I agree that this is a mod that could be a promising alternative to unbelting :thumbup: .

This is pretty much what I was thinking of trying too:thumbup: .

Are you guys talking about the fan integral to cooling the alternator? It may not be an issue in my case. I'll have to look closer to mine, but it doesn't have an external fan like the delco ones I'm used to seeing. Maybe internal, I'll see.

It's weird you can't find the alternator fuse or wire. In the van it's a simple large 80 amp bladed fuse. On the wagon it is a larger 120amp bolted in place. I just keep a 10mm socket in the car and pop off the alternator lead and throw a vinyl glove over the lead. I have thought about adding a 40amp 12v contactor in line with the fuse, but never got around to it.

In the old days they didn't use fuses - my Geo was wired directly to the battery and the xB has the fuse . . . I think it does anyway. The thing to be careful with is that some Fuel Injection systems will not operate below a certain voltage so if you run the battery down a little and try to start further dropping the voltage the injectors may not fire.

The alternator fan is usually a stamped metal blade bolted under the pulley and could be removed in the winter.

Brushless DC motors without permanent magnets use an iron core that becomes magnetized by the electronically controlled rotating stator field. I believe a 40 pole rotor is used in the Tesler motor. (I think there were errors in the write up on it where they said it had a 4 pole motor.) Not having permanent magnets means that it can slip if loaded enough and it also can be started with any applied phase initially - it does however limit the ability to regen but it freewheels really well compared to the cogging action of a Permanent Magnet Rotor motor.

Of course, being winter, I'm not going to be doing anything about this until the weather warms up... and then I don't need to do it (can just take off the belt :)).

Sort of like when you have bad shingles on the roof: you can't do it when it's raining, and when it's sunny, you don't need to do it.

Brock: I was surprised too. I know I looked last year, and didn't find the fuse (doesn't mean it's not there though).

JanGeo: the suzukiclones seem to keep right on running even with system voltage (under operating load) well below 12v. I mistakenly ran it so low that the starter wouldn't work, but I was still able to clutch start it and drive home to put it on the charger.

https://swift.crime.one.pl/pliki/schematy/ has wiring diagrams. ~ page 24 for the charging circuit

It looks like the black/blue wire coming off the ignition switch is the wire that turns the alternator on and off. So probably just splice a switch into it and you are set. I will do this to my car some weekend when I have time and see if it really helps much. Taking the belt off would probably be the best but there might not be much difference in turning it off and taking the belt off. a 65 amp alternator at full load can kill a 12hp Briggs and Stratton motor so it will make a difference in a 50hp car I'm sure :)

Cool, thanks.

It also shows: no fuse in the alternator circuit

You sure you don't want to aim for the blk/whi wire at C7? Isn't the blk/blu at C1 also the main ignition circuit?

that sounds like the alternator output. The field enable wire should be alote less current. That way you shouldn't need a contactor, a switch should handle the field current.