Sparky, 1 wire alternators

[Nitrousnova]

What is the correct way to wire a 1 wire alternator ?

I'm putting one on this year, and want it wired right.

Thanks
Pat

[Sparky]

Depending on Amperage, I would recommend a 4 Gauge Cable on the Alternator run all the way back to the Battery.

Sparky

[FX331]

I run my alt wire right to the pos post on the starter relay. Anything wrong with doing it this way? Been like this for close to 3 yrs now. I will change it if necessary.

[RRRAAAYYY2]

If you run the battery wire to the off side of the kill switch, you create two problems. The first iswhen you use the kill switch the car will not die immediately, it will sputter for a moment. The second thing is when you disconnect a hard charging alternator from a battery while it is still spinning it load dumps the amperage through the diodes in the alternators rectifier bridge. They cant handle and will blow, and sometimes even explode.
If you have no kill switch in the system, then running it to the starters main battery post is a good idea. In a perfect world the alternator would always go to the battery first, but will work going to the starter.

[FX331]

Looks like I will be changing my alt wiring:

Right now heres the setup. (Seems to work fine, car shuts off immediatly when the switch is turned off)

Pos battery to the "on" terminal on the cutoff switch, other side of switch to the starter relay which I moved to the inside of the fenderwell. Alt wire to the battery side of the starter relay. So when the switch is killed the alt is isolated from the battery & your telling me this is a bad thing.

So the best thing to do is run the alt wire all the way to the battery.

Done deal, will rewire it this weekend. (Dont want to fry the "Powermaster")

thanks!

[RRRAAAYYY2]

Sorry for the late reply. Yes it is a bad thing. Some alternators, very, very few (i can count on one hand) come with regulators that have what is called load dump protection built into them.
You can also somtimes get away with it, one of the determining factors seems to be the amount of amperage the alternator is producing when it is disconnected. Another is the type of regulator. Older style regulators turn on and off at a much slower rate than newer style regulators. On a modern type alternator, you have a 1 in 333 times a second chance that the alternator will be turned off when you disconnect it.
Bottomline is how ever, that no matter what your chances are doing it the old way, the only for sure way is to run it directly to the battery. Putting a high amp fuse inline close to the battery would make it extra safe in case of an accident.