Batt. Relocation ?

[TTA89]

Where do the 1g guys with Batt relocations drill through their firewall? Or does everyone run the power wire under the car?

Thanks

 

[Turbo Talon DL]

Get on www.vfaq.com and see how they did theirs. I didnt drill any holes for my 2awg power wire. I eliminated my A/C, so I ran it through one of those holes. Just make sure you protect the wire from chafing. Its not an extremely difficult project.

 

[danielbui]

if you do drill a hole through the firewall, before inserting the power wire, go to a local hardware store and buy a grommet the size of the hole. once the power wire is in place with grommet use silicon to patch the hole from unwanted particles from entering the cabin area and to keep the power wire from moving in the drilled area possibly rubbing a cut in to the wire. also ground the battery in the rear no more than 12inches away from the battery itself. less resistance for the battery. you can also buy a 1 farad capacitor and install in the engine bay to up the current. not only does a battery charge but it also drains the electrical system. this is NOT at all necessary but it helps.

 

[BoostedTalonTS]

^^^^^^^^Good Info^^^^^^^^^ (although, I don't know how well a large cap will hold up to the heat in the engine bay)

Don't forget to install an in-line fuse/fuse holder!! -I personally used an ANL style fuse/fuse holder with a 300 amp rated fuse. I used 1/0 AWG wire for my relocation. -I wouldn't recommend anything less than 2 AWG wire.

..As for wire locations in a 1G, you could use either factory provisions for the AT or MT cables (depending on what you've got, use the other one). When I was researching this same question for my battery relocation, I found that the 1Gs have two different factory shifter cable locations... Both are readily accessible and the firewall at those locations is only a single ply (great for running wires & hoses).

 

[TTA89]

Thanks for the advise. I am going to look into running the power wire where there would be Auto Tranny lines since I have a 5 speed. Any other places that are safe to drill at? I still have my AC.

Thanks

 

[95GSXBLUR]

Don't forget to install an in-line fuse/fuse holder!! -I personally used an ANL style fuse/fuse holder with a 300 amp rated fuse. I used 1/0 AWG wire for my relocation. -I wouldn't recommend anything less than 2 AWG wire.

Nothing in your car pulls anywhere near 300 amps. not to mention 2 or 4 awg would melt if they had 300 amps running through them over the 10 foot cable run. your starter might draw 100ish. Look at your factory fuses for your starter, etc, the largest fuse in the car is 100A.


2AWG is what i relocated with. 1/0AWG is HUGE and would only really be necessary if you were a larger car with a longer cable run. right now I have a 200A fuse, which in my opinion is a little too big.. I'd probably run 150A.. remember, fuses aren't just to protect circuits, they're to protect the wire as well. (from melting, etc). you also want the fuse within 18"s from the battery.. no further.

-Scott
Mobile Electronics Certified Professional
(MECP, Best Buy Mobile Tech working on 3 years now)

 

[BoostedTalonTS]

Nothing in your car pulls anywhere near 300 amps. not to mention 2 or 4 awg would melt if they had 300 amps running through them over the 10 foot cable run. your starter might draw 100ish. Look at your factory fuses for your starter, etc, the largest fuse in the car is 100A.


2AWG is what i relocated with. 1/0AWG is HUGE and would only really be necessary if you were a larger car with a longer cable run. right now I have a 200A fuse, which in my opinion is a little too big.. I'd probably run 150A.. remember, fuses aren't just to protect circuits, they're to protect the wire as well. (from melting, etc). you also want the fuse within 18"s from the battery.. no further.

-Scott
Mobile Electronics Certified Professional
(MECP, Best Buy Mobile Tech working on 3 years now)

Sounds like someone had better go back and study the MECP again... Specifically the Ohm's Law part of it.

Yes, 300 amps is over kill for a stock DSM's electrical system. -Not that I am actually getting those 300 amps though... Resistance is a Mo-Fo... First you want to add ALL of the possible circuit's power drains (with EVERYTHING on -both OE and aftermarket systems, at maximum power drains) and see what you get. -A lot more than just the largest sized fuse on the OE block is. Not to mention that a lot of these electrical systems function at different/same times. Case in point: Night time: All lighting + possible brake lights, fans motors (all 3, including the blower motor), wipers, AC clutch, ignition, power windows, etc,etc.. Just these systems alone can draw more than 150 amps of current if they are all in use at the same time... That doesn't leave much room for actually being able to maintain the charge of the battery, if the amount of current that is being used exceeds the amount that is capable of the wire.

Now we can also look at it from a current draw perspective... The original system is designed to have the battery in the OE location. Now you are planning to relocate that location about 16' away from that location, and (hopefully) still be able to supply the same amount of amperage as if the battery was still in it's OE location.

Your wire size determines the overall amount of current transfer "ability". Use a smaller power primary and get less current/more resistance thus risk sacrificing on board voltage:

Resistance = Energy(voltage) / I (current):
14.4 volts (standard working voltage) / current (lets use your ideal 150 amp rating) = 0.096 ohms of resistance

compare that to the 300 amp:
14.4 volts (standard working voltage) / current (300 amp rating) = 0.048 ohms of resistance

What does that mean?

Using a 150 amp maximum rated power primary (and/or fuse) will produce almost twice the amount of resistance then a 1/0 AWG wire with a 350 amp max rating (with a 300 amp fuse).

So more resistance then? -Yup. Now you must also factor in the length of wire that you are going to need to relocate the battery... Thus further increasing the resistance, the longer the run of the wire.

For my car, the goal was simple... Relocate the battery (a 1020 CCA Optima Red Top) and supply the maximum amount of current transfer back to the engine bay. Once stared, I wanted to be able to supply the most amount of charging output from the alternator back to the battery.

IMO, if you are going to relocate the battery you might also want to upgrade the alternator's dual 10AWG wires (1Gs anyway) to that of a 4 AWG or larger. Again, to further aid in current transfer.

With the system that I described above in my 1G Talon, I have yet to see on board voltage drop below 12.8 volts with EVERYTHING on, while in gear at idle (850rpm idle via EPROM upgrade). It has been that way for about 5 years now.



To the original poster:
If you can manage to sneak in a drill to one of your local wrecking yards, this might be a good way to "test" for different locations... Looking at a lot of empty shells of former DSMs was how I found out that the ATs vs the MTs had different cabling locations. I can tell you that our 1G firewalls are not a single ply in a lot of places! -Just be sure before you drill.