Half done with BIG 3!! ...QUICK QUESTION!!!

[l_spade 10+ year member]

Alright, I talked to my dad and he went to college for mechanics so he may be a little rusty but when he saw my 0 gauge wire being hooked to the alternator he called me stupid and said it was a waste of money. I went with 0gauge cuz my alt is being upgraded in the future but he said that if I connect the pos batter to pos alt it will melt the alternators terminal cuz the wire is so big??? Is this possible??? (Lol, and in the first pic is my 0gauge terminal, i think i need to find a smaller one //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif)

I also have a question about where to run this wire. My factory wire does NOT have a fuse so I figured I won't fuse this wire. But to be on the safe side I want to run it up top (in the second picture) along my air intake so that there are no chances of burning the wire and shorting out. Could anything bad happen if I do it like this???

Click to read more...

 

[mannyb18b]

Tell your dad to go back to school, lol.

Looks like your fine the way you pictured it. Leave the stock wires and just add these as additional wires. You don't need to fuse em but you can if you like, just run that power wire, then ground the alt to the batt then ground to the chassis.

 

[CBFryman2 5,000+ posts]

Fuse it at the battery. Better safe than sorry. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Your dad is extremely inccorect. Smallerwires burn when large ammounts of current are passed through them, not large ones. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[mannyb18b]

Fuse it at the battery. Better safe than sorry.

There really is no need, most alts are internally regulated

 

[l_spade 10+ year member]

Awesome thanks guys //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif.

And i forgot to ask this question, I think my dad might be correct about this one: I am crimping my wires with a table vise. They are smooshed really well and are nice and tight but my dad thinks it would be way better to crimp them with an actual crimper. Do you guys think a table vise is a good crimping tool????? I will sauder (sp?) them later, for now I have them covered with electrical tape.

 

[jacka 10+ year member]

table vice works fine for me, real tight and secure.

 

[UndercoverPunk 5,000+ posts]

Awesome thanks guys //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif.
And i forgot to ask this question, I think my dad might be correct about this one: I am crimping my wires with a table vise. They are smooshed really well and are nice and tight but my dad thinks it would be way better to crimp them with an actual crimper. Do you guys think a table vise is a good crimping tool????? I will sauder (sp?) them later, for now I have them covered with electrical tape.

Soldering large guage wire is a pain in the *** IMO... not worth it... I have probably a couple dozen 1/0 ring terminals that have never come loose... I'd be willing to swing from them too... hammer + screw driver = solid.

 

[l_spade 10+ year member]

hammer + screw driver = solid.

That is a grand idea.

 

[UndercoverPunk 5,000+ posts]

That is a grand idea.

If you have a table vice you may want to use that instead... I have a certain technique to use with a hammer and screwdriver... don't know how well that method would work w/o it.

 

[CBFryman2 5,000+ posts]

There really is no need, most alts are internally regulated

Internal regulation has nothing to do with fuseing at the battery. Fusing at the battery is to save your car from fire in the event of an accident or poor installation. Basically idiot proofing it.

 

[mannyb18b]

Internal regulation has nothing to do with fuseing at the battery. Fusing at the battery is to save your car from fire in the event of an accident or poor installation. Basically idiot proofing it.

I see, I thought you were saying something like if the alt was to short

 

[Cam 10+ year member]

Mechanics don't usually deal with 200A current Draw. He may have meant that the terminal on the alt would melt off before reaching the capabilities of that wire, but that's not why you're using big wire, you're using big wire so you don't get big voltage drops when you use big current.

there IS a correct crimping tool to use, but a vise probably works too.

 

[mannyb18b]

what are those wire crimping tools called, there all metal and have a steal bullet shaped thing that you hammer down onto a terminal.

 

[amr952 10+ year member]

Like said above, there is a crimping tool. What I do is take the ring terminal and heat it with a torch and put solder in it. After it is melted I just put the wire over in it and then it is nice and tight once it cools down.. That has always worked for me.

 

[XaznKewLguyX 10+ year member]

Tell your dad to go back to school, lol.
Looks like your fine the way you pictured it. Leave the stock wires and just add these as additional wires. You don't need to fuse em but you can if you like, just run that power wire, then ground the alt to the batt then ground to the chassis.

Are you supposed to ground the alt? I've never heard of that. I'm planning on doign big 3 when my car gets out from paint.