NBS Big 3 upgrade

[mgrotel]

my dad has some 2ga copper wire layin around. wouldnt that be a better conductor for the big 3?

[mgrotel]

and why not just do batt + to alternator and then batt - to block?

[TheMethod]

This is my thread over at tahoe forum. This should work for all 2000 - 2006 models anyway.

http://tahoeforum.com/showthread.php...&highlight=Big

[lowc10]

what kind of ring terminal is that with the white boot?

[TheMethod]

Originally Posted by lowc10

what kind of ring terminal is that with the white boot?

Its just a solder on 1/0 gauge terminal from the part store with white heatshrink.

[EvlTwin]

Okay, my turn. Coming from a car audio background this post is too irritating to read completely.

1. This is a wonderful, no consequences upgrade for any vehicle reguardless of age, make, or model. Doesnt matter if your system causes voltage drop, or the coil on your hotrod motor uses too much power, or you just want to look cool.

2. You can, but do not have to replace any OEM wiring, the purpose is simply to give EXTRA wire for voltage to flow.

3. It doesnt matter where you connect these extra wires, i.e. if your going from motor to chassis, PICK A BOLT! The point is to connect one piece of metal to another. There are many places to up grade, such as, bat to alt, bat to starter, bat to body, motor to body(do this one 2 or 3 times), it doesnt matter. Upgrade the ground wire on your electric seat and watch it work faster!

4. Bigger pipes flow more water. Same thing with power. The bigger the wire the better, until you reach the point of over-kill, like 1/0 on that power seat wire.

5. Type of wire and connections are very important. Solid wire wont work as well. Use stranded or woven wire. Welding leads work great if your not as concerned about looking pretty. Use the most solid connection you can afford. Bad connections defeat the purpose. If your battery corrodes does your starter do well? NO. So dont skimp out if your going to do the upgrade.

6. If you question your ability to come up with the correct components to do this upgrade then click HERE.

This is an extremely common upgrade to all types of performance vehicles. Dont be afraid to do it. The only way to tear anything up is to try and connect your positive to a negative.

Okay, im off my soap box.

[cajundragger]

Originally Posted by EvlTwin

Okay, my turn. Coming from a car audio background this post is too irritating to read completely.

1. This is a wonderful, no consequences upgrade for any vehicle reguardless of age, make, or model. Doesnt matter if your system causes voltage drop, or the coil on your hotrod motor uses too much power, or you just want to look cool.

2. You can, but do not have to replace any OEM wiring, the purpose is simply to give EXTRA wire for voltage to flow.

3. It doesnt matter where you connect these extra wires, i.e. if your going from motor to chassis, PICK A BOLT! The point is to connect one piece of metal to another. There are many places to up grade, such as, bat to alt, bat to starter, bat to body, motor to body(do this one 2 or 3 times), it doesnt matter. Upgrade the ground wire on your electric seat and watch it work faster!

4. Bigger pipes flow more water. Same thing with power. The bigger the wire the better, until you reach the point of over-kill, like 1/0 on that power seat wire.

5. Type of wire and connections are very important. Solid wire wont work as well. Use stranded or woven wire. Welding leads work great if your not as concerned about looking pretty. Use the most solid connection you can afford. Bad connections defeat the purpose. If your battery corrodes does your starter do well? NO. So dont skimp out if your going to do the upgrade.

6. If you question your ability to come up with the correct components to do this upgrade then click HERE.

This is an extremely common upgrade to all types of performance vehicles. Dont be afraid to do it. The only way to tear anything up is to try and connect your positive to a negative.

Okay, im off my soap box.

[EvlTwin]

i dont know who your playing the fiddle for, i was trying to clarify answers to the same questions asked over and over and over in the first couple of pages of this thread. But i guess you got this handled.

[nesioballer]

i tried the big 3 using 2/0 welding wire and after installing the froung wires i get motor noise coming out of my speakers.can any1 plz explain thank u

[x6369x]

Originally Posted by nesioballer

i tried the big 3 using 2/0 welding wire and after installing the froung wires i get motor noise coming out of my speakers.can any1 plz explain thank u

Un-hook the wires you added one by one until the noise stops.

[nesioballer]

Originally Posted by x6369x

Un-hook the wires you added one by one until the noise stops.

thank u for ur help.i did take each ground wire 1 at a time and the one coming out from the engine to chasis is the one making the noise.do u know y its doing that.terminals are good on both sides.i have an 02 chevy suburban and have my wire ran from the alternator bracket bolt to the factory ground on the fire wall.any suggestions i will appreciate.

[created2destroy]

First off I wanted to thank you for writing this. I guess I just assumed that I was getting voltage drops because I don't use a cap for my system.

I want to point out that the factory wiring from the battery(+) to the fused link appears to be 4 gauge. I didn't read all 10 pages of this thread, but I noticed some people were concerned about bypassing the link. My solution to this is simply running a wire from the bolt in the link too the alternator. The length of the wire, eye to eye using ring terminals is 11.5 inches. I didn't have any extra 4ga. left over from putting in my amp, and no one in town had any so I made a lead with 4 8ga. wires instead and covered it with wire loom.

I did not add any more ground wires yet because I need to go buy some more ring terminals. However I played a couple songs that hit hard and could not get any voltage drop. At an idle the needle did not move at all and the lights no longer dim. Before when my truck was idling the lights would dim slightly and the voltage would drop 1-2 volts.

I'm only running a 350watt rms sub I believe. Its an alpine type-S sub and an pioneer amp bridged at 2ohms. I have the positive wire running to the alternator instead of the battery. I know this was a bad idea, but I was about a foot short with the wire. There is no longer a stereo shop in my town, and I couldn't find anywhere with 4ga wire.

[Chevy-Art]

Originally Posted by EvlTwin

Okay, my turn. Coming from a car audio background this post is too irritating to read completely.

1. This is a wonderful, no consequences upgrade for any vehicle reguardless of age, make, or model. Doesnt matter if your system causes voltage drop, or the coil on your hotrod motor uses too much power, or you just want to look cool.

2. You can, but do not have to replace any OEM wiring, the purpose is simply to give EXTRA wire for voltage to flow.

3. It doesnt matter where you connect these extra wires, i.e. if your going from motor to chassis, PICK A BOLT! The point is to connect one piece of metal to another. There are many places to up grade, such as, bat to alt, bat to starter, bat to body, motor to body(do this one 2 or 3 times), it doesnt matter. Upgrade the ground wire on your electric seat and watch it work faster!

4. Bigger pipes flow more water. Same thing with power. The bigger the wire the better, until you reach the point of over-kill, like 1/0 on that power seat wire.

5. Type of wire and connections are very important. Solid wire wont work as well. Use stranded or woven wire. Welding leads work great if your not as concerned about looking pretty. Use the most solid connection you can afford. Bad connections defeat the purpose. If your battery corrodes does your starter do well? NO. So dont skimp out if your going to do the upgrade.

6. If you question your ability to come up with the correct components to do this upgrade then click HERE.

This is an extremely common upgrade to all types of performance vehicles. Dont be afraid to do it. The only way to tear anything up is to try and connect your positive to a negative.

Okay, im off my soap box.

Thanks for all the answers, I didn't want to read through all of this.

[nesioballer]

going to run 4gage wire from alternator+ to battery+.what size of fuse should i use

[created2destroy]

Originally Posted by nesioballer

going to run 4gage wire from alternator+ to battery+.what size of fuse should i use

You should find out how many amps your alternator puts out and use a fuse that is atleast 20amps higher. I believe it is somewhere around 130amps, so I would go with somewhere around 175-200amp to be safe. Might be kind of hard to find and expensive, but a good idea. I personally would not do the big three mod without some sort of fuse. If there was a short you could destroy your battery and/or start a fire.

[nesioballer]

im going to run 0/1 gage drom alternator+ to battery+.my alternator is 130amp.what size of fuse do i need

[created2destroy]

Originally Posted by nesioballer

im going to run 0/1 gage drom alternator+ to battery+.my alternator is 130amp.what size of fuse do i need

the size of the wire doesn't matter especially since 0 gauge can handle like 1000 amps( just a guess). I would go with somewhere around 200 amp. Basicly the only time it might blow is if there is a short at the alternator and this would produce like 1000 amps ( depending on the battery) so 200 should be plenty safe.

[GM_NUT]

I have done this to every vehicle I have ever owned. I'm 46 and I've been the owner of plenty of vehicles. I have used both 4 and 0 gauge cable to do this work. I have never fused the charge wire ... ever. I have never had a 'shorting' problem. Ever. Run your cables correctly & safely and there will never be a problem...unless you are unlucky enough to have a devestating collision. If that happens, you will have other things to worry about. If you are still concerned, keep your fire extinguisher handy. Ya'all DO carry one in your truck ... right?

What is the deal with the use of capacitors? Stop that sillyness ASAP. Get rid of them. Guys, caps just make the charging system work harder. Think about it - the bigger & sillier the cap, the bigger the load on your charging system.

Get a good battery. Do the 'Big Three' upgrade. If these two things don't 'Do It', then get a better alternator. Forget the caps...unless you are building some kind of insane SPL competition rig. ;)

[RoLL1n D4rK]

Originally Posted by GM_NUT

. Forget the caps...unless you are building some kind of insane SPL competition rig. ;)

if u have the money to build a insane spl system caps should be the last thing on you mind.

[GM_NUT]

Originally Posted by RoLL1n D4rK

if u have the money to build a insane spl system caps should be the last thing on you mind.

Caps actually do have their place in SPL rigs...but that's about it. And I would agree that they are at the bottom of the list when putting it all together.

They are a crappy 'Band-Aid' solution for a daily use vehicle. If a cap actually solves a particular dimming problem, it's by accident, LMAO!