuse panel that on my car was not loose but it also was not tight.

If you have an analog voltmeter, attach it such that the wires stay on by themselves (alligator clips), then with the car on or off, try hitting the lights or other loads that cause the radio to hiccup. If something bad is happening to the 12V to the radio, the analog needle will quickly deflect lower then go back to 12-14V. If you have a digital voltmeter, the readout is not quick enough to see the droop. If you don't have a multimeter, buy one.

To check the ground on your radio, with the voltmeter, attach one wire to the battery negative terminal, then with the other wire, attach to the radio chassis and see that you have less than 0.5 to 1V of drop. Should show less. If more than 1V, find the drop by measuring different points on the chassis with respect to the battery negative terminal.

Good Luck,
Spoke