Help a zj owner with charging prob (long winded)

[outlander]

97 zj 4.0 laredo
I took my pcm apart to fix a stalling issue (reflowed solder on connector pins)that fixed that but something in the voltage reg circuit didnt like being apart so my alt stopped charging and check gauges light in dash came on.(the day after i repaired the ecm)
That happened after a couple run cycles....

I knew about the stock volt reg bypass mod so i went out and got a external voltage regulator and wired it up.
The first one lasted a couple of run cycles and stopped charging.

Got a different brand from autozone (duralast vr722)and it lasted a couple of run cycles and overcharged....pegged out at 19 volts verified by dvm on batt terminals.

Again i went and returned it and now the new one started off like the others charging well at 14.7 volts and within 2 run cycles it stopped charging.

Battery is less than a year old but still need to take it for a load test to rule it out.(checks good with dvm and maintains 12.6 v overnight)

Im starting to think something is shorting inside the alt causing regs to fry?

Thinking it was a wiring prob i reverified that i have reg wired right,check battery connections,grounds,alt fusible link and made sure regulator had immaculate ground to where i mounted it to firewall.

All connections are clean and tight.....

Scratching my head as to why these regulators only last a couple of short trips?Could it be they are light duty (could not get any specs on them as to what they handle only that they are 12volt..lol)

Should i just bite the bullet and get a new alt?
Funny that alt stopped charging after i took pcm apart after a couple run cycles and these external regs are doing the same thing....

Glad the regulator on my xj isnt in the pcm...

 

[Green Mesa XJ]

I can't think of a good reason for these regulators to fail. Unless there is a flaw in the manufacturing, hd and regular should be more than stout enough to handle the load.
I know they might not look like much but they should be more than tough enough.

Are your battery cables in good shape?

Alternator doesn't seem to be failing but if it's not hard to pull you might get it tested for what that's worth

 

[Green Mesa XJ]

FYI the regulator sold with the kits is transpo c8313. It's probably the same part as a lot of others. But that one is supposed to be HD.

 

[go1lum]

I would go back into the ecu. I bet you flowed solder where it wasnt supposed to make a connection. I just had to do the capacitor fix in my 94 and seen people with this exact problem. Somewhere in these 20 pages a few guys have the same problem after soldering.http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f12/crash-course-brain-surgery-replacing-capacitors-ecu-492597/

 

[outlander]

*update*
I took the battery and the alternator to the parts store yesterday.

The alt passed 3 test runs (i suspected it would but want to make sure it didnt have a 'flying short' and i made sure to tap on the shell of the alt with a pair of pliers to rule out a loose winding or brush)

Then they did a load test on the battery and the machine said battery was defunct so i got a new one under warranty.Installed a new voltage reg and double checked the connections and did voltage drop tests on main cables.

I drove it all day today and the indash voltgauge stayed a hair above 14v with lights and heater on.

I guess the battery was the reason the external regs stopped working (they are solid state so maybe they have some duty cycle reset because i noticed one i had stopped charging but the next day after disconnecting power to it to trouble shoot it worked again for a short time.)

Also ran a ground wire from alt frame to one of the screws on the reg.Some online articles say to do this and some dont.