battery relocating to trunk....

[Just a Six??]

my last question is i see some people saying to run a 4guage wire to the starter from the alternator to charge the battery instead of running its own dedictated wire all the way back to the battery..what the final say on this???

Either is fine but if you ask John Spina of Caspers (pretty solid source!!) he says to go to battery. Just dont backcharge thru the system by not using either! It will cost you a volt or worse!

 

[Blazer406]

If the stock charging wire from the alternator.... goes over by the starter solenoid with a fuseable link.... and then back up to the original battery to charge it......the stock charging circuit (albeit stock and is debateable if it is enough) goes via 16 ga to the starter... and then with maybe 4 ga from the starter to the battery. I find it hard to believe if I ran a 1/0 gauge wire from battery to starter.... that the new charging circuit....which goes via 16 ga to the starter....and then via 1/0 gauge to the battery in the trunk..... that this is "not-as-good" as the current carrying ability of the stock charging circuit.

All I changed in my charging circuit is instead of 4' of maybe 4 ga (it might be 8 ga)....now I have 12' of 1/0 welding cable.

Why is this not adequate?

 

[49-blues]

I believe the MAD setup is NHRA legal .

 

[Bent6]

ok im pretty much set how to do it with the wiring, what type of wiring, and where to go. my last question is i see some people saying to run a 4guage wire to the starter from the alternator to charge the battery instead of running its own dedictated wire all the way back to the battery..what the final say on this???

As someone stated earlier, there is no reason to run 2 wires to the battery when the main 1/0 cable is only carrying major current while starting. You're also having to run 2 cables with more weight and more chances of a dead short. 1/0 cable can carry way more amperage than the alternator plus any accessories will require. I even run a 160amp alternator and the 4ga to starter, 1/0 to battery setup does just fine with NO voltage drop.

Also, the factory didn't use a fuse link between the starter/alt and battery due to it all being located under the hood behind the firewall - in the case of an electrical fire it would be contained in theory. With the battery in the trunk, if you had a dead short to ground, the whole car could burn down before the wire ever burned up - better safe than sorry! All car audio setups use a high-current fuse directly after the battery for this reason. Hope this helps!

 

[Warp6]

With the battery in the trunk, if you had a dead short to ground, the whole car could burn down before the wire ever burned up - better safe than sorry! All car audio setups use a high-current fuse directly after the battery for this reason. Hope this helps!

What amp fuse would be enough?

 

[Squid4life]

Where are you guys finding the good cable? I just moved so I don't know many local welding supply shops... Any good internet vendors?

 

[Squid4life]

Check out M.A.D. Enterprizes in California-they give you a full schematic with explanations and sell complete kits.

Belay my last, just saw 49's post. Good site with lots of info.

 

[gnxtc2]

Where are you guys finding the good cable? I just moved so I don't know many local welding supply shops... Any good internet vendors?

Try your local electrical supply house, not Home Depot or Lowes.

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

 

[FastRegalWE2]

Here's the bulkhead connectors that were mentioned.

JEG'S Through Panel Connector - JEGS

[\QUOTE]

yep, thats it right there

 

[Bent6]

What amp fuse would be enough?

200amp should be plenty.

 

[Scott Atk]

I use a 150 amp. Haven't blown one yet.

 

[leprcon]

make sure u have grounds everywhere!

 

[1985GN]

are you guys basically putting the 200amp or so fuse spliced into the wire going from the starter to the battery??

 

[Bent6]

are you guys basically putting the 200amp or so fuse spliced into the wire going from the starter to the battery??

Yes - the fuse should go in-line about 12 inches or so from the battery - at minimum just be sure the fuse is near the battery before the cable exits the trunk.

 

[1985GN]

sounds good i hope to get to this little project within the month and hopefully get some pics up down the road...thanks for all the help and clarification on everything....

 

[Scott Atk]

Here's a pic of my fuse holder. I used the style with a digital volt meter. I don't recommend this as it has more current draw than I would like with a mostly weekend only car.