Big 3 and Dual Battery Kits

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kennythewelder

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kennythewelder

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Thank you for the info and reply @kennythewelder , that gives me a better idea of how to go about installing the new wiring.
I made my own kit, myself. We have a 4x4- custom audio shop just about 1 block for my work. I stopped in there, and bought some connectors, and asked there advice. They are the ones who told me to leave the OE wiring in place. They also asked if I was going to add some extra grounds. I said yes, and did just that. I used #2 welding lead. I ran an extra ground, from the back of the Alt, to the bat, and extra ground from the cab of the truck, back to the bat, along with the normal big 3 up grade, so along with the OE wiring, mine has 1 positive from the alt to the bat, 1 neg from the alt mounting plate, to the bat, 1 neg from the bat to the frame on the truck, 1 neg from the bat to the cab of the truck, 1 neg from the bat, to the engine block. I have a Sony 10 with a 680 watt amp, and that runs to the bat positive also. When I added the extra cab neg wire, my windshield wipers speed up, LOL. I also have a set of electric fans on my truck, that I pulled off of a Cadillac DeVille. I really needed the extra, quick recovery to help keep the bat charged. I am also running a small OD alt pulley. This helps at idle, for the alt to keep up, when the fans kick on, and run, at idle.
 
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kennythewelder

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Oh, I forgot to mention, I have a 125 amp fuse, and fuse holder, that I bought at that 4x4 shop. This is between the #2 welding lead, that runs from the alt, back to the bat. That shop, does this type of mods every day. I asked for there advice also about using #2 welding lead. They said, for my setup, the #2 welding lead would be fine. If I would have had more than 1 amp, pushing IDK like 1000 watts each, then I would have needed a bigger wire.
 

kennythewelder

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Here are a few pics of my set up. You can see where I added the wires in the alt, and how I added them to the bat. I welded 2 ast bolts together to give extra space, so I could add more wires to the bat connections. The first 3 are older pics. I have done a lot of polish work since I took those.
 

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kennythewelder

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How does the alternator actually ground from the factory with the accessory brackets being aluminium? And what is the purpose of including a dedicated grounding wire when upgrading; just to clean up any EMI?
The alt grounds through it's frame. That is bolted to the engine block, and there is a ground wire, that runs from the bat neg, to the engine block. Aluminum does conduct electricity. This is why it's a good idea to add an extra ground wire directly from the alt, to the bad neg. This gives a more direct flow of electrons from the alt, to the bat neg. The electrons don't have to flow through the aluminum, and steel, to get back to the bat. Electricity flows like water, ( for the most part), and will find it's shortest path to ground. Same thing, for adding a ground wire, to the cab of the truck. By grounding the cab, with a ground wire, the negative side, not longer has to flow through the cab bolts, and through the frame, to get back to the bat neg. Here's where I originally put the ground on the cab. I since, have moved it over to the other side of the overflow bottle. It's out of sight now. Grounding the cab, is an excellent idea, if you are running a sub, and amp.
 

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