90 Alternator - Machine or battery sensed?

Hi
Need to replace the alternator on a 1985 2.25 90 non aircon, there are 2 choices Machine or battery sensed, old alternator has no markings to help.

Any ideas on how to tell which I need.

Existing has 3 terminals in the socket if that helps

Pt #s for the two are RTC5083 (machine) and 5088 (battery)

Cheers
Jim

You could take the alternator to an auto electrician and have it rebuilt, probably cost you about 40 and it will come back good as new. They will also be able to tell you for future reference.

Hi cheers for the reply, the old one isnt an original landy part, its a bit "lightwieght" and a replacement Hopefully shouldnt cost anymore than 40.

Can anyone tell me whats the difference between a Machine and battery sensed alternator, maybe then I can work out which I need

they sense the voltage output in different ways. the only reason/way i know about this is that if you have a split charge system (most notably the blocking diode ones) it is best to have battery sensed. this way the alternator gets a true reading on the state of the battery, rather than what it "thinks" the battery reading is. the reason being that the blocking diodes (isolator) saps a few volts from the system so the charge is negligable, where as if you had a battery sensed alternator, the split charge would work much more efficiently.

I would have though that yours is not a battery sensed alternator and is just standard.

G