Hi Oldduke,

My experience is limited to car alternators. Cars of family and friends. Have done a few on old Honda, Mitsu, Alfa and currently Volvo. Definitely not on any battle tanks ; )

Yes that copper contactors on the alt shaft are the slip rings. Bosch alt used on our RWD Volvos comes in two varieties. The one with external fan (EF) and the other with internal fan (IF). For external fan variety you could see a metal fan installed next to the pulley.

Yes you must separate the two-halves of the alt casing/body in order to replace the slip rings. IF alt's slip rings are easier to replace as its solder points are well laid out near the armature. These could be easily unsoldered off prior to pulling the old rings out.




Unfortunately its a bit of a challenge to replace the rings on the EF alt. One of the copper wires (from armature) is routed INSIDE the slip rings assembly within a groove (next to the shaft). If you break this wire (in trying to pull out the old rings) you are left with one shorter copper wire to begin with. If this happens (actually not a difficult repair) it is quite disheartening experience. I'd recommend using a Dremel to split the old rings in two (for removal from alt shaft) in order to preserve this internal wire. Solder it off the split ring afterwards.




Regards,
Amarin.