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1975 Plastic fantastic aka Corvette

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  • I was surprised at the cost of complete new wiring harnesses from suppliers other than painless.... just sayin.
    There's always something new to learn.

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    • Change that wire to a 4.

      Yeah I know its big but it means you won't have a fire and you won't have any voltage drop due to that wire.

      Wouldn't be a bad idea to put a big fuse or CB inline, also.
      I'm still learning

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      • How will a CitizensBand radio inline help things?






        (Do I get a Picard FacePalm for that?)
        Of all the paths you take in life - make sure a few of them are dirt.

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        • Originally posted by Bob Holmes View Post
          Change that wire to a 4.

          Yeah I know its big but it means you won't have a fire and you won't have any voltage drop due to that wire.

          Wouldn't be a bad idea to put a big fuse or CB inline, also.
          4 seems a bit of an overkill for an alternator that can, at best, max 1200 watts. Also, as I found out before, even with a fuse on a large line - doesn't mean it'll blow when it shorts. I have a 200 amp fuse on my diesel - it didn't blow when the line welded a hole into the exhaust manifold. With a smaller wire and lower wattage fuse or fuseable link - then it better protects the circuit.

          CB? uh, what Stiney said.
          Doing it all wrong since 1966

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          • You're the one that was complaining about voltage fluctuations. CB = Circuit Breaker.

            My alternator puts out 14.1. My battery, located in the back tire well, sees 14.1.

            Old cars have crappy old wiring. And wiring that was meant for a carb'd car is insufficent for an EFI car.

            Just call me Bob "Overkill" Holmes
            I'm still learning

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            • Originally posted by STINEY View Post






              (Do I get a Picard FacePalm for that?)
              Face palms are not given gratuitously. You must eaaaaarrrrrrnnnnn it.
              I'm still learning

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              • Originally posted by Bob Holmes View Post
                You're the one that was complaining about voltage fluctuations. CB = Circuit Breaker.

                My alternator puts out 14.1. My battery, located in the back tire well, sees 14.1.

                Old cars have crappy old wiring. And wiring that was meant for a carb'd car is insufficent for an EFI car.

                Just call me Bob "Overkill" Holmes
                ah.... already solved that problem with a separate wiring system that pulls from the alternator to another fuse panel.

                voltage fluctuation came from the alternator going bad.

                Circuit breakers? uhhh, fix the short, Bob. And no, overkill is not the appropriate name for you - especially since you recommend circuit breakers.... Sparky isn't used as much anymore - so we dub thee Sir Bob of Sparky. ... if you don't like that one we can go with Short Bob.
                Last edited by SuperBuickGuy; February 22, 2013, 12:32 AM.
                Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                • Originally posted by SuperBuickGuy View Post
                  4 seems a bit of an overkill for an alternator that can, at best, max 1200 watts. Also, as I found out before, even with a fuse on a large line - doesn't mean it'll blow when it shorts. I have a 200 amp fuse on my diesel - it didn't blow when the line welded a hole into the exhaust manifold. With a smaller wire and lower wattage fuse or fuseable link - then it better protects the circuit.

                  CB? uh, what Stiney said.
                  10 gauge between battery and alternator is sufficient unless your battery is in the trunk. Might go bigger. Your Vette has the battery behind the driver's seat? I wouldn't have a circuit breaker or inline fuse.
                  BS'er formally known as Rebeldryver

                  Resident Instigator

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                  • Originally posted by Scott Liggett View Post
                    10 gauge between battery and alternator is sufficient unless your battery is in the trunk. Might go bigger. Your Vette has the battery behind the driver's seat? I wouldn't have a circuit breaker or inline fuse.
                    The battery is behind the driver's seat - but the wire is 0 .... the wire from the alternator is 12 guage, twice. one wire to new panel, one to main panel - no fuses. Fuses create a choke point because they don't flow as well as the wire they're attached to.
                    Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                    • Let me get this straight.... maybe I'm overlooking something, it's friday morning and been one mutha of a week.

                      Fiberglass car - no body grounds, and flammable as a dry bail of hay, but far more harmful smoke comes off when it burns.

                      No fuses, no circuit breakers, and it's hot all the time..... I'm failing to see the logic here.

                      Bobs a smart guy - I'm leaning toward his level of overkill
                      - SBG is a smart guy too, and so is Scott....
                      ya'll are scaring me here by not agreeing on something that is relatively basic to the healthy life of any vehicle - the charging system.

                      I know there's sometimes no single correct answer to a complex problem.... but.....
                      There's always something new to learn.

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                      • John, given the fights I've had with the bad wiring in Ford's first EFI vehicles, I tend to overkill. I think its perfectly acceptable for someone to quibble with my choices.

                        I personally wouldn't go smaller than an 8 from alternator to front mounted battery, on an EFI car. But we had a separate thread that discussed battery to alternator wiring choices a while back, so I'll leave it there.
                        I'm still learning

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                        • Originally posted by Bob Holmes View Post
                          John, given the fights I've had with the bad wiring in Ford's first EFI vehicles, I tend to overkill. I think its perfectly acceptable for someone to quibble with my choices.

                          I personally wouldn't go smaller than an 8 from alternator to front mounted battery, on an EFI car. But we had a separate thread that discussed battery to alternator wiring choices a while back, so I'll leave it there.
                          it really depends on what you're building. I suspect Bob would call overkill with the wiring for Rescue Rig (double O wire) - but with that truck, I'm running high-voltage lights, a winch, and a 3500 watt inverter....

                          With the Corvette.... a radio would be silly, you'd never hear it, it doesn't have off-road lights, so to put huge by large wiring on it would actually cause more problems (weight) than it would solve... the EFI hooks directly to the battery, so what the alternator does really doesn't matter to it. The MSD box and DUI ignition both run off the 'new' fuse panel, which is a very short run from the alternator.

                          In short (bob ), build it for what you're doing. You should, actually, never power anything from the alternator but rather do runs to the battery - however, I honestly don't think it makes any difference in this case.
                          Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                          • SBG, I thought about this all the way into work (yes I have to go to work from time to time).

                            "Build it for what you are doing" is exactly correct.

                            Wiring is scalable for the load that will be experienced. A car with a carb, mechanical fan and fuel pump, and a classic am/fm with stock speakers is a completely different job, in both amount and size of wiring, then a car with EFI, electric fan, water and fuel pump, and a power gobbling stereo.

                            So, there is no single "use on every car" correct answer.

                            So educate me SBG, why do you like fusible "self-immolating" links v Bussman style "shorts" circuit breakers. My mind is so open that I need to clean the garbage out more frequently.
                            I'm still learning

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                            • sorry to continue to derail - but - I have an issue with my truck - for some reason when hooking up a trailer for the first time, it will blow a fuse in the underhood panel - minifuse. put in a new fuse with the trailer hooked up - lights work like a charm from that moment forward.

                              could I install a circuit breaker in place of that fuse as an easy work around to stop having to replace that fuse? Yea - I could probably track down the route of the problem - but this truck is 21 feet long and there's ALOT of wiring.
                              There's always something new to learn.

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                              • Originally posted by Bob Holmes View Post
                                SBG, I thought about this all the way into work (yes I have to go to work from time to time).

                                "Build it for what you are doing" is exactly correct.

                                Wiring is scalable for the load that will be experienced. A car with a carb, mechanical fan and fuel pump, and a classic am/fm with stock speakers is a completely different job, in both amount and size of wiring, then a car with EFI, electric fan, water and fuel pump, and a power gobbling stereo.

                                So, there is no single "use on every car" correct answer.

                                So educate me SBG, why do you like fusible "self-immolating" links v Bussman style "shorts" circuit breakers. My mind is so open that I need to clean the garbage out more frequently.
                                Because I burned a 1962 Buick Skylark to the ground with one (the thought that immediately jumps into my head). The car kept blowing fuses for the dash/tail lights; so I got lazy and replaced it with a CB. It fused in the "on" position.... FWIW, the short was under the driver's seat (as that's what caught fire first)....
                                Doing it all wrong since 1966

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