On 5/6/2011 1:40 PM, Wayne B wrote:
On Fri, 06 May 2011 08:32:12 -0700, Stephen Trapani
wrote:

Do you have the
Fluke switched to DC amps, and on the correct scale?

Yes. I'll ask the guy who loaned me the Fluke to be sure.

I called Fluke. The setting I used was supposed to give me straight DC
current. So...mystery NOT solved. Where's that damned Larry when you
need him???

Unfortunately Larry has been MIA for a while now.

You could try him he larryw4csc -at- gmail -dot- com

Wilbur is correct that the alternator puts out pulsed DC but the Fluke
should average that out to the correct value. The load of the battery
also acts as a giant capacitor to further smooth the output.

I think at this point you'll need to try temporarily replacing your
other ammeter with a high quality shunt type unit and see what you
get. As I understand it the output of your alternator goes directly
to one side of your ammeter, and from the other side, directly to the
battery?

Yes, but from the other side of the ammeter directly to the battery
_switch_. So the Fluke was around the wire heading to the ammeter.

Stephen