Question Regarding the Big 3

[JayRich 10+ year member]

The other interesting thing they said was do NOT fuse that wire. I confirmed this as well, DO NOT fuse this wire because if for some reason it does indeed blow, the alternator will no longer see the battery and think that it's dead, so it will kick into high gear and stay that way until it burns up because it will never see that battery again until you've changed that fuse, thus leaving you with a dead battery and a burnt out alternator.
Discuss.

Even if that were the case, if you run the wire in addition to the existing wire, then the alternator would still "See" the original connection between the alternator and battery, if the fuse blows on the added wire

 

[blackbonnie 5,000+ posts]

yeah but he may not bee adding another wire, maybe he is replacing it, then it wouldnt see the battery

 

[InfinitePeace 10+ year member]

Even if that were the case, if you run the wire in addition to the existing wire, then the alternator would still "See" the original connection between the alternator and battery, if the fuse blows on the added wire

Another good point, but again, if that fuse blew, the battery wouldnt be charging properly and you'd never know about it.

 

[InfinitePeace 10+ year member]

then why upgrade your alt?

I just had another thought...

They recommended leaving the existing wire intact, right? Given that, I had about a 100a alt before, now a 180a. The wire they recommend is 4 awg, which has a max amp support of somewhere between 135-150 max. I'm running about 2000 watts rms which at most should pull an extra 140a. Add the 4 awg wire to the existing wire, which was already enough to support the draw from the car itself @ 100a alternator and consider pretty much that the new wire will be supporting only the "new" draw from the audio essentially and it kinda makes sense... no?

 

[blackbonnie 5,000+ posts]

it would be charging properly because there is still the original connection on top of the added big 3 fused wire (if you do it that way and add wires not replace them)

 

[blackbonnie 5,000+ posts]

I just had another thought...
They recommended leaving the existing wire intact, right? Given that, I had about a 100a alt before, now a 180a. The wire they recommend is 4 awg, which has a max amp support of somewhere between 135-150 max. I'm running about 2000 watts rms which at most should pull an extra 140a. Add the 4 awg wire to the existing wire, which was already enough to support the draw from the car itself @ 100a alternator and consider pretty much that the new wire will be supporting only the "new" draw from the audio essentially and it kinda makes sense... no?

current takes the path of least resistance. your stock wire (usually around 8 guage) will have a hgiher resistance then your upgraded 4,2,0 guage. so all the current-98% of it will be traveling through your upgraded wire, which will not be able to handle the amps your charging system is putting, do to its current capacity.

 

[InfinitePeace 10+ year member]

current takes the path of least resistance. your stock wire (usually around 8 guage) will have a hgiher resistance then your upgraded 4,2,0 guage. so all the current-98% of it will be traveling through your upgraded wire, which will not be able to handle the amps your charging system is putting, do to its current capacity.

Which makes perfect sense except for the fact that the stock wire goes through the fuse box and is what powers all the components in the car, correct? By your logic if 98% of all current is going through the new wire and not anywhere else, than the components in the car wouldnt get powered? It would seem to me that with the stock wiring being the only path to the fuse box and that constant demand being there with the components in the car needing power, it would still proportionally divy the draw appropriately. Now if there was just 2 wires going directly there on the exact same path, one 8awg and one 4awg, what you just said makes perfect sense. But that can't be the case here, otherwise the rest of the car would be without power, I just think that the majority of the draw with respect to the wire size will flow through the larger wire, yes, but with a demand coming from whatever is hooked up to the smaller wire, I have to believe there will still be current flowing through it... surely more than 2% of the total draw.

 

[Mesto 10+ year member]

Subs for later.

 

[na_rsx 10+ year member]

so can i use that thing other than using 2 different fuse holders lol

 

[InfinitePeace 10+ year member]

so can i use that thing other than using 2 different fuse holders lol

If you don't fuse the alt-->batt pos wire, you don't need it.

After this discussion, apparently you still believe you need it. Again, for ease of routing, I would use 2 different inline fuse holders. Technically I don't see why you couldnt do it that way though, I just wouldn't.

 

[blackbonnie 5,000+ posts]

Which makes perfect sense except for the fact that the stock wire goes through the fuse box and is what powers all the components in the car, correct? By your logic if 98% of all current is going through the new wire and not anywhere else, than the components in the car wouldnt get powered? It would seem to me that with the stock wiring being the only path to the fuse box and that constant demand being there with the components in the car needing power, it would still proportionally divy the draw appropriately. Now if there was just 2 wires going directly there on the exact same path, one 8awg and one 4awg, what you just said makes perfect sense. But that can't be the case here, otherwise the rest of the car would be without power, I just think that the majority of the draw with respect to the wire size will flow through the larger wire, yes, but with a demand coming from whatever is hooked up to the smaller wire, I have to believe there will still be current flowing through it... surely more than 2% of the total draw.

well i agree with you there to a certain extent. but if you route the wire around the fuse box straight to the battery, and it is bigger gauge. most of the current will travel that path. best thing is try it out, lol

 

[InfinitePeace 10+ year member]

Did.

I had the shop call Ohio Generator and do it exactly as they suggested, leaving existing wire intact and adding on to it, non-fused. Now I have bigger problems, turns out my power steering pump is located right above my shiny new alternator and it's leaking. What a pain in the *** my car is. I need a new hobby.

 

[blackbonnie 5,000+ posts]

its expensive. and its not a hobby, its a way of life!

 

[InfinitePeace 10+ year member]

its expensive. and its not a hobby, its a way of life!

Yeah well, when I just spent over half on the stereo/electrical of the value of my car, you begin to doubt this way of life.... the good news is, while preparing for this, I found other crap that needed fixing. I guess that's good at least, another grand to spend this week though. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[blackbonnie 5,000+ posts]

yeah its tough to when you have car payments and everything else too