quote:battery negative to vehicle ground alternator ground to vehicle ground alternator positive to battery positive (if you have a high output alternator)
i dont have my HO alt yet and the alt positive to batt made a WORLD of a difference. I say with or without a HO alt, this is very important. Why would you run all 2 or even 0 ga wire only to have the 10-12 ga bottleneck at the alt? when the car is running, the system is feeding off that little alt wire.
that is true. but for some reason this usualy goes against manufacture's recommendations.. they say use no larger than 4 gauge for any alternator most of the time... i disbelieve that myself as i use 2/0 for this wire but thats what they say... i dont want to have anyones warranties be canceled because of something i said on here...
Posts: 1854 | From: freezing in FAIRBANKS ALASKA | Registered: Aug 2000
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Do you know WHY the manufacturers say don't use larger than 4 gauge for alt cable?
Also this is very confusing for me, understanding which wires and from where to where need to be upgraded. Ok, I know I have to upgrade the batt neg to chassis ground. I got 0 gauge and a Stinger ground terminal block for that. I also know that my amps in the trunk will have to be grounded so I got another ground terminal (where to ground them?) and 0 gauge for that also.
For under the hood, I know that I should upgrade the alt to batt+ cable. It is 4 gauge stock, and has a black rubber/plastic boot over it. If I upgrade it to 0 gauge, do I need some kind of boot like this over the new wire? I don't want it to melt or anything...........
Last, I know I have to upgrade the engine ground. This is where I am confused about what was being said about the alt bracket. Is it supposed to be anywhere on the engine block, to a chassis ground, which would be the alt bracket? The alt bracket counts as a chassis ground? So I would need 2 more of those Stinger ground block terminals, one on the engine, one on the alt bracket? How much 0 gauge wire would I need for both alt to batt, and engine to chassis ground?
Thanks.
Posts: 8 | From: Upstate NY | Registered: Oct 2002
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What we did in our system, was to run a 1/0 wire from our battery bank up to the front where we had a spot on the chassis that we used as a " distribution block " for all of our grounds to come together at. The 2 ho alts did ground thru the block and our measured resistance from that point to the chassis was extremely low, so it made a good place to hook up at. Keep in mind that the braided straps you see are there to ground the vehicle's sheet metal body into the grounding of the electrical system. I learned that one from pick'em up trucks!!! Pay attention to this when looking for upgrades.
quote:Originally posted by GheTToBaSS: Do you know WHY the manufacturers say don't use larger than 4 gauge for alt cable?
i was told the same thing by two well known alternator companies, and yet, i just could not believe what they were saying... (too little resistance is bad????) as i said, i use 2/0 ought cable for positive and negative and no problems at all, daily driver too
Posts: 1854 | From: freezing in FAIRBANKS ALASKA | Registered: Aug 2000
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Hi Meade is right Alt to batt wire 4 awg at least... -Btw nice Honda Meade- And it makes an audible difference, believe me, even with a stock alt
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i totally agree with the big 3 upgrades. i also have a 2001 ford ranger and would really like to know how to upgrade the positive battery to alternator. i could not figure out how to upgrade it.
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Hi s There are 2 ways: 1.Keep your original wiring connected and just run a bigger wire from alt to batt Be sure to protect it properly from heat and all mechanical parts around 2.strip all your original alt to batt wire and run a thicker wire in the stock location In my Nissan Sentra there was a 'fuseable' piece of wire in the alt to batt wiring, so I went route 1 Btw, welcome to the forum s
quote:Originally posted by SPLed: Hi Meade is right Alt to batt wire 4 awg at least... -Btw nice Honda Meade- And it makes an audible difference, believe me, even with a stock alt
i havent been around here in a while...........
hey, thanks man.
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so...i can add an extra ground? it cant hurt to have more than one ground? and what exactly are 'star washers' can i ask for them by this name? sounds interesting, and what grease do i use? dielectric? ive never heard of it, cant i silicone the connection to protect it?
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auto parts stores have dielectric grease. it is kinda expensive for a 3oz. tube. as for star washers hardware stores should have them. they are almost like normal washers but jaged edge all the way around it.
make this kinda simple too.
to upgrade your wires use 4ga or bigger wire.
first and most important your alt. wire, disconnect or cut or leave it there, run your new wire from the post on your alt. to your + battery.
next is your battery ground. you can do 3 but the first 2 is the most important of them. 1-battery to frame. 2-battery to engine block. bolt off of a bracket will work. sometimes there is holes in your block for different stuff to bolt onto. you can use one of those holes with a new bolt. 3-engine block to frame.
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i'd say about a 2 hour job, just did mine a few days ago. alot easier than you think. i was very skiddish when i opened the hood and couldnt find the wires i was looking for. step back about 3 feet open your eyes relax and they just kinda show up. i had my head as close to everything as i could and didnt see it. i looked at the bigger picture and there they were. unfortunately i had to take out my bat to get to the engineblock to ground wire but other than that it was cake. DONT pay someone to do it. pull out the grill to the driveway a cooler of beverage the tool chest and enjoy
Posts: 471 | From: burlington vt | Registered: Oct 2002
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