1984 ford E350 chassis van terra turtle top motorhome

But did you do as Chris Bryant suggested 10 days ago? His point was that the alternator charges both the Chassis and House Batteries. If the House Battery somehow is presenting an excess load, maybe a short, an auto-reset circuit breaker could be heating up and tripping, then cooling into reset and applying that load again. Again AND again, actually.
Have you/Can you find where the House ties into the Chassis charging system and temporarily disconnect it? If the problem is in the House Battery itself, disconnecting the Battery could release the load and maybe the alternator overload and release will go away. If the problem is in the wiring other than the Battery it might not. But try it if you haven't.
IF YOU DO, don't let the cabling just hang. INSULATE the bare battery cable terminals.

Sorry again folks have been really busy. I tried charging the house battery but, this did not change anything. I also removed the voltage regulator and removed all dirt, grease and paint from behind the voltage regulator and remounted it but it did not help. The guy I bought the MH from told me that he had 3 alternators put on the MH from advance auto. The way I understood it the charging problem was fixed, I have replaced it twice. Would the on board invertor cause a problem like this? I removed all of the wiring from the alternator and jumped 12 volts to field of the alternator which makes it put out as much voltage as it can. It still fluctuates but advance auto tells me it tests good. The next step for me is to go the junkyard and get an original alternator and voltage regulator and try that. I'm kind of lost to tell you the truth. I am running out of ideas fast.

the voltage regulator id bolted to the core support where the rad. is mounted. all steel mounting behind the battery.

Sorry for sending private messages still learning web site. thanks for help. I need to know where the auto reset breaker is and how to get the speedo cable unplugged from the back of the cluster

MEX wrote:
Back from the days that shops actually rebuilt starters and alternators

That was when wages were less than parts ... it's the other way around now. Everything is diposable because buying a whole new one is cheaper than fixing part of an old one. :(

I said that with YOU in mind, MEX! I found a shop back when I lived in Tampa that was a huge help. I could walk in with a dismantled (and always CLEAN) starter or alternator and Mark would bail me out. Swap parts, exchange what I had for what I needed, etc. Mark was good. Walked in one day with a starter in pieces in a box. Across the room, Mark said "460 Ford." And went on and fixed it.

Chris, I homed in on the Ammeter, missed the Headlights part.

You should have 2 batteries- sounds like the second one is dead, it's trying to charge it and the auto reset circuit breaker is kicking in and out.

Just a guess...

Back from the days that shops actually rebuilt starters and alternators"




Thanks





Yours
truly,

We had a 1983 E350 chassis. Regulator was sheet-metal-screwed to the inner side of the radiator support panel. BEHIND the Battery. Nice. Remove 50-lb battery to get at the 5-ounce regulator. I moved ours to the inner fender liner just to the right. The wiring reached.
Potential problem is loose ground connection in the Cluster or Cluster Ground.
Our Amp Gauge never worked. Coach was 15-years old when we bought it and gauge was always centered. I leaned the hard way that it stayed centered even when the Regulator went out, battery discharging, engine died on expressway...
My uncle was an auto electric specialist. Back from the days that shops actually rebuilt starters and alternators on their own bench. He always used a Volt Meter on his boats, didn't mess with Ammeters. So, I installed one of these, little single-gauge bracket, bent to catch one of the cluster screws, and it hid the OEM ammeter.
If it showed charging voltage, all was well. If not, time to investigate.
I hope you didn't have too much trouble changing that Alternator. I have a trick for that long bolt. Also a reconditioned spare 60A alternator for anybody who needs it.

Start off with the easy stuff...

Is the voltage regulator bolted to steel or is it bolted to a plastic inner fender panel?