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High output Alternator wiring

44K views 26 replies 13 participants last post by  chadjones99 
#1 ·
For those who have a High output alternator, How did you run your new power cable? I seen it ran from alternator to a fuse to the passenger side battery, Then, from that battery to the secondary battery on the drivers side. Or,, from alternator to one wire to each battery directly, both fused. Which way ????? what about new ground wires??? :dunno::dunno: i'm dyin to put in my new alternator!!!!!
 
#2 ·
anyone out there?
 
#3 ·
Run the new harness to the passenger side battery. Replace the passenger side ground to the engine with a heavier gauge cable and use a conductive grease once you've cleaned the connection down to bare metal. Then run a second heavy gauge cable parallel with the OEM one then replace the drivers side ground to the frame with a heavier gauge cable using conductive grease.
 
#4 ·
also redo the cable from passenger battery to the starter with a heavier guage wire
 
#5 ·
YES, that too. LOL
 
#6 ·
Also, by adding a 0 guage wire from alternator to passenger positive battery alone will see a significant increase in voltage output.
 
#7 ·
I essentially did as they guys above posted. I left the OEM wiring and then piggy backed with #2 copper. I have dual alts and did this for both. I added 200a fuses (Mega brand) to each alt to battery feed. Also be sure to upgrade your grounds with the same size wire as on the positive leads. I also piggy backed the cab to frame, cab to motor, and motor to frame grounds with #2 copper welding wire.

Upon cold start my Insight shows up to 14.4 v with just the upper alt working (DC Power TAD 190). I have the lower alt wired to provide a dedicated 100a DC charge circuit for my Lance camper.
 
#8 ·
I had no increase in voltage with upgraded wiring and a DC 190

also why are you waiting to install your alternator ? unless you have a lot of accessories that you plan to run and are going to be drawing a lot of amps
you could run a 1000 amp alternator on the OEM wiring without issues

caution when running all the cables you are increasing the chance of a fire by a lot
specially if you run a cable between the two batteries

fuses , insulation and chafe protection are your friends
 
#9 ·
#10 ·
you guys installing these 0 gauge wires over top the oem wiring?
 
#11 ·
That's correct. Unless your running 200amp or above with a lot of accessories, IMO, all you need is to piggy back a 0 guage from the alternator post to the positive side passenger battery, which pulls the most current. I have a DC power 185amp alternator and the 0 guage and what a difference that made for voltage. My next upgrade is a BPD 48v 4phase FICM.
 
#13 ·
Quick question for you on this. I also have the DC Power 185 amp alternator, and installed it using the factory connections. I am seeing over 14 at idle also with just factory wiring connector.

For the difference in voltage, was that when you went to the 185 amp alternator, or after you added the 0 gauge wiring to the new alternator? I wasn't aware that I needed upgraded wiring, or might see a benefit in upgrading the wiring.

Thanks for your input.
 
#15 ·
Only thing about using ordinary welding cable is that over time moisture in the air migrates down the strands and oxidizes the surface of the wires if your using crimp on connectors. Oxidation equals resistance. Best choice would be cables where the strands are tinned such as the type put out by Locomotive. Don't like the look of cables piggy backing OEM cables. To me it looks too much like a hillbilly fixer-upper.


Sent from AutoGuide.com App
 
#18 ·
I used mostly Tristar dual jacketed portable power and welding cable with crimped and heat shrink sealed connectors. It's flexible, has a high strand count, and is easy to work with. I used one length of 1/0 DLO cable for an alternator/engine to a central frame ground, and it was a pain to work with.
 
#16 · (Edited)
There is difference on opinion on whether you should upgrade the stock cable wires. If you dont have any advanced accessories (HHO stereos, massive LED off road grille lights etc) and you upgrade to just the DC power 185, your stock cables should be just fine. When I talked to DC power and a Ford tech, they both advised anything below 200amp and no accessories should be just fine with stock cables. Even then, you will still see a voltage increase by piggy back a 0 guage wire with 0-ring terminals from the alternator post to the positive pass battery. Yoou can also go an additional by adding an 0-guage from pass positive to the driver side positive. Once you start going 200amps and above with lots of accessories, you will need to do the 0 guage upgrade, as well as upgrading the ground wires to a 1/0 gawg. And some guys go even further by adding fuses and external rectifiers. The goal is to have a clean reliable source of current.

I myself, did the DC power 185 oem series, and piggy backed 0-guage wire from the alternator post to passenger side positive, and 0-gauge from the passenger positive over to the driver positive. I did this the same time as the alternator upgrade. I left all of the stock cables alone, including the ground wires. 0-guage wire is an inexpensive super easy upgrade. You will need one 2-3ft wire for alternator post to pass pos, and 6ft wire from pass positive battery to driver positive battery. I got mine from NAPA for $4.69 per foot. After the upgrade, I'm seeing 14.6 volts. Only thing I have accessory wise is DDM tuning 55w 5000k HID head and fog lights and they are super bright now lol. And keep in mind i have napa super duty commercial grade 1190cca batteries
 
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#17 ·
There is difference on opinion on whether you should upgrade the stock cable wires. If you dont have any advanced accessories (HHO stereos, massive LED off road grille lights etc) and you upgrade to just the DC power 185, your stock cables should be just fine. When I talked to DC power and a Ford tech, they both advised anything below 200amp and no accessories should be just fine with stock cables. Even then, you will still see a voltage increase by piggy back a 0 guage wire with 0-ring terminals from the alternator post to the positive pass battery. Yoou can also do the same by adding an addition 0-guage from alternator post to driver side positive. Once you start going 200amps and above with lots of accessories, you will need to do the 0 guage upgrade, as well as upgrading the ground wires to a 1/0 gawg. And some guys go even further by adding fuses and external rectifiers. The goal is to have a clean reliable source of current.

I myself, did the DC power 185 oem series, and piggy backed 0-guage wire from the alternator post to the driver side battery positive and passenger side positive. I did this the same time as the alternator upgrade. I left all of the stock cables alone, including the ground wires. 0-guage wire is an inexpensive super easy upgrade. You will need two 2-3ft wire for both sides (alternator post to pass pos, and alternator post to driver poss). I got mine from NAPA for $4.69 per foot. After the upgrade, I'm seeing 14.6 volts. Only thing I have accessory wise is DDM tuning 55w 5000k HID head and fog lights and they are super bright now lol. And keep in mind i have napa super duty commercial grade 1190cca batteries
Great info, thanks!
 
#20 ·
Solder & seal your best way to do it.
On my plow trucks I do this always & never an issue again.
Die electric grease is also your friend, get it from a medium/Heavy duty truck store. You can buy a quart tub for around $10.00 or so.
If you go to auto part house it's like $3.00 or $5.00 for 2 oz.
 
#21 ·
Yep, forgot to mention the soldering step. My steps were: cut wire to length, clean HD copper lugs, slip length of battery cable heat shrink with sealant over the wire, crimp wire into lug, solder joint, let cool a bit, then slide heat shrink down over joint and heat until tight and sealant daylights at both end, let cool, install with a bit of dialectic grease on the mounting locations.
 
#23 ·
Sweet! That would make quick work of it.
 
#25 · (Edited)
So I have a issue I installed a new 200 Amp alternator , all was fine until the wire on the top of it ( charge wire ) came lose, I then added a 6 gauge to the passage side battery which on my truck look like it has the glow plug circuit on it then a heavy wire running in front of the radiator to the drive side battery. Anyway long story short it started over charging like I was getting 17 volts on a gauge in my truck and the battery light came on and the gauges on my dash went nuts. I shut it down and replaced it with the factory ALT for now and all is fine. SO could this had happed because the wire came loose ? It did not come off and short out. or could this happened when I added the extra wire ? which does not make sense but after I replaced the wire is when I seen the problem but I had not run the truck after wire came lose. Im going to take it to get fixed ( the ALT ) I just don't want to repeat issue. I just want to make sure the issue is not from running the wire to the wrong side, the factory wire looks like it may run to the drive side battery the passenger side only had two things hooked to it, the glow plug controller and the cable going to the other battery . It was the closest so that's why I ran the 2nd wire there instead of the driver side. The wire only came lose for a second and it did arc . so while the truck was running and the ALT was under a load it lost connection I guess that would mess up the rectifier ?
 
#26 ·
Wiring would not cause an overcharging condition. Sounds like the alternator is providing the overcharge whether it got messed up from the brief shorting that happened or it's coincidental and it just failed. 6 gauge wire to the battery seems kinda of small for a 200 amp alternator I would replace it with at a minimum of 2 gauge and install an inline fuse.
 
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