A little bird told me you could run a heavy wire from the charging post of a high output (GM or Maxima) alternator straight to a positive post of a battery, as to not set your wiring harness on fire when running 10 headlights and a stereo.

 

Is this true?

Edited May 20, 201015 yr by Markus56

I'd still put a fuse in there.

 

The size of the load would determine how much wire you'll want, but at some point the alternator won't be able to keep up anyway.

the wire is the fuse

 

on a related note, if you spliced the ends of 16 gauge speaker wire together, does that make 32 gauge wire?

If they are in parallel it would be 8 ga wire

That is what i meant,

 

stupid reverse gauge numbers crap

 

 

ALSO: for anyone reading this, DO NOT get a "Quality Built" brand re-man alternator. They are garbage and like to set your wiring harness on fire.

Two 16 gauge wires in parallel would be the electrical equivilent of a single 13 gauge wire,not an 8.(between 13 -14 actually)

Interesting.

 

Why?

 

what about two 14 gauge wires in parallel?

Interesting.

 

Why?

 

what about two 14 gauge wires in parallel?

 

13 gauge has real close to twice the cross section of 16 gauge.

 

2 14`s in parallel is like an 11.

 

see this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wire_gauge

Upgrading the wire from the alt to the battery is so you don't fry the stock wiring if/when a near dead battery tries to pull the full amp capability of the alternator. The stock alts were 55 amp and the wireing is sized for that many amps and possibly a little overhead (though I wouldn't count on it after 20 years). If you drop in a 100 amp alternator, the battery can and will pull all 100 amps off it if it's low. Battery's don't care what your wireing is capable or and are not goverened by fixed draw's like lights, fans, etc.

 

And that is only part of a properly laid out electrical system. It should NOT go directly to the battery terminal as that is a huge fire hazard. It should first go to a circuit breaker close to the battery and then as short a lead as is practical should go to the battery terminal.

 

In addition, accesories should NOT draw off the battery terminal - instead setup a new fuse panel that is driven from a junction off the battery terminal. You can find these junction's (simply a plastic deal with a threaded stud and some prongs for wire routing) on many GM products from the 80's and 90's in the junk yard. From there you should run through a circuit breaker and then to the main power input of your new fuse panel. I have been using the painless performance fuse panels and so far I like them. They are offered in water resistant varieties. summitracing.com etc carries their whole product line.

 

GD

You should also upgrade your grounds as well, just to be on the safe side. If you add wire to your charging system, then you need to add the same gauge wire to your grounds as well, so you don't add any more resistance to your charging system.

 

Granted you could probably get away with not upgrading your grounds, but you might as well. Doesn't cost that much, and makes your car safer.

 

Look into car stereo stuff. The wire is great, they have easy to work with connectors, and have inline circuit breakers. I get all my stuff off ebay for cheap!

Fusible link wire soldered into the end section where it will connect to batt or block.