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On 23 Mar 2005 at 19:09, Type 3 Junkie wrote: > 1 bonus is that it does away with the Voltage regulator [VR] thus takeing > out another item to either replace or fiddle with when the stock charging > system is not working. Not true. Every alternator charging system has a voltage regulator. Modern ones just include the VR within the alternator body. In many of the newest ones you can't replace it separately. So now you get to replace the whole thing, at a very expensive price. > We have seen many new generator fail within months of purchase, as the new > batch of generators may have some quality issues. There are no NEW generators out there for our cars. They are all rebuilds. Yes, the quality varies. In the past I have recommended that people buy genuine Bosch rebuilds, but I've new seen some of those which were poorly done. Yes, quality is an issue. > I have never had a VR last 7 years...period. Have you been using Genuine Bosch VRs? I agree that the US made ones are junk. I've seen the Bosch ones decline, too. The OE German ones lasted 15-20 years, while the Brazilian ones lasted 10. I'm not sure how long the Mexican ones will last, but I modify mine to extend the lifetime. I replaced the one in my 73 square about 5 years ago; it was the original one, which had lasted, along with the original generator, for more than 25 years. The generator itself is still fine. > Since we are on the issue of cost lets look at this: > new generator....100.00 > new VR...............35.00 > total ................135.00 > > Item that need to be replaced 2 > Items that need up keep 1 > > Basic alternator kit.... > > 195.00 > Item that needs to be replaced 1 > Item that need up keep 0 And when a generator system needs attention I can usually fix it completely for less than $50 (new VR), often for less than $10 (new brushes.) Can you say the same? Anyone ever seen an alternator after someone goofed and installed the battery backwards for more than an instant? Instant trash. I hope you noticed that I agreed that there was a small portion of our owners who would have a real use for your product, and I want to make it clear that for those people it will provide a real benefit. Per also pointed out a group that I had not thought of: those with the Eberspacher heaters. For all those people, I suspect that the product you've been good enough to develop will perform admirably. We should also both be grateful to those who were thoughtful enough to point out how the extra electrical loads can tax our switches and wiring. It was never my intension to slam the concept; I just thought it was only fair to counter the idea that this was something that everyone should aspire to. It has significant benefits to a few, but it has its costs, too. -- ******************************* Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, Wisconsin, USA ******************************* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~