Quote:
Originally Posted by Diseasel300
Coming from someone involved in the power generation industry, that is utter nonsense. This harkens back to the old myth that a generator running unloaded will build up a dangerous discharge of voltage and explode.
A self-excited alternator can run a vehicle without a battery connected with no ill effect provided that the load doesn't exceed its production capacity. I have personally started several cars without batteries using only jumper cables, then disconnecting and insulating the leads to move the vehicle and never had an alternator fail from that.
If the alternator packed up from a loose connection it was due to arcing at the battery lead causing EMF spikes flashing back at the alternator, or it was a POS alternator to begin with. I'd strongly lean towards the latter.
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Nonsense to nonsense. This alternator is very far from unloaded. An alternator that's busy charging a run down battery will generate a huge inductive spike if the battery cable is suddenly removed. Without the battery to absorb the spike, something nasty can happen to the alternator (and/or the OVP if so equipped). Since you were probably jumping from a fully charged battery or a running car, the jumped circuit didn't present much of a load. But in this case, the battery is obviously run down. It would be a shame to go through a couple of alternators before a loose or dirty ground strap was identified and repaired. One useful precaution would be to charge the battery off the car before installing the new alternator.