One wire alternator?

[Bigredlid]

I plan on getting this one wire alternator to hopefully fix my charging issues on my 67 Belvedere. Will this require any changes to the existing wiring. I don’t need anything catching fire. https://www.jegs.com/i/Proform/778/440-473/10002/-1

 

[Garrett Ellison]

Will this require any changes to the existing wiring.

A 110 amp one wire alternator will require a substantial amount of changes to your charging circuit wiring to avoid a fire. This article will give you a pretty good start about what your up against. On something this large, you really don't want any part of the charging circuit to go through the factory ammeter.
https://www.allpar.com/threads/taking-charge-tips-and-tweaks-to-keep-your-mopar-current.237043/

 

[Kendog 170]

Yes changes needed. 110-amp alternator needs heavier gauge wiring. You should do a search. Also, regulator needs to go away so wiring there as well. If the car is stock you should put a less amp alt. in it. Or stay stock and fix your charging issue.

 

[Kendog 170]

You tree'd me.

 

[Garrett Ellison]

Yeah, I forgot to mention not needing the factory regulator any longer either. I guess it could be retained for the purpose of having a stock appearance, but the only wire it will need across the passenger side of the engine would be for the water temperature gauge and (if it's a big block) the ignition circuit.

 

[Bigredlid]

It isn’t stock. It has electric fans. I have tried myself every thing including upgrading to a square back alternator and a 70 up regulator. If the amperage is going directly to the battery with one wire, the wires in the dash/ bulkhead will still need upgrading? Once the amperage gets to the battery it makes all the other wires 110 amp? I don’t understand electricity. Could someone explain that to me.

 

[Bigredlid]

It isn’t stock. It has electric fans. I have tried myself every thing including upgrading to a square back alternator and a 70 up regulator. If the amperage is going directly to the battery with one wire, the wires in the dash/ bulkhead will still need upgrading? Once the amperage gets to the battery it makes all the other wires 110 amp? I don’t understand electricity. Could someone explain that to me.

Also it’s a big block with msd

 

[RustyRatRod]

Nah. Don't upgrade a thing. Slap that bigass puppy right in there. When the smoke finally clears, you'll know what to upgrade next time.

 

[Garrett Ellison]

In the case of running it straight to the battery, install a fixed 150 amp fuse (rounded up from 130% above charge output) https://www.amazon.com/Spartan-Power-Large-Fuse-Holder/dp/B0B27WHTZL/?tag=fabo03-20
https://www.amazon.com/SIGANDG-Current-Construction-Vehicles-Caravans/dp/B0BHHQ44J8/?tag=fabo03-20 and terminate (Terminal Crimp Cap https://www.amazon.com/AIRIC-100pcs-12-10-Nylon-Connectors/dp/B06XCQ8KLR/?tag=fabo03-20 and heat shrink) the wire that used to go to the alternator. The Charging wire acts as a sensing wire for the alternator's internal regulator, so oversizing the primary wire and not reducing gauge through a fusible link is the preferred method to keep it from overcharging.

Nah. Don't upgrade a thing. Slap that bigass puppy right in there. When the smoke finally clears, you'll know what to upgrade next time.

 

[Bigredlid]

Nah. Don't upgrade a thing. Slap that bigass puppy right in there. When the smoke finally clears, you'll know what to upgrade next time.

Thanks for the help. I haven’t posted on here in a while. Did it turn into Reddit. I would have posted on there if I wanted trolled. I hope you got a chuckle. Go drive a Chevy

 

[67Dart273]

Thanks for the help. I haven’t posted on here in a while. Did it turn into Reddit. I would have posted on there if I wanted trolled. I hope you got a chuckle. Go drive a Chevy

Rusty is just screwin around. He's a good guy. You need to add a BIG cable direct from the alternator to the battery WITH A fuse or breaker inline. You need a much larger charge wire with a "one wire" because the VR sensing comes right from the alternator stud. With a 100A I'd use AT LEAST a no4 wire

Make CERTAIN your bulkhead connector is in good shape, as not the big red and big black ammeter circuit wires will be in parallel to feed power into the interior. You need to check the bulkhead connector terminals, the ammeter terminals or better, splice the red and black ammeter leads together.

 

[273]

I maybe wrong but I'm pretty sure your alternator only puts the amperage your car draws, so if it's stock and only draws 40-60 amps putting on a 110 shouldn't change anything unless you've added more draw to your electrical system, high wattage stereo, fuel pump etc..

 

[Garrett Ellison]

Yes, I thought I had mentioned at least four gauge, and two gauge isn't unreasonable if it takes more than four feet of cable to make the connection from alternator to battery. But you can take what @67Dart273 says as empirical law in all matters of automotive wiring. It's definitely best to splice the charging circuit loop and bypass the ammeter to feed the interior. Here's another explanation of it.
Catalog

 

[RustyRatRod]

Thanks for the help. I haven’t posted on here in a while. Did it turn into Reddit. I would have posted on there if I wanted trolled. I hope you got a chuckle. Go drive a Chevy

I just don't want to see you do the wrong thing is all.

 

[67Dart273]

I maybe wrong but I'm pretty sure your alternator only puts the amperage your car draws, so if it's stock and only draws 40-60 amps putting on a 110 shouldn't change anything unless you've added more draw to your electrical system, high wattage stereo, fuel pump etc..

This is only true under some/ most conditions. "Let's say" you have a heavily "loaded" car. "Let's say" it's a street car that you actually DRIVE.

So here ya are, a big EFI pump for that 650hp Rx block, a couple of big *** electric rad fans, and let's toss in an electric water pump to boot. And you are venturing out at night, and it's raining. AND for some reason your girlfriend had the big *** stero fired up at the beach that day, and the battery is low.

So now you have a low battery and lots of load. The alternator IS GOING to put out whatever it takes to maintain 14V nominal. If that happens to be 100A then it will try to do that. You BETTER have the wire size to accomodate, or you will have hot plastic insulation.

The largest wire I'm aware of in the OEM systems for the charge/ ammeter is no. 10. The max amperage on that is nominal 30A Now you can supass that a lot intermittently, but just what that amounts to in time is up for grabs.

And last, as I've said many times, one BIG THING with "one wire" is that the voltage sense is right at the output stud. This means that if you try and run with downsized wire, the V at the battery or other accessories down the line will be considerably lower.

By the way, the amperage capacity tables for line power (120/240V) have nothing to do with automotive, and allow considerably more drop.