DC3
Well-known member
I put a pretty decent stereo in my '73 a few years back. I had some alternator whine noise in the system that I've been trying to solve ever since. I read everything on the web I could find. Re-installed equipment a couple of times. Verified all grounds. Verified the noise was not coming through the antenna lead. Verified the noise was not being picked up by the RCA cables. Rerouted all cables away from other sources. Installed filters on the incoming red and yellow leads to the head unit. I tried most every trick in the stereo noise book but still had the whine. The volume of the stereo, the engine and the road noise masked the sound when cruising so it wasn't a huge deal but I did want to eliminate the noise.
So, I found this at Corvette Central:
Link: http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb...T5157HSY99645120150x~Z5Z5Z5YES~Z5Z5Z50000050G
Didn't really want to pay the Corvette premium and guessed this was nothing more than a capacitor. I also didn't want to potentially waste $20 experimenting. So I searched the internet again and came across this site:
http://www.avweb.com/news/maint/182896-1.html
In the article, the author talks about using a 0.5 to 50 microfarad capacitor as an alternator filter.
So, I headed for Radio Shack and picked up this 47 microfarad capacitor:
Link: https://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12424832&numProdsPerPage=60
I actually used the 35 volt version as that's all my local Radio Shack had.
Installed this capacitor across the terminals on the back of the alternator and the whine is gone. Finally.
Note if you try this that these capacitors have a definite positive and negative terminal. You have to get it right or you'll blow the capacitor. You can see in the picture above, the stripe has arrow heads that point to the negative terminal. This negative terminal goes to the ground terminal on the alternator. Keep the leads as short as possible.
To install, I soldered some ring terminals onto the capacitor and encased it all in heat shrink tubing filled with RTV silicone. This particular capacitor is an electrolytic capacitor and is only rated at 185 degrees so it may not last. If not, I'll find one more appropriate for the environment but now I know the fix will work.
Hope this helps someone else.
DC
So, I found this at Corvette Central:
Link: http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb...T5157HSY99645120150x~Z5Z5Z5YES~Z5Z5Z50000050G
Didn't really want to pay the Corvette premium and guessed this was nothing more than a capacitor. I also didn't want to potentially waste $20 experimenting. So I searched the internet again and came across this site:
http://www.avweb.com/news/maint/182896-1.html
In the article, the author talks about using a 0.5 to 50 microfarad capacitor as an alternator filter.
So, I headed for Radio Shack and picked up this 47 microfarad capacitor:
Link: https://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12424832&numProdsPerPage=60
I actually used the 35 volt version as that's all my local Radio Shack had.
Installed this capacitor across the terminals on the back of the alternator and the whine is gone. Finally.
Note if you try this that these capacitors have a definite positive and negative terminal. You have to get it right or you'll blow the capacitor. You can see in the picture above, the stripe has arrow heads that point to the negative terminal. This negative terminal goes to the ground terminal on the alternator. Keep the leads as short as possible.
To install, I soldered some ring terminals onto the capacitor and encased it all in heat shrink tubing filled with RTV silicone. This particular capacitor is an electrolytic capacitor and is only rated at 185 degrees so it may not last. If not, I'll find one more appropriate for the environment but now I know the fix will work.
Hope this helps someone else.
DC
:devil:
