Electrical charging Problems please help

[63buicknailhead]

Im having problems with my 63 lesabre 401 nailhead, The alternator isnt charging, I purchased a new alternator and nothing, purchased a new voltage regulator and nothing . Im not getting a charge to the battery. What are my options on finding the problem.

[63buicknailhead]

I just went out and tried grounding the field terminal on the aternator and the car still stalled when removing terminal on battery. What is that little tube next to the voltage regulator that actually plugs in under the alternator could that be the problem? Im thinking its some sort of old relay or something.

[65specialconvert]

well you probably just damaged either the reg or alternator by grounding the field.it is an "B"circuit system,meaning you POWER the field to energize it.first test for battery voltage at the batt terminal on the back of the alt.if that good,POWER (12v)the F terminal at the back of the alt.you should see 15+v,more as rpms increase.the little tube thing is a capacator,it absorbs voltage/ignition spikes.think of it as a shock absorber for your electrical system.the system will charge regardles of that being good or bad.ive seen less than 5 bad ones in 25+ years.also DO NOT test a charging system by pulling a battery cable.i cant stress this enough.you can do serious damage,one guy on another board did it & blew every bulb in his car.its also hard on the charging system if it is in fact charging,because you just interupted the current path,now the current has nowhere to go(transient voltage)and will go to ungodly voltages depending on rpm seeking a path to complete the circuit.

[Rivman]

The little tube thing is actually a capacitor that is supposed to supress static and any electrical interferance noise generated by the voltage regulator, from your car radio.
NEVER disconnect the battery cable, or any wiring with the engine running !
This could be dangerous to you, and damage your charging system !