<VV> Idiot light / voltage reg issues

[Clark Hartzel]

Today I tried a small indicator light bulb and plastic socket from a dash.
The light stays on with the engine running and revving the engine didn't
make it go out.  This time the alternator didn't charge at all!  I tried a
jumper wire across the bulb connections and that caused the regulator to
kick into the charge mode.  After a few seconds of the jumper wire, the
voltage regulator started smoking on the bottom so I removed the jumper.  As
an experiment I cut off all the strands of wire except one tiny strand at
each end and then tried it again.  This worked and the tiny strand of wire
wouldn't carry enough current to cause the regulator to smoke.  I think I
have convinced myself that you do need a resistor parallel to the bulb to
make things work properly.  Now to find a 10-20 Ohm resistor!
Clark Hartzel