Buried in my post from yesterday (about an intermittent charging issue)
is a question about the wore-out brushes on the voltage regulator.  The
reg/brushes can't have more than 20,000 miles but were worn to nubbins,
less than 1/8'' long.

Fortunately I had my old voltage regulator which probably has 70,000
miles on it and its brushes were much longer so I swapped it in and the
charging system is working fine.

What can cause brushes to wear quickly?

Do different brands of brushes wear differently? (The ones that wore out
quickly were on an aftermarket adjustable voltage regulator, my old one
with the still-long brushes is a factory type).

Could something have happened within the alternator to speed brush wearing?

--
Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
Bend, Ore.
1984 Westfalia. A poor but proud people.
1971 "Ladybug"-brand utility trailer ca. 1972 from a defunct company in
San Clemente, Calif., now repurposed as The Westrailia.

Sent from my kitchen.