Accurate alternator testing with a
true-blue Australian product
I
f you can’t trust your tools and testing
equipment, everything you do in the
workshop is a second guess.
Alternator testers or regulators are not new
but, as any professional will tell you, those
on the market are not all that effective
and most have limitations. By testers we
mean a device that can accurately test a
variable voltage alternator. A multimeter
was sufficient to tell you if an alternator
was alive or dead when they were single
voltage, but it’s a different story with the
alternators now universally adopted by
most car makers.
Later model vehicles have ECU-controlled
alternators and testing of this type has been
a challenge.
Just how to test them correctly without
damaging the alternator or the vehicle’s
control systems has been difficult to work
out. Wouldn’t it be great to have a tester
that gives it to you straight – tell you it’s
faulty or rule it out as causing faults, all in a
split second.
We’ve come
to expect simple
functionality and
precision from our
tools. Above all, a
tool must be able to
do a job without
damaging the
component. This
would usually require
having some sort of A ceramic hybrid circuit
inbuilt safety feature and (33 mm x 22 mm) developed for
protection. Considering the Mazda DP type alternators
relatively poor record of
modern testers, TaT was
pleased to see that someone was making
alternator testers more user-friendly while
efficiently keeping up with all the different
systems.
A series of different testers from a Sydney
manufacturer hit the workbench. We
acknowledged they looked the part and
The Automotive Technician 16
by Jeff Smit &
Deyan Barrie
felt good, but would they do the job? Three
testers were put through the paces in the
TaT workshop:
1. FORD (PCM) and GM (RVC)
Alternator Controller
2. MAZDA DP Alternator Controller
3. RLO (Regulated Load Output) and
S Alternator Controller
The new test device will enable technicians
to test an alternator on the bench or on the
vehicle to confirm its integrity before making
costly and perhaps unnecessary diagnostic
decisions.
Testers were tried out on the latest type
RVC-controlled GMH alternators as well as
the PCM-controlled Ford charging systems
and they proved to be very efficient and
accurate. They quickly confirmed the status
of the alternator, speeding up our decision
to continue with the diagnosis or start
looking somewhere else.
The Mazda DP tester
will not only drive the
sub-regulator assembly
but also analyse the
phase signal for correct
characteristics via a
window comparator
to detect rectifier and
stator problems. It
also controlled the
alternator to full
output and regulated
the voltage precisely to
specifications with no
chance of component
damage.
The RLO Denso alternator tester is very
well featured and easy to use. It will deliver
all the information needed to identify if the
unit is the problem or if there are external
issues to be investigated.
Not satisfied with external appearances,
we opened up the units to have a look
at the circuit board and components and
were most impressed with their quality. The
design is a breath of fresh air in a market
full of tools and testers of sometimes
dubious quality and performance. These
are honest tools, made to a high standard
and not necessarily to a high price by a
dedicated individual who really knows his
stuff.
Each tester comes with a well-written and
very understandable instruction sheet in
Australian English – and that’s another
breath of fresh air.
info@car-electrics.com.au
Fax +61 2 9477 6026 and ask for a fact
sheet
There are many auto assumed the alternator is
electricians who know Ray faulty. They then replace the
Shuetrim of Sydney who, with alternator and the problem still
his son Paul, remanufactures exists.’
alternators and designs and
These testers are very easy to
manufactures a range of
use and can test the alternator
voltage regulator circuits and
while it is still on the vehicle.
smart alternator testers.
Ray is currently developing
Ray’s clientele, if asked why
a new tester for the variable
they buy anything Ray makes,
voltage alternators that are
would yell in unison ‘If Ray’s
used on modern BMW and
built it, it will work’.
Mercedes-Benz vehicles— the
In his own small way, Ray so-called COM alternators.
is doggedly hanging on
TaT admires people like Ray
to a quality design and
who stick to the old-fashioned
manufacturing ethic which has
principles of delivering high
largely gone out of the window
quality products, made from
in this country where cheap
high quality components.
imports of poor quality and
Also to be admired is Ray’s
performance flood the market.
assertion that it’s cheaper to
He strongly supports the local
remanufacture a good original
remanufacturing of alternators.
part than to replace it with a
Ray has had more than non-original import.
20 years experience in
TaT research director, Deyan
automotive charging system
Barrie, an unashamed fan,
electronics. He identified
sums up the auto electrical
an absence in the market
industry’s attitude to Ray’s
place of suitable devices
work. ‘I have every tool of his
for testing modern variable
and have always found him
voltage alternators and began
to be precise and focused as
designing and making his own
the different vehicle models
range of testers.
came out. He is constantly
He’s been selling his alternator developing new stuff.
testers for a while, but they
‘If Ray stopped doing his thing,
remain unbranded. Until
many in the trade would lose
now, his sales have been to
something very useful. I am
his faithful followers, but he
asked regularly about the best
recognises he may have to
way of testing the late model
step up his marketing ideas
alternators. Ray’s devices
because his testers are a
solve the problem.
product whose time has come.
A big plus for these testers is
‘I think every workshop could
that you can hook them up on
save time and money with a
the alternator on the vehicle,
set of these testers. You would
as well as on the test bench.
be amazed at the number of
The tools are totally safe and
variable voltage alternators
internally protected for any
that end up being scrapped
hook-up so you can’t blow
because service personnel
up a regulator or damage the
have measured a low output
tester,’ Deyan added.
voltage at the battery and

The Automotive Technician 17