Why do you need the BIG 3 on stock electrical?

[-unknown-]

It doesn't make any sense why people have 1/0 awg wire on an alternator that puts out 120 - 150 amp max. If you replaced your stock BIG 3 cables with the same 8 awg wouldn't you gain voltage? The point I'm trying to make is, yeah you gained voltage with the BIG 3, but you probably would have with new stock cables. Adding bigger cables doesn't make your alternator put out any more amperage. It's only a must if the cables are too little stock, and I don't know of any car company that does that, because they don't want to get sued for somebodies car catching on fire because they put little cables in it with a big alternator. My conclusion is, the BIG 3 is called that not because you're supposed to put gigantic wires on there, but because those are the main 3 cables you upgrade when you have a high amperage setup, and a high output alternator. Am I missing something, or is everybody who does the BIG 3 "future proofing" for a high output alternator and confusing everybody who doesn't plan on having a high output alternator?

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[michaellane 5,000+ posts]

Well id say that the smaller wires may not be big enough to move every bit that the alt is putting out straight from.the factory. So a bigger cable does t hurt. Doesnt have to be 0 gauge but bigger isnt hurting anything. Also the second you add anything aftermarket it is now needing more amd is tryi g to pull more to support this newly added stuff. And with this new idiot generation of young people its almost 100% necessary . It use to be on stock you didnt go over 1200 watts and did a big 3 and agm up front. Now these ylung idiots run 2500 on stock everything. Cant even keep their voltage up and arent even seeing 2k rms on a good day. In short do your big 3 with whatever gauge wire you want. The 0 gauge is overkill but if you're there already why not over kill it.

I'm sure there are typing errors I'm on my phone I'm not going back to fix them

 

[-unknown-]

What is the highest voltage you can have on a standard 12v battery? I've been told if you go over 15v you are damaging you're battery. For example, if you heat something in a plastic bag in a microwave, it's going to pop. The battery fumes have nowhere to go and the battery keeps expanding until it pops. The most common failures of batteries is overcharging. Is this true? This is what somebody is telling me, I'm just asking.

 

[Massive spl]

What is the highest voltage you can have on a standard 12v battery? I've been told if you go over 15v you are damaging you're battery. For example, if you heat something in a plastic bag in a microwave, it's going to pop. The battery fumes have nowhere to go and the battery keeps expanding until it pops. The most common failures of batteries is overcharging. Is this true? This is what somebody is telling me, I'm just asking.

Yea don't charge over 15v for a longer period of time or battery can be damaged

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

The big 3 just makes you cars electrical run more efficient. Helps the current flow faster in laymans terms , which in turn recharges the battery faster when needed

 

[-unknown-]

The big 3 just makes you cars electrical run more efficient. Helps the current flow faster in laymans terms , which in turn recharges the battery faster when needed

IMO, not if you have a stock alternator with good wires, if you have bad wires and do the BIG 3 you're gaining something, but only because of bad wires. If you did the BIG 3 with a stock alternator and stock gauge wiring you would get the same results, according to an ASE certified mechanic.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

Most cars have 8gauge wiring for the stock big 3. Which can't take the power from their alts so the big 3 does and will help and your ase mechanic , if he's not an electrical mechanic specifically won't know how the big 3 kits can help Yes it's true that you may not need 0gauge wiring but 4 gauge is a minimum for a 1000-1500 watt system

 

[-unknown-]

The stock wiring is able to carry the stock alternator amperage. Car manufacturers wouldn't put wires on there too small for the alternator. If they did, you would hear about a lot of car companies being sued, because of cars catching on fire. The reality is BIG 3 manufacturers want you to buy bigger wire so they get more $. It doesn't hurt anything to future proof if you plan on a high output alternator.

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

The stock wiring is able to carry the stock alternator amperage. Car manufacturers wouldn't put wires on there too small for the alternator. If they did, you would hear about a lot of car companies being sued, because of cars catching on fire.

or the manufacturer doesn't care about a small amount of voltage drop and tries to save money by using smaller wire.

of course it's plenty sufficient for most people, but some car manufacturers put absurdly over/undersized wire on their vehicles so you can't say what a vehicle will need without looking at it.

if you really want to figure out whats going on with your current flow, get a dc clamp and measure your actual drop with a full load to determine real resistance of your wiring. the rest is just speculation and people talking about a subject that's been beaten to death already //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

 

[-unknown-]

I still think if you replaced the stock wiring with the same thing, just new, you might get the same results instead of using 4 awg or even 1/0, assuming your stock wiring is 8 awg. The same thing applies if you're wiring is 4 awg stock.

 

[wew lad 5,000+ posts]

I still think if you replaced the stock wiring with the same thing, just new, you might get the same results instead of using 4 awg or even 1/0, assuming your stock wiring is 8 awg. The same thing applies if you're wiring is 4 awg stock.

huh? why would you bother replacing the wire with the same thing. you add ampacity, whether its with more wires, or increasing the wires size. dont remove it..

 

[-unknown-]

I meant if your stock wiring is 4 or 8 awg and you replace it with that, you will probably achieve the same results. Never use a smaller wire on anything than what it comes with stock.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

I still think if you replaced the stock wiring with the same thing, just new, you might get the same results instead of using 4 awg or even 1/0, assuming your stock wiring is 8 awg. The same thing applies if you're wiring is 4 awg stock.

It works. Mostly helps from fixing the stock grounds that are not even sanded.

 

[-unknown-]

It works. Mostly helps from fixing the stock grounds that are not even sanded.

It sounds like you're agreeing and disagreeing. What are you saying?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

The stock wiring is able to carry the stock alternator amperage. Car manufacturers wouldn't put wires on there too small for the alternator. If they did, you would hear about a lot of car companies being sued, because of cars catching on fire. The reality is BIG 3 manufacturers want you to buy bigger wire so they get more $. It doesn't hurt anything to future proof if you plan on a high output alternator.

Its different for each car. Some will have 10 gauge, some will have 8 gauge and some cars actually have 4 gauge. Either way a bigger river = more capacity for better water flow. Even if its a little bit of water, its flowing down faster. 0 gauge is not needed in most cases under 1500 watts but even a 60 amp alt will greatly benefit from a 4 gauge big 3 upgrade.

Thing about car audio though, its a like a drug addiction, you'll always want more. Gotta future proof.