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Upgraded alternator, upgrade wiring?


ronclark

ronclark

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I just upgraded my moms bronco II alt to a 130 amp 3G alt, and looking at the stock wiring. i am wondering if i should install some heaver gauge wiring from the alt to the battery.
looking like on the wiring diagram it should be just a leg from the back of the alt stud to the battery.
to me it would seem better since it does not have to travel all the way around the engine compartment before getting to the battery.

Any thoughts?
 


RonD

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Yes, that's fine to do, but you do need to use an inline fuse, mega fuse makes those.

Starter solenoid post is usually used because it's direct to battery and just easier to deal with as far as the connection, but you still need the fuse.
 
ronclark

ronclark

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30
RonD said:
Yes, that's fine to do, but you do need to use an inline fuse, mega fuse makes those.

Starter solenoid post is usually used because it's direct to battery and just easier to deal with as far as the connection, but you still need the fuse.
Click to expand...
Cool, thanks for the info. I figured I was missing something. What size of fuse would be good to use? How about a breaker?

I was trying to find a write up on a wiring upgrade, but really did not find anything maybe wrong key words

Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using Tapatalk 2
 

RonD

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I would use a fuse that is close to, but not over, the alternators output, i.e. 125amp.

The original wire or wires connected to the alternators B+ post would have Fusible Links.
Fusible links are similar to fuse but allow short time overloads without burning out.

Circuit breaker would be fine if you can find one that is rated thermally to 250deg(engine compartment is hot), marine rated as well for water resistance.
Also use one that has a manual reset, not automatic reset.
Usually circuit breakers are used on the "load" wiring, i.e. a winch or on-board compressor, but no reason you couldn't use it on the alternators output.
But if it tripped I would check things carefully before resetting it, which is why automatic reset would be a bad idea
 
ronclark

ronclark

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Woodland, WA
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1987
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Ford
Engine Type
4.0 V6
Engine Size
95 4.0 with 93 ECU
Transmission
Manual
2WD / 4WD
4WD
Total Lift
2
Tire Size
30
I decided to make it simple on myself and stopped at pick apart and for $2.00 I got a alt wire off a gen 1 explorer.
Cant top that for the price and it was plug and play. It really seemed to help keep the voltage up.
 
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