[grandville455]

I have one stud mounted to firewall under where the brake booster n main harness is and my starter wires go there along with a lot of other power wires including for my fans, I can take a picture when I get home?

[TheSilverBuick]

I have a CS130 alternator on my Firebird and a 10SI on my Skylark and I'm looking to convert the Skylark to a CS130. That alternator is badass at low rpm.

On my Firebird I'm running two electric fuel pumps (lift pump and high pressure EFI pump), the full EFI system with six ignition coils, and electric water pump and electric fan. With all the electrical loads on, headlights, fan, water pump, etc. and idling at ~550-600rpm its putting out ~12.8v and quickly jumps back up to low 14's with a bit of rpm. The Skylark's 10SI still cry's a little at full electrical load at low and high rpm (ignition coil and fuel pump loads?) and it has a mechanical water pump and fan.

I used a Ford Taurus(?) radiator fan relay for all the EFI/add-on electrical stuff on the Firebird as it's rated for continuous duty and I've heard of failures of the standard Ford starter relays when used for continuous duty. Just make sure you run the alternator wire either right to the battery or to the battery side of the relay. Don't ask me how I know....

[HWYSTR455]

That's good, and yeah, take a pic. Might be as simple as just moving the alt wire to there. Pic will help.

The bulkhead connector uses Packard 56 terminals, you can look at a wiring schematic and figure out what wires are power wires into the pass compartment. You can group those and use a bigger gauge wire with new terminals and stick them on that post too.

You can run a power wire into the pass compartment to a relay and a small fuse block, trigger the relay with a key-on post from the OE fuse box, so you can use key-on stuff.

Just giving you ideas.

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[TheSilverBuick]

Here is mine. You can see the relay next to the battery and the fuse panel next to the relay.


(Ignore the fuel pressure regulator, it isn't there anymore)

[HWYSTR455]

That works, but you should prob use the sol to power the starter too. Like I said, that way the power cable to the starter is isolated.

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[HWYSTR455]

The point I was trying to make is that there should be a common power post, and the alt feed should go directly to that post.

If you want a reason why, to get an idea, read the MAD remote voltage sensing tech thing.

http://www.madelectrical.com/electri...esensing.shtml

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[TheSilverBuick]

Theological debate at that point. OEM's been running full battery power cables to starters on millions of cars for decades, and still do today. The margin of safety increase is minimal at that point once the power wire is tucked/zip tied, etc into place.

[grandville455]

Originally Posted by HWYSTR455

That's good, and yeah, take a pic. Might be as simple as just moving the alt wire to there. Pic will help.

The bulkhead connector uses Packard 56 terminals, you can look at a wiring schematic and figure out what wires are power wires into the pass compartment. You can group those and use a bigger gauge wire with new terminals and stick them on that post too.

You can run a power wire into the pass compartment to a relay and a small fuse block, trigger the relay with a key-on post from the OE fuse box, so you can use key-on stuff.

Just giving you ideas.

.

I beleive how mine is, The main cable from one side of cutoff switch goes to that post on firewall, then a bunch of wires are terminated onto it, including the big starter cable, I will try and verify that tonight when i get home, For my fans I have two seperate big relays for each fan and their fused also seperately, I will take a pic of that too for you.

[HWYSTR455]

Yeah, but those millions of OE cars don't have headers. Eh, it's really not here nor there.

I'm interested Darby, pics would be good. If you see a drop of voltage to any accessory when something is turned on, then there's a issue. Some might be related to the one wire alt, but not going there until I see some pics.

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[grandville455]

Originally Posted by HWYSTR455

Yeah, but those millions of OE cars don't have headers. Eh, it's really not here nor there.

I'm interested Darby, pics would be good. If you see a drop of voltage to any accessory when something is turned on, then there's a issue. Some might be related to the one wire alt, but not going there until I see some pics.

.

Np, Im going by my auto meter voltage gauge in car, I will put my meter on at battery in trunk, with fans off and then with fans on, seems to me it was less than 1/2 volt, Thats why installed the #4 welding wire to stop the voltage drop. I just dont like how it pulls it down at first then goes back up, seems like that would be hard on ALT and battery? Kinda why i went with the optima yellow too, their designed for that!

[grandville455]

Okay, so I started car and checked voltage at idle its about 14.10 with the Optima Battery? My fans are wired so both fans are tied together as well as both wires from each relay to control them, the voltage drops to 13.50-13.60 when fans are on, at idle, it may be less with more rpm? Anyway I was right the main cable comes from disconnect and goes to that central post, then my big starter cable goes there as well as both #30 wires for my relays as well as other wires for my bump starter relay etc. Each relay is fused with a 20 amp fuse. I don't think a 1/2 volt drop is that bad IMO? Although it could be a lot more when I first turn them on, I'll have to have someone turn them on while I monitor battery with meter to see how low it spikes it.

[HWYSTR455]

Nah you're good. You're still over 13v at idle at full load, you shouldn't have any problems. With more RPM, bet it is over 14v. And the initial surge is something that can't be avoided, but it's not as bad a thing as it seems. The alt and batt can survive that type of duty.

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[grandville455]

Good deal, I just know when i first seen that gauge move so much when flipping it on, I was like oh boy,lol....

[1967Tempest]

Originally Posted by lust4speed

Ron will probably answer the phone, and is the one you want to talk to. He's a car guy, and a very active member of our local all-make car club. If you don't see what you want on their website, give him a call and he can help you out.

That said, it sounds like part of your problem is old wiring and possibly bad grounds. While it would be the alternator's fault for not keeping the battery up to a higher voltage, turn signals dropping the voltage reading indicates a problem with the wires supplying the dash. Another way to look at it is while you see a voltage drop inside the car, turning on the turn signals won't hardly effect the voltage at the battery -- so problem has to be somewhere in the middle.

Simply the BEST alternator I have ever owned. I got one of the first MEGA alternators from Ron. Shipping was fast and tech support was given on the few questions I have had. I currently have the 200A version but might upgrade to the 320A. Huge stereo and Mark VIII fan taxed the Summit 100A 1-wires too much. To the point were I have at least 3 of them sitting on the bench that I have repaired. (I am getting good at rebuilding them) I keep one in the car for a limp home spare. You dont have to go crazy like me, but their alternators are the best.

hth,
Dave

[BILTIT]

A link for the above alternator, they look interesting.

http://www.qualitypowerauto.com/item...-6.6-Mount.htm