I had a good auto electric shop put a new alternator in my skid steer because the original would only work with an old style voltage regulator and they are obsolete. It normally needs the engine revved up (after warm up)for the alt. light to go off. After that it can be idled down and stays charging. The light seems to be very faint once the batteries are fully charged. Checked with a volt meter is putting out 14.xx volts. Today I started it and the light stayed bright when the engine was revved up. I checked and it wasn't putting out any voltage at the alternator. After checking for voltage again I got 14.43 volts and the light went out and it seemed fine. It's a 2 wire Leece Neville alternator with internal regulator. Can the voltage regulator stick and not allow any charging current and could checking volts with a meter have unstuck it? Has never acted like that before.
Hard to know as i dont know how the alt was rewired. But if it was me converting the system, i would removed the original external reg and wired the exciter wire from the alternator directly to the alternator warning lamp and other side of lamp to an ignition source. As the lamp was lit, it rules out an circuit issue if done this way. My guess is you had a brush stick on your regulator. Playing with it may of freed it up.
The guy that it did was very experienced. One of the last jobs he did before he closed the shop and retired. Tried half a dozen electronic voltage regulators on the OEM alternator and none worked. I was working with very dusty dry topsoil so wondering if dust could have got into the alternator? It seemed like touching the leads from the volt meter to the output stud and a mounting bolt made it work so maybe it was a stuck brush or dust possibly?? It started working so I'm happy for that. I'll have to monitor it. I could try blowing it out with an air nozzle.
I don't if it is possible to put Delco alternator on your skid steer. They are an inexpensive replacement in many applications. To wire one is extremely simple. They are referred to as a one wire alternator. But, The ones I have installed need to have a self-exciting regulator put in them. It eliminates the need to speed up the engine rpms to get it to start charging at near idle speed.
The 2 wire was much easier to fit on my machine. I don't mind that on initial start it needs a little more RPM to start charging. It has been working great for quite a few years now. I was just wondering if something could stick or maybe dust could cause it not to charge.
I tried the machine out today for a little bit and everything is back to normal. Alt. light stays on and goes off once revved up and after that stays off even at idle. Maybe was just a stuck brush.