Fusing between alternator and battery.

-
Perseus

Perseus

'65 Dart slantsix
Joined
Aug 8, 2019
Messages
76
Reaction score
31
Location
Cape Coral
I have a '65 Dodge Dart that came with the standard factory wiring through the fire wall which is notorious for being substandard for even stock, and could be a melt/fire hazard. I have installed a rebuilt 50 amp alt., new battery, and voltage regulator. I have only the factory lights and AM radio with no extra biggies planned on being put in. I already installed 4 inline maxi fuse holders, with 50 amp fuses, two near the alt. output and two connected near the pos. battery terminal. Both pairs of wires are 10 gauge and @ 5 feet from battery to alt. Unfortunately, after installation, I found out from the distributor that the wiring used in the fuse holders are made from CCA copper clad aluminum instead of all copper. Should I put in thirty amp fuses or leave the fifties in. Will the fuses melt first or the wiring even at only 5 feet? But, then again, the way they were made, packaged and delivered was with the 5O amp fuses and the ten gauge CCA wiring. I know my ammeter will be off, but I intend on getting a volt meter. Thanks ahead for any advice.
 
I don't understand the "4" business? 30 tho, will not be enough with a 50a alternator. I forget...........does the 65 have the separate large terminals in the bulkhead connector, for the ammeter/ alternator wires?
 
ive never heard of a fuse between the alt and the rest of the charging system on a car from this era?
 
He added one. The "protection" is the OEM fuse link, and sometimes that is "no protection at all." I STILL remember the day I had been driving a beater loaner valiant from McCune Chrysler Plymouth in National City while they "fixed" my RR. One morning at the Miramar RADAR shop, went out and started it up. It was a cold morning.......even in San Diego, below freezing. The Chief came in with his "Columbo act" and says "uh, is the thing supposed to be squeeling and smoking?"

Went out the belt was burning on the pulley which was stopped. I shut it down and in trying to see what was going on, I moved the pulley. This caused the diode(s) which had FALLEN DOWN INSIDE to short. I got to sit there and watch the entire engine bay harness go PfffffffpfhfppfhfhzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzsssssssssssssssssssssssssssTTTTTTT!!!!! and smoke and THEN BLOW THE LINK Melted the entire harness before it blew the link
 
67Dart273 said:
I don't understand the "4" business? 30 tho, will not be enough with a 50a alternator. I forget...........does the 65 have the separate large terminals in the bulkhead connector, for the ammeter/ alternator wires?
Click to expand...
Thanks for getting back.
I just went to my garage and looked. It looks like there are 2 separate heavy wires, one is center left and the other is center right, both going to my bulkhead connector. One is to the alt. and the other is to the batt. Both are connected by shovel type blades and secured with screws. Is the ammeter wire connected somewhere to the alt. wire? All the bulkhead wires and connectors look like they're in really nice condition. I think the guy before me had to have replaced the whole shmear.
 
Yes you have the "better" setup. All other Mopars in the era of our interest use the same "flag" terminals for the ammeter as they do for the other wiring, and they are a PROBLEM
 
67Dart273 said:
Yes you have the "better" setup. All other Mopars in the era of our interest use the same "flag" terminals for the ammeter as they do for the other wiring, and they are a PROBLEM
Click to expand...
Thanks for getting back to me. I'm kinda new to this forum. I may need help later with tuning my Weber 38/38 carb.
 
I am not sure, but it sounds like you have run twin 10 gauge wires from the battery to the alternator. I would run [piggyback] one wire of the same size as the car has now [#10 or #12] from the battery to the alternator stud. Add a fuse or fusible link to it. Leave the rest of the wiring alone. Your ammeter should read one half of the current going into or out of the battery. I don't know how this would affect the voltage regulator. ------ 67 Dart or Mattox could chime in.
 
pt70 said:
I am not sure, but it sounds like you have run twin 10 gauge wires from the battery to the alternator. I would run [piggyback] one wire of the same size as the car has now [#10 or #12] from the battery to the alternator stud. Add a fuse or fusible link to it. Leave the rest of the wiring alone. Your ammeter should read one half of the current going into or out of the battery. I don't know how this would affect the voltage regulator. ------ 67 Dart or Mattox could chime in.
Click to expand...
Hello,
I got this setup from slantsix Dan from the Slant Six Forum. He's the electrical goru of the forum. I used 4 fusible links with 50 amp fuses, two lines of 10 gauge wiring with each line having 2 fusible links, one at each end, inches away fro the alt. output and inches away from the battery pos. It sounds like overkill, but I want to avoid any wire melting/fire through the bulkhead connector. I was on Uncle Tony's Garage live stream last week and someone else suggested fusing the wires together as one line with just using 2 fusible links and leave the rest of the wire alone, too. If I can get my ammeter down to 50% I will just use that to monitor charging. If it drops lower I will put in a volt meter. If I run into other problems I will scrap the whole idea since I have the better updated wiring at the bulkhead anyway. I'm only running a 50 amp alt using no extra accessories as a draw except for a tach.
 
Perseus, dude, you asked this question over at .org — twice — and you had the answer in hand (for the second time) days ago. Whazzup with that?

Everyone else: he's talking about this.

Electrical guru I am not. I know some stuff about some stuff.
 
slantsixdan said:
Perseus, dude, you asked this question over at .org — twice — and you had the answer in hand (for the second time) days ago. Whazzup with that?

Everyone else: he's talking about this.

Electrical guru I am not. I know some stuff about some stuff.
Click to expand...
Hello slantsixdan,
Sorry for referring to you as an electrical guru. After I installed the 4 fuses, with 2 lines, as recommended, I found out later the wiring in the 4 fuse holders are made of 10 gauge CCA instead of all copper. I wanted to find out if this was going to be an issue even at 5 ft length. I wasn't born on 3rd base. I'm still waiting to get out of the dugout.
 
Copper wire is preferable, but you're amply protected with the setup as it is. If the CCA wire is going to keep you awake nights, swap those fuseholders for ones with copper wire, but otherwise you're good to go on to the next project.
 
slantsixdan said:
Copper wire is preferable, but you're amply protected with the setup as it is. If the CCA wire is going to keep you awake nights, swap those fuseholders for ones with copper wire, but otherwise you're good to go on to the next project.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for getting back. The connections came out good and tight, and I used heat shrink wrap on all connections. I did lose some sleep with the CCA, lol, but I feel better now. Talk again hopefully on my next projects, I won't be so uptight.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top