alternator

[detdrbuzzard]

i'm buying parts so i can possably do or get a poorboy kit installed. my question, what alternator did you use

 

[dan filipi]

I used one like this

https://compare.ebay.com/like/1407405430 ... s&var=sbar

 

[jerryinmich57]

That's the same one I put on Stella and it works great EXCEPT I had to put a relay in the main wire (the "one" wire going to the battery) because there was a couple of times I heard the alternator buzzing after shutting off the key.
Jerry

 

[dan filipi]

Yes, get one that's not one wire.
Mine drains the battery after a week.

 

[jerryinmich57]

If you put a relay in the main line it will not draw when the key is off Dan.
You can get one at autozone 40 amp for about 7 bucks.
Jerry

 

[detdrbuzzard]

so i should get the three wire 35 amp ?

 

[dan filipi]

detdrbuzzard » Mon Jun 10, 2013 5:06 pm[/url]":2g6qmhqq]so i should get the three wire 35 amp ?

I would.
This way no relay is needed.

 

[jerryinmich57]

I agree.

 

[detdrbuzzard]

will 35 amps be enough with heated gear and whatelse will i need to purchase, wires, fuses, ect

 

[OldWrench]

I have a question or should I say a thought. Most of the time the alternator is matched to the battery. We can purchase alternators that will put out anything from 35 amps to 200 plus amps.

Now what happens to our poor little AGM or worse yet lead acid battery that is designed for say an average of no more than 15 to max 20 amps pumped into it. I do realize the voltage regulator manages some of that but lets say your battery gets a bit on the low side and your alternator decides to pump forty of fifty amps into it. Obviously what I'm getting at is are you going to shorten the lift of that battery significantly. I don't know the answer to this but I'm just wondering if anyone has had premature battery failure.

The reason I ask this is one of our guys brought his motorcycle battery and put it on one of our chargers. He said it put it on the forty amp setting on the charger, well the charger smoked the battery. Now I don't know how old the battery was, nor am I sure of the charger setting.

 

[OldWrench]

will 35 amps be enough with heated gear and whatelse will i need to purchase, wires, fuses, ect

The stater puts out about 300 watts, and you can get a stater that puts out 350 watts, that is about 29 amps. So by putting a 35 amp alternator on you will only increase your amperage by about six amps. Now also remember that you have a 30 amp primary fuse so if you are going to pull more than thirty amps I would highly recommend a dedicated circuit off the battery. Not only that I don't think the primary wiring up through the key switch is really ratted for much more than 30 amps, so I wouldn't tap into the fuse panel.

If you know the watts that all your accessories are going to pull then take your total watts and divide by twelve and that will give you how many amps you need to power everything. Now I'm not an electrician but I have seen many electrical messes that truck drivers have done to their trucks. There have been plenty of electrical failures of due to the the two primary wires at the starter solenoid melting and shorting.

What I did with my extra lights is went to leds and made up and made up another primary circuit with a fifteen amp fuse and that gives me plenty of power for my extra lights, and GPS. Right now with everything on I'm pulling twenty six amps.

 

[Ansimp]

A faulty regulator will smoke any battery. With the battery charger the faulty regulator( who ever said "put on the 40amp setting") was the problem. The size of the battery is determined by starting current required and how much capacity is needed when the charging circuit can't keep up with the load. A too large battery will not be able to be fully charged by a small charging circuit as well as run the required electrical loads. A high output alternator is not a problem as long as the output voltage is not too high for the battery.

 

[backlander]

Rule of thumb on battery charge rate, maximum rate should be 1/10 of amp/hour rating of the battery being charged. Example, 1.2 amps on a 12 amp/hour battery

 

[dan filipi]

William, I was wondering why that Denso is only 35 amp. Mine is 45 amp.
I would try to find a 45 amp minimum.

As far as "pumping" amps into the battery......It doesn't work that way with an alternator.

That dude that fried his battery.....fried it because on the "boost" setting of a battery charger the voltage is increased
to push current into the battery. An alternator is regulated to prevent that from happening.
A battery will take in what it needs whether it's being charged by a 30 amp alternator or a 200 amp alternator.

 

[Ansimp]

Only problem Dan is a battery starts sulphating noticeably ( producing hydrogen) above 13.2v, in most cases the venting and recovery system prevent problems. Years ago 13.5v was a great charging voltage and with light electrical loads( in comparison to today) not a problem. It has increased through various manufactures progressively (13.7,13.9,14.2,14.5,14.7 and some are hovering around 15volts). The increase in voltage allows for a smaller battery and a greater electrical load ( you still need more current output but voltage decreases as current /load increases) which is the way of most modern vehicles. I still pull out my little 350cca battery and replace it with a 680cca battery( the largest that fits currently and is good value) in the Foresters.

 

[Anonymous]

OldWrench » Tue Jun 11, 2013 4:49 pm[/url]":1pjcump1]

will 35 amps be enough with heated gear and whatelse will i need to purchase, wires, fuses, ect

The stater puts out about 300 watts, and you can get a stater that puts out 350 watts, that is about 29 amps. So by putting a 35 amp alternator on you will only increase your amperage by about six amps. Now also remember that you have a 30 amp primary fuse so if you are going to pull more than thirty amps I would highly recommend a dedicated circuit off the battery. Not only that I don't think the primary wiring up through the key switch is really ratted for much more than 30 amps, so I wouldn't tap into the fuse panel.

If you know the watts that all your accessories are going to pull then take your total watts and divide by twelve and that will give you how many amps you need to power everything. Now I'm not an electrician but I have seen many electrical messes that truck drivers have done to their trucks. There have been plenty of electrical failures of due to the the two primary wires at the starter solenoid melting and shorting.

What I did with my extra lights is went to leds and made up and made up another primary circuit with a fifteen amp fuse and that gives me plenty of power for my extra lights, and GPS. Right now with everything on I'm pulling twenty six amps.

You may not be an electrician but its Obvious you know Ohm's law pretty well Hats off to you :hi:

Only problem Dan is a battery starts sulphating noticeably ( producing hydrogen) above 13.2v, in most cases the venting and recovery system prevent problems. Years ago 13.5v was a great charging voltage and with light electrical loads( in comparison to today) not a problem. It has increased through various manufactures progressively (13.7,13.9,14.2,14.5,14.7 and some are hovering around 15volts). The increase in voltage allows for a smaller battery and a greater electrical load ( you still need more current output but voltage decreases as current /load increases) which is the way of most modern vehicles. I still pull out my little 350cca battery and replace it with a 680cca battery( the largest that fits currently and is good value) in the Foresters.

Lead Acid batteries (AKA AGM) recycle the Oxygen they create by directing it to the hydrogen that builds up at the negative plates - I deal with these batteries every day and know that if you increase the voltage to them they produce too much oxygen to be absorbed by the Hydrogen and build up to a point where the safety valve either releases excess Oxygen or (more often than not) it fails and the batteries start swelling. Old systems used to incorporate ni-cadd batteries, they take more to charge and when a new tech retrofits it with Lead Acid they inevitably fail after 2 to 3 years

 

[joedrum]

good stuff

 

[detdrbuzzard]

ok guys i just visited vic's forum and down loaded a pdf file that gives me the instructions on installing a poorboy kit and all other the parts i need to purchase

 

[dan filipi]

detdrbuzzard » Wed Jun 12, 2013 2:34 am[/url]":1bpblqzm]ok guys i just visited vic's forum and down loaded a pdf file that gives me the instructions on installing a poorboy kit and all other the parts i need to purchase

Good deal. Have at it.

 

[detdrbuzzard]

i was on the autozone web site earlier today and their replacement alternators for a '90 geo metro has 55 amps. dan, i've got to do some shopping before i get started