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On 6 Jul 2001, at 9:43, Mark Healey wrote: > I have a general question about these regulators. Do they > generally fail incrementally or catastrophically? It seems to me that > this is the type of thing that would work or wouldn't. It's hard to say, because generally no one's watching as they die. My impression is that they slowly wear and the regulating voltage drops due to normal wear of the contacts inside. Eventually the resistor I mentioned goes open. This is likely due to corrosion from water that gets in from rust thru, or it can also be from age. Either way, once that resistor goes open the arc at the contacts is much larger every time they open, so the wear progresses MUCH faster. At some point the contacts tend to weld, and it is the sound of this weld breaking and the contact flying to the opposite extreme that we then hear. This is usually the death throe for the regulator. If it is allowed to stay in longer it will eventually weld tightly enough that it won't release, and then you get the ultimate stage in "The Death of a Regulator," which is when the generator light goes ON when you turn the key OFF. - ******************************* Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, Wisconsin, USA ******************************* ------------------------------------------------------------------- Search old messages on the Web! Visit http://www.vwtype3.org/list/