Turn your lights on full beam to create a load on the alternator. I asked a few times what model fluke you are using or is the multimeter a cheap non brand. With respect you appear to have little electrical experence and would suggest that you read up on electrical fundamentals that will greatly help you understand your troubleshooting. High ripple may well mean a problem with the alternator diodes.
Whats a good multi meter for small voltage?
- Thread starter The motor guy
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Post 14 I stated which one I have fl323. It's just a cheaper model that fluke has.
That is a very good meter, only downside is that it does not read dc amps as per specs from fluke,AC and DC voltages no issues.
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I ended buying a fluke 117. These clamp meters just don't seem to have many settings compared to a regular multi meter. The clamp meter doesn't really do much imo. Just use the probes.
Was it Mike Holt forums?
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electrician talk
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Went to autozone and they tested it. Everything passed. It tested the diodes, regulator and charge current. Doesn't say anything other than pass or fail on the little receipt the machine prints out.
It's fine then. If it had a bad diode it would fail for ripple.
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Yeah some of these forums make me a bit paranoid about things. Like on cummins forum, the ecms go out a lot on that year of truck and they all blame the alternator causing it. Along with making all the other electronics fail due to that. I think it's just the age of the truck imo. Ecms, pcms, etc aren't going to last forever
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FINALLY got my fluke fl117 in the mail today, yes I ordered it on the 24th of Nov and it sat at the post office distribution center for 11 days. This thing is WAY better than my fluke 323. It's got ac/dc voltage and amperage etc. Awesome.
The alternator & starter rebuild shops have an oscilloscope. The full wave diode bridge is 6 diodes since it's 3 phase. You need to know if even one diode is shot.
Good meter,if checking current above 10 amps suggest dc clamp meter. Google Fluke Beat the Book Automotive electrical diagnosis.Better diagnosis, faster repair pdf.
Oscilloscope will give a better picture of the AC ripple using a quality oscilloscope such as Picoscope.
However, Fluke multimeter or similar will easily detect alternator ripple, remember oscilloscopes generally plus/minus 3% accuracy. This is from Fluke, Why use an oscilloscope?
Oscilloscopes are designed for engineering work or troubleshooting systems that might contain complex signals that send at speeds much faster than a digital multimeter can capture. Scopes have much faster measurement engines and much wider measurement bandwidths than digital multimeters, but typically do not have the same accuracy and resolution strength as a multimeter. Oscilloscopes generally have a resolution equivalent to a 3.5-to-4-digit digital multimeter.One of the advantages of an oscilloscope over multimeter is that oscilloscopes also can visually display complex signals (the "picture" part in the adage), able to show a transient signal that may pose a threat to a system can be displayed, measured, and isolated with an oscilloscope. It will also graphically show distortion and noise that may be present in the signal.
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I tested it today. With only the radio on because I forgot to turn it off it showed like .033vac and with the headlights and radio on I got like .045vac
You having the surge issue on an older ram ? Is that the issue. All I see is Cummins referenced and alternator testing no real concern just wanting a meter than measures low
Any more info what you are trying to diag sorry if I missed it in another thread
Any more info what you are trying to diag sorry if I missed it in another thread
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