And drastically destabilize your voltage. Stick a multimeter on the positive post of the alternator while the truck is running vs the battery, you'll see what I mean.
1996 Chev won't fire up
- Thread starter One1999Chev
- Start date
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And drastically destabilize your voltage. Stick a multimeter on the positive post of the alternator while the truck is running vs the battery, you'll see what I mean.
94silveraydo
Newbie
Both my trucks run 14-14.5 volts across the battery and alternator when it's running. 16 volts when it's below 20ish degrees.
Maybe you can't see the fluctuation on your meter, but I assure you, it's there. The fact that your alternator reads identical voltage to your battery when the truck is running is not surprising, but the issue is the "ripple" effect you get from the voltage straight off the alt. It jumps up and down very quickly, you'd see it on an oscilloscope for sure. Amplifiers do not like this, they want rock solid voltage. Hooking to the battery eliminates this issue as the battery acts as sort of a voltage cushion. I'm not saying hooking an amp to the alternator won't work (at least temporarily) but it is very bad for the equipment and will almost certainly shorten the lifespan of the amp.
Long story short, don't hook stuff up to the alternator directly.
94silveraydo
Newbie
Except there is no actual filter between the battery and alternator, and since the positive of the battery is connected directly to the output of the alternator there is no difference in voltage fluctuation over the three feet of wire connecting the two or anything else connected to the hot of the battery. If you like I can break out my o-scope and record this to prove it. Any good amplifier will have the circuitry built in to level out the fluctuation from the alternator and supply clean power to the actual amplification circuits.
Feel free. I'd love to see it.
Regardless of your findings, it's not going to change my opinion that hooking anything directly to the hot side of your alternator is a bad idea. There's just absolutely no reason to do it. Battery terminals are cheap enough.
One1999Chev
OBS Enthusiast
I may get some new battery clamps and what not and possibly a new battery cable positive end to keep the battery clean. I can definitely tell corrosion leaked into the positive wire but I tried to clean it up a few times with spray can battery terminal cleaner and also did some baking soda and water to neutralize all the ends. At the moment it should work for me until I can get back to my shop and piss around more under a roof lol.
Thanks guys.
Thanks guys.
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