NBS Big 3 upgrade

[GM_NUT]

Eric, did you read what I wrote?

Originally Posted by GM_NUT

In most vehicles it does not run straight to the positive battery post.

MOST vehicles ... that's what we're discussing here - the best way to perform this mod on MOST vehilces. Not YOUR vehicle.

If your vehile's charge wire runs directly between the battery pos(+) post and the alternator, then by all means feel free to remove & replace it. That method is not best for MOST other vehicles. For instance, I own 3 GM vehilces at the moment. On each one the factory charge wire is run between the starter solenoid and the alternator. In these cases, removing the factory charge wire does not make sense. It would be alot of work, since it is bundled in with the main engine harness. It is not hurting anything to keep it in place and operating. It is not unsafe to keep it connected. Also, leaving the factory wire in place will also make it easier to return the vehile's electrical system to 'stock' condition if the need ever arises.

I've been doing this kind of work for more than 25 years - I know from whence I speak.

If the weather is decent tomorrow, I'll snap a few photos and post them up, as I mentioned earlier in this thread.

[created2destroy]

My vehicle happens to be a silverado. As far as I knew this site was for full size GM vehicles. Anything else is not relevant and should not be posted here. Do you even own a full size chevy?

[GM_NUT]

Read my profile - you could say I own two 'Full Size' Chevy's ;) One is a '70 K10 (which is actually more like a K30 Short Bed now) and a '90 9C1 Caprice (a 'full size' sedan).

Also, read the first post in this thread. The intent of the original poster was to help guide others in how to perform this mod on any vehicle.

I took a few photos of how I performed this mod on my Caprice. Once I host the poto's on Photobucket, I'll post them here.

[created2destroy]

I said I wasn't going to post anymore on this topic, but I would like to see you explain how to do this mod. Please include how to do it safely with a fuse or some sort of breaker. Leave out any details on grounding, that is just commonsense.

So far it seems like all you have done is argue. If you think you are so smart why not share your ideas instead of putting down others.

[Slammed94]

Can anyone tell ME how to do it to my truck? I just go from Battery to block to the other ground? Thats it? And this will ground my stereo better?

[created2destroy]

Originally Posted by Slammed94

Can anyone tell ME how to do it to my truck? I just go from Battery to block to the other ground? Thats it? And this will ground my stereo better?

There's a few ways to run a better ground. You can either run a wire directly from the battery to the frame, or to the engine and then to the body/frame. I would personally run a 4gauge(or bigger) wire from the negative terminal to one of the mounts for the alternator. Then there should be a cable running to the firewall that can be replaced with something bigger, or you can add a second cable to it.

[GM_NUT]

Eric - I chose to not use any type of fuse between the battery & alternator. If the charge cable is run correctly, I don't feel that it is needed. As I mentioned earlier, I've performed this mod in many, many vehicles (my own & customer vehicles). I've never had a single problem.

Here's how I did it on my Caprice....this is an OLD car and the mod was done when the car had about 95k miles on it.

























I did not photograph one cable. Since this car uses a 'Frame on Chassis' construction, I added a body-to-chassis cable. For no particular reason, I chose to install this 4th cable at the rear of the car. The factory made a few body-to-chassis connections as well, of course. However, they are approximately equilavent to 8ga. wire on this car. My 'new' body-to-chassis cable is zero ga.

Of course, if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask them here or via PM :)

[created2destroy]

Then why are you arguing with me? The whole point of what I was explaining is to show how to do it with a fuse. Yeah its not absolutely needed, but it may save my battery someday.

[dsponder]

for everyone with the fuse idea my truck does not have one from the factory so idk y we need one cuz we really don't there is nothing there to short out.

[94FlamdS10Blazr]

heres mine:


battery placement and fuse, grounded to its own battery tray, along with the Big 3 ground from the engine



alt to battery



battery ground to frame



engine to body. Used a GM battery terminal I had laying around, fit just right!

grounded behind the second battery




and my PAC200 solenoid. If I decided to use it, it would go on the firewall between the firewall fuse and where I tied it in on the back of the alt. And to be really safe you would use a fuse between the alt and the solenoid (less than 18" off the back of it, better to be closer) to protect the alt and one off the main battery (as close as possible) and off the main battery side of the alt (to protect the alt there as well).

[silveradoguy98]

So does where does the silver off the battery go? Same place the factory negative goes off the battery (the one by the ps reservoir?) And then you run another wire from the ground by the ps reservoir to the firewall? just wanna make sure...

[silveradoguy98]

What about vehicles with two batteries? Do you need to hook up two more cables then? Do you have to run two seperate cables off the positive alternator post, one to each battery?

[stevenje98]

Originally Posted by created2destroy

I was just stating that just because a pipe is smaller doesn't mean it can't flow as much, just takes more pressure. I realize that if pressure is not a variable then yes a bigger pipe flows more. This has nothing to do with what we are talking about and is off topic.

I said nothing about using smaller wire, I was just stating that using a fuse will have a very very small resistance.

You are incorrect, we are talking about pressure. Electrical pressure is called voltage. The problem you are having when lights dim is caused by a voltage drop. If you don't believe me watch your voltage gauge. Now lets think about a fuse as a restrictive tube. 12volts(actually around 14) is how much pressure is constantly in the tube. If the fuse is rated at 200amps this is like the amount of water that can flow through a tube at 12volts. Any more flow or pressure will burst the tube, or melt the fuse.

With electricity any energy that is lost due to resistance is transformed into heat. Yes a fuse will have some resistance and put out some heat, but since its so small there will be very little heat.

I have an experiment for you similar to your gas sucking ways. Find a long piece of tubing, preferably something very small(<1/4"). Cut two pieces, one about 1/2" long and the other several feet. Try to blow through both of them. Which one is easier to blow through?

Give this man an A-Plus. Everyone listen to this man he is right. this is the first thing your lean when your an electrician. Elec 101. I could have not made the statment better and I was an electrician.

[created2destroy]

Originally Posted by stevenje98

Give this man an A-Plus. Everyone listen to this man he is right. this is the first thing your lean when your an electrician. Elec 101. I could have not made the statment better and I was an electrician.

Thanks, I'm glad someone understands.

[tahoe harley]

Where did you get the top term for the battery?

[BigTruckDriver]

I got mine at the stereo shop. they should have all kinds of term. for batteries even up to gold plated if you want.

[hotdogstand]

Since the positive runs from the alt. to the battery, you WILL NOT need a fuse. The entire vehicle electrical runs from the battery, to the fuse box, then out into the rest of the harness. If your alternator somehow manages to overpower your system, the fusible link BETWEEN THE BATTERY AND FUSE BOX will save your truck. That is why, when you read step one, it says: DO NOT replace wires, only add new ones. Your battery loses more power when your engine starts then if your alternator were to spike momentarily. It usually takes 15 minutes to recharge, minimum. Nothing in any vehicle should run straight off of the alternator, except the battery.

[stepbill]

the fusible link BETWEEN THE BATTERY AND FUSE BOX will save your truck

I don't understand how it can save the truck if you have a larger gauge wire running from the alt to the batter. The smaller one may go but you still have the larger one running the current.

[5speedsilvy]

Originally Posted by DRK

There's a lotta good info in this thread, but I saw some glaring safety problems in some of the replies.

I come more from a car audio background than a fullsize Chevy one, and I've only had my 02 'Rado for 2 years. However, I've had plenty of experience when to comes to car audio, and I know that it's VERY important to put an inline fuse on the positive link. The positive factory link you are supplementing is fused for a reason. If you don't fuse the additional positive link you are putting in, you risk burning your entire vehicle to the ground if your electrical system shorts out.

Would you rather replace a $2 fuse if you get a short, or the entire vehicle because you were too lazy to wire in a $10 inline
fuse setup?

Also, in the case that your sound system's capabilities far exceed that of your alternator (entirely possible for any of you who might compete in SPL competitions), a properly sized fuse on that link will protect your alternator from working harder than it should in case of massive over-draw.

Just my $.02, I'm new to the forums and look forward to some interesting discussions!

what would you recomend for a fuse?

Originally Posted by hawaiianstyle

Totally lost after trying to ready along with this thread. My take on this is that all I need to do is add two wires to make the flow better in my new 2007 Vortex Max. I'm only going to put in an electric fan from Flex-lite. So will it benefit me by doing the Big Three? Just curious and maybe down the line a new head unit, subs, & amp.

why would you get ne e - fans if your truck already has them if it is a v8

[ScottMH]

Bypassing or negating a fuse or fuseable link is a pretty bad idea. the fuseable link serves as a saftey measure. if your alt overloads and blows a ton of volatge into the system it can fry computers, blow fuses it can even heat wires up to the point of catching fire. thats why there is a fuseable link. the fuseable link blows before anything else. your not protecting the alt from the car or the car from the bat. your protecting the car from the alt. adding a large gauge wire from the alt to the bat is a bypass. if the alt overloads the fuseable link may blow but you created a huge highway for the surge to pass through. from there havoc is created. i will never understand why people disable saftey features. they are there to protect your ride and ultimatly you. the only responsible thing to do is to put a circuit breaker or fuse inline of the larger gauge wire.