The weather finally got all cold, grey, and rainy and so I had the chance to operate the wipers, defrost fan, rear defrost, and lights all at the same time.

This sent my "Amp" gauge down to less than zero and filled me with some concern.
On my return trip home from work/school I noticed that while sitting at a light, the wipers began to move *very* slowly, but when I reved the car up, they were better. I was only using wipers an headlights.

This is a 1971 D-Jet with a B20E and AC. While I have not looked too closely at it, I assumed that I had an decent alternator in here, but I'm a bit perplexed by the low power availability when I was running just wipers and headlights.

I'm also unsure about the "AMP" gauge. I'm quite familiar with low power problems from my 67 Amazon - which I gave an alternator upgrade. The soft red glow light is a regular fixture in my Amazon experience (I put a voltage gauge in the Amazon so that I could monitor the actual power situation)

I was happy to see a built-in power monitor on the 1800. However, I'm not sure what's going on here. My 1800's amp gauge goes from -50 to +50, but it usually hovers around 10-14 amps, depending on my rpms. When I have a few systems going, it hovers around 0-3 or less (<0). Is this normal? What's the baseline here? Are my power options still as limited as an Amazon with a generator?
Also, the "Amp" light has yet to come on during a low power period - I figure that it's a sign that everything is still working, but the low readings worry me.

I'm taking my trusty 945 tomorrow (it's better in nasty weather), but I'd like to keep using the "little monster" as long as the weather is nice. So any help keeping the 1800 going until the "transplant" is greatly appredicated.

--
1967 P220 Amazon, 1972 145S, 1976 245 DL, 1983 245 DL, 1986 745 GLE, 1990 745 GL, 1995 945....
You mean to tell me that Volvo makes cars that are *NOT* Wagons?!?
1971 P1800E... Not a wagon, but it's just a donor car for the Amazon..