Latest victim of the AMP gauge ambush! No damage but confirmation on fix pls..

[Pete in NH]

Nacho makes many good points in both his last two posts. I see nothing wrong in leaving the original bulkhead connector wiring in place IF both the new parallel wires and the original bulkhead wires use only one fuse or fusible link to feed both on the battery side. My thinking was to just eliminate the bulkhead connector wiring and use just the heavier wiring path as Chrysler originally did. That takes the problem of the bulkhead connectors out of the picture.

Nacho is also right that a larger alternator will help stop the ammeter dance back and forth. 99.9% of the time the system will operate just fine as Nacho suggests. From an engineering point of view you want to think of that other .1% of the time which is what is the worst thing that can happen. As I see it the worst thing I can think of is a short circuit on the alternator output wire. That would likely take out the alternator diodes but the real danger comes from all the current the battery can supply. All that current would pass through the ammeter and take it out quickly if the fuse or fusible link doesn't blow out first. Having only one fuse or link in the battery lead helps insure the fuse or link will melt more quickly. Both the fuse/ fusible link and ammeter are thermal devices so you can never really predict which one will melt first. It is simply not possible to be sure of protecting the ammeter. But you do want to protect the wiring and prevent a fire. Any short circuit on the battery side of the ammeter will allow the alternator to dump its current, 75 amps in your case, through the ammeter. That would likely take the ammeter out quickly, but again the real danger is all the current the battery can supply.

Chad, I don't have any experience in converting to a voltmeter, as my car still has its stock 45 amp alternator and I prefer an ammeter. As Nacho says it does tell you about how much current is flowing in or out of the battery which I think is better information. I know I can't really protect the ammeter but with upgraded wiring and proper fusing I can protect the car and its wiring. Perhaps someone else has done the conversion  to a voltmeter and can point you in the right direction.

[Nacho-RT74]

the voltimeter makes a MIRROW view of what is really happenin on Charging system on car.

what gets charged the car is AMPERES, not Volts, hence the initial idea of the ammeter. But Voltimeter reading is kinda proportional. still ammeter is more real of what is happening

lets say on this way:

you have 4 guys pushing a car on a flat street... every one puts its own force. 4 guys are volts, and the force they put out is the load or amperes.

when you get a hill with same guys pushing the car, they will need more force to move the car... or more ppl to keep same force every guy puts out.

thats what we can "picture" about the volts and amperes diference ( away of the tipical water example LOL. Guys example is easier to see )

[69wannabe]

Hi Pete, I talked to Shannon at redline gauge works and he said its a common conversion and I could keep my stock face but it would actually read over halfway instead of pretty much in the middle where it reads now. I agree that with the alternator gauge you can really see what the charging system is doing bout I think the system would be safer with the conversion and Shannon said he would send me a scale so I could see where its charging at which is fine with me. It's 180 bucks so when I get this guys jeep engine back in and running i'm gonna send my instrument panel to them and get it converted. I have repaired the wiring at my bulkhead soon after I bought the car when it lost connection and died on me. I keep a check on it often and it is still in good condition so my wiring is in good shape throughout the charging system. I think after the conversion I will have less worries about the charging system!!

[Pete in NH]

Hi,

I think you're on the right track with that 75 amp alternator and a voltmeter conversion. I know I would feel better about not running that much current through the old ammeter which was only designed to deal with 45 amps. Chrysler eventually reached the same conclusion when they went with voltmeters as alternator outputs kept going up on newer cars. Good luck with the conversion!