alternator wire

[digitaldrifter91]

well i have a 86 300zx and im running an aftermarket 2x12'' fans, a stereo system with an amp.

i changed my alternator and noticed that the battery wire is very small, its like a 14 guage and the ground is like a 16 guage wire.

now if i upgrade those both to a standard thin stranded copper (for power) and silver (for ground) do you think it will be worth it? im thinking either 10 guage or 8 guage wire will be ok...if not more.

thanks!

 

[labman]

I doubt it. If it isn't putting out enough to cause the wire to heat up, replacing the wire shouldn't help. Likely the original wire was adequate for the power the original alternator put out. If you upgraded to a higher output alternator, then you may need to upgrade the wire. Clean connections are important too.

 

[mechtech]

Many upgrade their power and ground leads, with beneficial results.
You can run a parallel wire, and additional grounds, as well. Don't forget to run a good ground to the body.

 

[TheTanSedan]

I upgrade on mine. Three vehicles lately with 2/0 cabling for charge/start system. Overkill, yeah, but better than stock in construction and size plus easier to service and will never have to replace.

http://forum.sounddomain.com/forum/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=007801

 

[digitaldrifter91]

do you use stiff cable like battery or can u use thinner stranded like for amplifiers and car audio?

 

[labman]

Solid, or 7, 19, or more strands all carry the same current for a given gauge. The more strands the more flexible and easier to work with and stands flexing better.

 

[digitaldrifter91]

well...i am not sure how much strands is a regular 10 or 8 guage power wire, it seems like alot...so basically your saying that the bigger is better mostlikely? but what im going to do is, run the factory one and then run the new wire at the same time...

i do have extra wire hanging aroiund hehe

 

[labman]

Most automotive wire is 19 strand.

 

[digitaldrifter91]

haha the amp wire is like at least plenty more than that thin stranded....

 

[olympic]

I say go for it, it can only improve things as the factory wire is generally barely adequate. I used #8 between the alternator and battery and #2 between the battery, starter and body. Just make sure you protect the cables with split loom and secure them away from anything that moves or gets hot.

 

[digitaldrifter91]

now u use wire right, do you put a fuse on it? to protect it? my car has fusable links but if i run a power from the battery isnt that "unprotected" so if there is a short that wire is going to burn?

 

[brianl703]

The fuse or fusible link between the alternator and the battery is required to prevent a diode failure from causing a melt-down by shorting out the battery.

 

[digitaldrifter91]

but lets say i put an additional wire, do i just fuse that or something?

 

[The_Jeff]

You should run one wire that's bigger and fuse that the same rating as the original.

You can get big inline fuses intended for audio amplifiers, get a fuse slightly bigger than the alternator's max amp rating if you can't find the original rating of your fusible link.

 

[digitaldrifter91]

ok ill do that, i may upgrade the alternator to a bigger one cause i am still having voltage issues...look at my other thread in this forum.

thanks for the help.

 

[AcuraTech]

Somewhat off topic - I always laugh when people bring their cars into our shop and have 0 or 2 gauge wire running to the stereo amp. What a waste of copper.

 

[digitaldrifter91]

haha i laugh when someone has a solid core wire going to their amp and radio!!!...at our shop we get everything from power wire inside fenders to under the car to the most ghetto stuff.

offtopic though haha.

i also crack up when a 0 guage wire is at the flee market and when u strip it its an 8 guage lol!!!

 

[Master ACiD]

check youre grounds. make sure you have a really good ground going from the engine to the chassis, from the battery to the chassis, and from the battery to the engine.

 

[digitaldrifter91]

ok check this out. i ran a power and a ground 8 guage from the alternator to battery and to chassis ground which was cleaned etc.

i just put in the new alternator and everything is good, when i turn on all but one thing (lights, stereo, aux lights, ac, rear defrost). any combo of those the last one will make the systems voltage drop to about 12.7 or lower but raise when i revv the car. normally everything will be fine at 13.5 until the last acc is turned on.

now what gets me is that the new wire from the power of the alternator isnt even hooked up, so i probe it to see what its getting at the alternator, its reading like 14.2 volts when the batteryt is reading 13.5 volts, and when the car is around 12.7 volts the alternator is around 14 volts.

so i tag the wire from the alternator to the battery terminal and then read voltage, no change whatso ever.

so can anyone enlighten me?

86 300zx nissan NA...

stock came with a 70 amp alternator, i just replaced it with a maxima alternator 91 that is 90 amps.

thanks.

 

[labman]

There is a minimum RPM for the alternator to turn out 90 amps. It is possible that at idle, it is not putting out as much everything is using. Used to be a fairly common problem with the old generators that didn't put out nearly as much at idle.