so i just got my new 200 amp alternator. Installed it without a problem. Im running an amp with a 120amp fuse. The wire is about 10 feet long. Now circuit city installed my previous amp for me about 4 years ago with 8 guage wire. Anyways this guy told me the 8 guage would suffice, but i doubt it so i bought 0 guage for future upgrades if i wanted to. But i tried to run it from the 8 gauge, becuase he told me if it didnt work the worst thing that would happen is it would blow a fuse. well it works, but the amp is getting alot of clipping, but it says its getting a good 14.4v the whole time. the amp is audiobahn a12001dt. BUT i have stock wire going from alternator to battery, it only looks like 10 guage wire, but its only about 3-4 feet long. Now this wire from the alternator to the battery , appears to like split and it goes under my engine, very hard to get to. My 2000 ranger has a power distribution block, and circuit city wired the old 8 guage wire into the power block instead of the amp. which is better , or does it mattER? it wil be easy for me to run the 0 guage wire from the battery or the power distribution block to the amp, but very difficult to run it from the alt to the battery/ power block becuase the wire is split and goes many places. So basicaly, is running from this 8 guage wire bad? co0uld it do other damage than blow a fuse? and should i wire the 0 guage from the power block or battery?
Most cars that i have seen use one wire from the alternator to the distribution and the starter and car are distributed from there. You can assume though that if it does split at least 1 of those wires goes to your starter. As far as where to hook it up.. i would always hook up directly to the battery.
yes hook it to the battery i hooked my wifes amp to a distridutiom block ans was getting charging problems i think the amp was keepin the battery from charging
If you have 200A alternator, then you will have to upgrade all your stock wires. It has to be at least 4gauge or lower. You should never connect alternator straight to the battery. If you do that and get into a little accident, that wire would melt if it ever gets in contact with the chassis. For safety, have it go through a fuse. That way, it will not melt and cause fire. As for wires that are hard to get at, make your own wire and double up. What I mean by that is, if you had 10 gauge wire that can't be removed without taking your whole engine appart, then get a 4 gauge or lower and connect it right over the old one. If it was the alternator to chassis wire, then find another location on the chassis that you can use. If you do not replace the stock wires, then as the amp draws lot of power, you'll be back to the beginning. Lights will dim again.
Issac i agree on the 4 gauge or lower.. all your wires alt to bat, bat to ground should be upgraded. But i disagree on "you should never connect alternator straight to the battery"... i personally have a HO alt and it specifically states do not fuse the main lead from the alt to the battery in the instructions.
Yea but do you know what'll happen if that wire ever gets crimped in an accident? Instant fireworks. Not only will you have high current flowing from the alternator, the battery will also be shorting out as well. Something to think about.
if i do not connect the alt directly to the battery, then what do i connect the alt to? Alternator to that fuse block, then to battery? also do i need to upgarde the ground wire on my battery?
right now my amp is saying its getting 14.4volts, even when its continuously hitting, it only drops .1 or .2 volts at most. The head lights are not dimming, everything appears to be working fine using that small wire from the alt to battery, and 8 guage to my amp, should i still wire in the 0 guage?
You sure its a 10 gauge wire? My 96 Explorer had a 105 amp alternator and what looked to be about 6 gauge alternator and battery to engine block ground wire. If your alternator uses the same stock housing it may be awfully difficult to find a small enough ring terminal for that 1/0 gauge, one that will fit easily on the terminal w/o shorting out on the housing. I ran an extra 4 gauge wire in parallel to the 6 gauge and believe me it took a lot of precise grinding to get that ring terminal to fit in properly.
Where are you measuring the voltage at? If you're using a stock in-dash voltage gauge then thats really not a good indication of the voltage drop to the amp, but should tell you that the drop from the alternator to the battery is acceptable. If you've got the 1/0 go ahead and run it from your battery to a distro block and then your amp.
Oh and if your Ranger is anything like my Explorer the alternator wire runs through a pair of spliced-in 12 gauge fusable links. They look just like regular old wire, but should say "fusable link" on the insulation somewhere. They're basically a "fuse" designed to protect wire a couple sizes up from overheating. A pair of 12 gauge conductors is equal to 9 gauge which would be adequate protection for 6 gauge alternator wire.
I ran my 170 amp alternator with the 6 gauge alone for a while with no problems with 1000+ watts of power. If your alternator wire has the appropriate fusable links then you don't need to worry about a 6 gauge meltdown although they themselves might go if you were to run 200 amps through them for an extended period of time.
Its not going to hurt anything to have different size power wires as long as they're all fused properly. Just keep an eye on that voltage gauge. If while the engine is running it drops to 12 volts and stays there check those fusable links. I'd go with 1/0 from battery to amps and take it from there. 8 gauge is awfully dinky if you've got a long run of it.
im not sure what guage the wire is from the alternator to the battery, but it looks smaller than the 8 guage, but it might just be the insulation. Im measuring the voltage from my amp, it displays the voltage it is receiving. I am going to run the 0 guage to my amp from my battery, but, should i upgrade the alternator to battery wire since im not getting any voltage drop? I will probaly have to pay someone to upgrade the wire from my alt becuase i cant figure out how to do it, and your right, the ring terinal for that goes on the alternator is way to small , there is no possible way i could get that 0 guage wire on it.
That's cause car manufacturers don't expect anyone to be using wires thicker than the ones they put in. Sometimes you almost have to bend the sides and grind till it fits. If your lights are not dimming right now, then it means the amp is not drawing that much power. The minute you see lights dimming, replace all stock wires. It's almost like upgrading your engine with a turbo and keeping the speed limiting chip.
Yeah what size inline fuse do you have on that 8 gauge? and what is the fuse total on that amp.
10 gauge wire is only good for 55 amps open air so figure around 75 for the 8 gauge. If you have the 1/0 I'd use it where you can, i.e. engine block to battery ground or chassis, battery ground to chassis, and battery positive to distro block. Don't forget to fuse that 1/0 at the battery otherwise you may end up doing some unintentional and extremely hazardous arc welding.
the amp has a 120amp fuse, and i have a 150amp inline fuse. i think im going to buy some 4 guage to run everywhere, this 0 guage crap is rediculous, it doesnt fit anywhere, its over an inch in diameter. maybe the amp cant get full power becuase the wires are too small? or would that not happen? right now its hitting harder than my freinds 2 rockford fosgate power T1 10inch subs running from an amp that throws out 1500rms, mynes only 1200rms and they are 2 aw1206t's . But if not lights are dimming its fine? also should i consider a capacitator , the voltage hasnt dropped below 14v ever, it normaly stays around 14.2 with continous bass, and 14.4 with bass that hits every few seconds.