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A circuit breaker protects your wire harness From overload, it is a “safety valve” that keeps too much current from going through a wire that can’t handle it. Your new alternator won’t ever be loaded with its full potential of 60 amps unless you have added more power consumers. Just don’t ever increase your circuit breaker because your original one was designed for 40amps. A FAA statement from my training 30 years ago “ a circuit breaker keeps a wire from emitting smoke”
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Thanks Kevin,
Having all sorts of problems with my electrical charging system. Mostly 48 year old wires, brittle cracked and otherwise falling apart. New almost everything including CB and battery and masterswithch. Alternator and regulator. Mechanic called today to tell me the alternator is putting out 19 volts. I think he needs to go back to A&P electrical school.
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Hi Roscoe,
As we dug into this mess of 48 year old wires we found the wiring schematic showed a 5 amp field circuit breaker for the field. None had been installed in the aircraft! Not sure how that happened but all of the recent head aches with the history on the battery, alternator and regulator would have been avoided with the breaker installed in the first place. Whoever upgraded to the 150 HP engine (NW MODS) and put in the bigger amperage alternator never bothered to even change out the wires. Super light weight wire for the field cracked all over the place. The positive lead headed to buss was only 10 guage and with the bigger alternator should have been 8 gauge. It now has all new charging and power generation wiring and original design (CB for field) installed. I am glad I had a mechanic that took the time to troubleshoot and ask why it did not have a field circuit breaker! From the history including our own, it was bad wiring. Brittle broken insulation and wire. Opens and shorts. Nightmare over I hope for a while! I started to get confused when the mechanic wanted to install a cb where one had not been before. I hope this post helps others trouble shoot their charging system. I also learned if you have working original solenoids to leave them in! I thought it would be good preventative to change them out with Lamar. I called the Lamar factory and talked to their production engineer, he told me the old ones if still sealed and working to leave them in there. So from the source, I was advised to leave my older units in there, the master relay and battery relay on the firewall. Changed out the old electric pump however. Found someone had wired that in with a automotive crimp connector.
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