volt gauge woe

[LanciaDave]

Does anyone know if the volt gauge on the dash is required for the car to be charging? The reason I ask is that I had a Fiat 124 where that was the case. If it was not working correctly(perhaps it was a light), car would not charge correctly.
I believe I disturbed an old wiring fault/repair while changing the speedo cable and now gauge seems not to be working. I'm sure battery was run down and I charged a bit before test drive. After a while I had to turn off the HPE and then when ai went to restart, nothing. I know, I could be looking at two (or more) faults but just wanted to be sure one wasn't leading to the other. If anyone knows for sure.

Dave
across the pond

[peteracs]

Hi

There is a red lamp on the dash which shows if the alternator is charging, that should be on when you initially turn the key, but should go off when you start and rev the engine. The volt meter in itself should not cause a problem with charging, but may be a sign of something else being disconnected.

You can of course use a separate meter to check if you are getting approx 14V with the engine running at the battery.

Peter