so-mars

hey my alternator (purchased from Advance Auto) which i have replaced a few times on warrantee for various reasons, nothing really big... this last time i installed it i actually did everything 100% properly (as opposed to the first couple tries lol) and was getting 14 to 14.5V constant through it day or night (depending on temperature as the docs say), and all internal lights/electronics working properly

well i have had that installed properly for a couple months

decided to take a trip 3 hours out to charlotte for POTD show last weekend

on the way home fukr dropped to about 12V and would hang mostly over 12V but occasionally dipping below 12V (and hence draining the battery at that point downward spiral to total failure)

didnt realize until today when i went to look at it real close (instead of just jiggling wires which fixed it before)

well the freakin B terminal where the power goes, the one with the o-ring connection

MELTED LIKE ALMOST ALL THE WAY OFF... freakin thing is a stub now

i had to clean both ends off with a wire brush to clean off the corrosion and its
working fine again now at 14-14.5V

but i'm concerned that it's going to melt again and/or something along those lines


anyone had any problem like this?
anything i can do about it?
any idea what is causing it?

Syonyk

Excessive resistance, causing heat when current was flowing.

Can't tell you for sure what was causing the excess resistance, though. You mentioned it was corroded and you had to sand that off - that corrosion might have been enough to cause the issues on a long trip.

-=Russ=-

RETed

...or...
It was loose.
A loose connection would also increase resistance and cause arcing, which increases heat at the connection.


-Ted