Some considerations about the charging and wiring upgrade and your worries about

[Nacho-RT74]

You can duplicate the stock system specially if loads remain the same ( no extra accesories added ). But if you are to upgrade why use the same gauge on the parallel wire ?. I initially used 8 gauge wire on my car for the black one and 10 for the red one but just because I had at home those gauges on those colors. I could use 10 gauge on black too which with the 12 gauge wire still in use is plenty for my car.

BUT the wire thickness goes to each own according with the electrical loads on car. Still needs to take in mind if the alt is able to provide the more power as posible at the minimun speed as posible

[Nacho-RT74]

deleted... I posted some stuff on wrong thread ( what it happens with several tabs open LOL )

[Jonas_N]

Posting my results:

After reading through tons of posts/articles about the 2nd gen Charger wiring I decided to go with the Amp gauge system from this thread (Thanks Nacho).

I replaced ALL the wiring/connectors/switches in the car and ran a 8 gauge wire directly from the Alt to the Amp gauge. I also ran a 10 gauge to battery post on starter relay. (Both through a rubber grommet in the firewall.)
I bought a new OER Amp gauge that to my surprise has a beefier metal part than the original one where the current pass through the gauge. (I wish I had taken pics before the install to compare.)
The new Alt I put in is a 95A Powermaster.
Nothing extra is connected on the battery side of the Amp gauge.

The black wire under the dash that goes between the bulk head connector and the splice was looped back to the Amp gauge.
Instead of the paper insulators for the Amp gauge I made insulators of printed circuit fiber boards, for both of them.
When starting the car the Amp gauge fluctuates at 0 a bit to the ALT side of the gauge, this is at 650 rpm....when upping the idle to 750 the Amp gauge is dead still just a bit to the right of the 0 mark.
When turning off the car the electric fan runs for 6 seconds and I can see it draw about 20 Amps on the battery.

So with upping the idle a bit I have a dead solid Amp gauge needle just to the right of the zero mark.
The charge at the battery with the engine running reads 14.3 Volts at idle and 14.7 Volts when revving.

So far so good.  

Extra note:
The car is fully LED equipped (headlights, interior etc) and the Amp gauge does not move when all lights are on with the engine off. So very little draw there.

[Nacho-RT74]

Barelly now noticed your update! Good to know!

Is normal the ammeter could read barelly passing the center line to the charge side revving up specially if you get the opposite at iddle for long time. It takes more time to charge than discharge.

[calvin111347]

hats off to nacho found this article 1979 dodge w150 owned since new would like to know along time ago i ran a dedicated 8ga wire from 100 amp alternator which was an upgrade to starter relay never had problems installed new motor checking everthing out found i had 18.6 volts at battery replaced voltage regulator dropped to 15.7 then i noticed amp meter was in discharge after checking wiring and bulkhead for corrosion or heat i tryed disconnecting 8 ga wire amp meter returned to normal stayed stable during load so what happened am planning long road trip from michigan to new mexico adding led lights and possible electric fans for cooling giving truck to my son so running 8 ga wire through firewall and tying into black wire at amp meter will allow amp meter to function and eliminting heat build up and possible fire hoping nacho will way in concerned additional loads will over tax system any advise would be appreciated truck also has winch use to run 2 batteries got to old for off road thank you great article

[Nacho-RT74]

Wow! Some punctuation will help a littel bit!

Ok, first of all, I don't know if trucks also changed from the full load ammeters to the shunted system ammeter like most Mopars did on around 75/76 ( 71 I think on Chryslers ) so before get you an opinion, will be better to check for that!

[b5blue]

70 up many overlook the key in column wire connector, the big red weak point wire. Look for the toasty brown connector tell tale.  I use 35amp control relays under the hood.

[jlatessa]

I Just eliminated the original connections for the heavy load carrying wire with
heavy duty ring connectors, soldered, bolted and shrink tubed.

Easy solution....Joe

[b5blue]

I use this home and auto: https://www.kinginnovation.com/category-pages/products/alumiconn.php

[Nacho-RT74]

for the ign switch harness, a friend from FBBO shown me this solution which I LIKE a lot

Anderson powerpoles

https://powerwerx.com/anderson-power-powerpole-sb-connectors

they can be stacked on and in colors ( white if you want to emulate the original look stacking up those )

[pipeliner]

Nacho I had to pull my engine and my cars been sitting for a while. I just wanted to go over how I got my charging system set up to see if I need to make any changes before I wire it back up. I'm running a 130 amp tuff stuff alternator with an outside regulator which I'm glad I am because it reduces the RFi with it being on the firewall that could happen while I'm running a Holley Sniper. No Ammeter, Dakota Digital Gauges. I have a 8 gauge wire going straight to the battery from the alternator in which I'm thinking may be too small for the 130 amp. Im running 2 spal fans, Efi, AC, Vacuum pump and a big stereo system. Any suggestions for anything different?

[Nacho-RT74]

well... you are talking with an ammeter fan sooooo... ( LOL )

about wire thicknes and load. there are tables with the loads and wire gauge requirements ( and also relates with wire lenght ) HOWERVER it also depends on WHERE you are taking the loads for every device and the full load requirements.

Normaly the source is not what demands the network requirements but the demanded load by each accesory.

Everything will depend where you source everything... Batt post?... Intermediate junction ?

How many accesories will really suck power from batt when engine is off ?

The alt stud can be used as a juntion too for some devices. This could reduce the wire gauge demand for some devices at certain stages

[Nacho-RT74]

8 gauge could be enough depending... and this is one example:

If you source fans straight from alt stud it means you will use a diff wire for them than the one running between batt and alt to feed them, so will get no load for them running throught that wire on a normal stage with car running.

When the batt COULD be sourcing fans ( assuming alt is plenty to source at iddle )? if you get the fan tied to a temp switch sensor which will keep on the fan once you turn off the engine up to get lowered the temp still with engine off ( just like many modern cars ), but on that stage there is no more loads running throught the batt-alt wire, just the load for the fan.

I'm talking just about the fans because is the bigger load suckers from the Acc you mentioned. Have no idea about the Vacuum pump or how REALLLY big is the stereo system you are thinking on. A/C Blower sucks also a lot, like the fans, but the stock system used to be enough for it ( except for the switches  on some models).

I haven't known the EFI system like a big load sucker really.

And a fully discharged batt.... mmmm never have known a batt sucking more than 30-40 amps when being charged from death. In any case, it shouldn't be recharged on car ( except on emergency on a road side... but with tricks )


Sure you can get your back covered using a 6 gauge wire running from side to side thought, but making a good study, could be not necessary

[b5blue]

Consider use of control relays to keep large current out of the main harness inside the cabin.

[pipeliner]

Well the ammeter gets deleted with the Dakota gauges lol. About everything will be tied straight to the battery, a yellow top Optima. Fans and EFi will be on Relays. Stereo will have 8 speakers with a 700 Watt Amp. Everything will be inline fused. Just wanted to make sure the 8 gauge from the alternator straight to the battery was correct and the wire big enough and if there was anything I might need to different. Appreciate the help.

[Nacho-RT74]

If everything will be sourced from batt post, I'd go with thicker wire

[pipeliner]

If everything will be sourced from batt post, I'd go with thicker wire

Ok thanks!!!

[pipeliner]

Consider use of control relays to keep large current out of the main harness inside the cabin.

Yeah I'm going keep everything off the main harness. All of my wiring is new M&H except the Headlight Harness.

[Nacho-RT74]

Just to know… was it easy to understand my post (reply #87)  about how to spread wires thickness according with where is located the load demand… and why? Sometimes I find hard to explain myself being english not my mother language.

Yeap, I’m aware the Dakota Digital setup uses voltimeter, not ammeter… it was a joke.

The stock ign columm plug/terminals should be safe if using relays sourced at prong #30 straight from the power source, either batt ot alt post depending on the setup. Alt side line of amm or alt itself is a must if keeping ammeter. Since i installed relays into the cab, I’m using ammeter post for the 6 relays I’m using for my car.

[pipeliner]

Just to know... was it easy to understand my post (reply #87)  about how to spread wires thickness according with where is located the load demand... and why? Sometimes I find hard to explain myself being english not my mother language.

Yeap, I'm aware the Dakota Digital setup uses voltimeter, not ammeter... it was a joke.

The stock ign columm plug/terminals should be safe if using relays sourced at prong #30 straight from the power source, either batt ot alt post depending on the setup. Alt side line of amm or alt itself is a must if keeping ammeter. Since i installed relays into the cab, I'm using ammeter post for the 6 relays I'm using for my car.

Yes I know the Ammeter was a joke I understood most of it lol but it's not your English it's just that im not very good with the electric side of things. I looked at one of the charts you were talking about and it recommended a 4 gauge wire for the 130 amp alternator but just to make things clear, will I be good hooking that wire straight to the alt post and then directly to that battery? I was confused with some post about people going from the alt post to the starter relay but I'm thinking that was for an ammeter set up. I don't have a lot of room hooking up multiple wires to the back of the alt post, things are very tight down there. I'm also running a vintage air set up. I haven't completed the wiring yet. I'll try to research it more today. I don't know yet if the fan motor gets hooked up to old fan blower wire switch or straight to the battery. I thought about it hooking it straight to the battery nonetheless to keep that load off of the dash harness. Matter of fact I'm going to read the vintage manual now.

[b5blue]

Read here it will help you learn: https://www.bcae1.com/

[Nacho-RT74]

I think to continue with this a new thread would be better for more details for your needs.

NOTE... alt is 130 amps... but I'm pretty sure IT WILL HARDLY PUT its max output. Most of the deal with high amp ouitputs is actually get the best output at iddle. Soooooo, even the gauge wire chart related with amps advice, I think 6 gauge could be pretty much enough.

4 is usually the average Starter motor wire thickness, which REALLY sucks a lot of amperes. Could be close to 130 amps depending on starter motor and engine compression rate. Mopar original diagrams actually show 6 gauge. Thicker gauge must be also considered depending on lenght. Trunk batt cars use to get up to 2 gauge due the lenght, althought some ppl reachs to 0 gauge LOL.

[pipeliner]

I think to continue with this a new thread would be better for more details for your needs.

NOTE... alt is 130 amps... but I'm pretty sure IT WILL HARDLY PUT its max output. Most of the deal with high amp ouitputs is actually get the best output at iddle. Soooooo, even the gauge wire chart related with amps advice, I think 6 gauge could be pretty much enough.

4 is usually the average Starter motor wire thickness, which REALLY sucks a lot of amperes. Could be close to 130 amps depending on starter motor and engine compression rate. Mopar original diagrams actually show 6 gauge. Thicker gauge must be also considered depending on lenght. Trunk batt cars use to get up to 2 gauge due the lenght, althought some ppl reachs to 0 gauge LOL. Ok thank you

[Nacho-RT74]

I hope the attachments on this thread will be recovered soon. It seems has been mentioned/forwarded on LOT of boards along the years

(And not just by me LOL)

[misty440]

Question on stereo amp power wire gauge? I read that I should not take power directly from the battery, if the amplifier requires a heavier gauge wire than the stock wire how and where do I get power for the amp? I dont think I would splice the stock harness into a 10awg wire for example?
Thanks
Chris