battery straight to alternator?

[wesnaiska23]

i have a saturn alternator that i relocated to the back of the engine. i was wondering if i can run a 8 guage wire straight from battery to alternator with an inline fuse? if so what size fuse would be good?

 

[2slow4now]

I wouldn't use 8 ga for that long of a run. I would probably use 4ga. Take a look at this. American Wire Gauge table and AWG Electrical Current Load Limits with skin depth frequencies and wire strength
I think lofty has a write up on battery relocation that is a nice article.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/438779-battery-relocation-question.html
My layout is post #5. Loftys link to his write up is post #10. Amp drop and resistance is why should use 4ga instead of 8ga.

 

[autodsm]

He didnt say he relocated his battery, he said he relocated his alternator. Running 8awg wire from the alternator to the battery in its stock location is fine. If you relocated the battery to the trunk, i would run 2awg wire and nothing less than that.

 

[wesnaiska23]

He didnt say he relocated his battery, he said he relocated his alternator. Running 8awg wire from the alternator to the battery in its stock location is fine. If you relocated the battery to the trunk, i would run 2awg wire and nothing less than that.

what size fuse should i use

 

[autodsm]

Theres already a fuse on the positive battery terminal. If all you are doing is running the wire from the stock battery location to the alternator, you shouldnt need an inline fuse.

However, if you are running it to a battery relocated to the trunk, then you need to run a 100amp breaker or fuse.

 

[boost97gst]

He didnt say he relocated his battery, he said he relocated his alternator. Running 8awg wire from the alternator to the battery in its stock location is fine. If you relocated the battery to the trunk, i would run 2awg wire and nothing less than that.

Im running a single 4ga welding wire currently. Car cranks fast. There is, inherent in a relocate, a minimal voltage drop. I may run 2 4ga to see if i dont drop the .3VDC i am now. Its not a problem though so i dont pay it any mind.

 

[autodsm]

Im running a single 4ga welding wire currently. Car cranks fast. There is, inherent in a relocate, a minimal voltage drop. I may run 2 4ga to see if i dont drop the .3VDC i am now. Its not a problem though so i dont pay it any mind.

Hmmm....I liked to be safe than sorry. Some would even recommend 0awg wire, but I find that to be overkill unless you have a lot of electronics to deal with. 2awg was fine for me with the fuel pump rewired with 4g. Now go figure that one out

 

[boost97gst]

Oh, i agree, no such thing as overkill in these cars!! haha. If i were to do it again today i would have went 2ga both neg and pos, but the 4 has served me well. All my copper ends are crimped and soldered so that may have helped me too

 

[NHerron]

2G's don't have a fuse on the + battery terminal like 1G's do. The stock wiring on a 2G alternator output is 2x 8ga wire, which roughly equals 4ga. So run 4ga or bigger. Just run this wire into the fuse box where the stock wiring went to. You can upgrade the wires running from the battery to the fusebox to lessen any voltage drops if you want, but don't run directly to battery, that's just asking for trouble.