the big 3 question

[Pimpdady753]

Ok what is it, and how do you do it. thanks

[Abell255]

battery - to ground
engine block to ground
alt + to battery +

[cody911911]

you basically upgrade wire size and quality as well as ensure good connections.

[Pimpdady753]

why would you ground the engine block

[PaulD]

cuz the alternator is grounded to the engine block .... if you don't, the alt won't work right in charging the battery.

[Pimpdady753]

thankx

[Navy I.C.]

what about alternator(+) to battery(+) and alternator(-) if there is one, to battery(-)

[sr20de4evr]

all the current leaving the alternator runs through the alt + to batt +, by upgrading that wire you reduce the resistance and the voltage drop that normally occurs there

But current has to go in a loop, and all the current leaving the alt has to go back in through the -, since the alt's ground is the engine that it's bolted to, you upgrade the engine ground and the battery ground to finish off the path.

[Navy I.C.]

I'm thinking since the batt and alt are both connected by a chassis ground, then it's still paralelled, only difference is to parallel the alt directly to batt(-) will give you even less resistance...right?

[sr20de4evr]

well, right now they are in parallel, but the cabling used to ground the engine and the battery suck horribly. When you add the new wire it simply drops the resistance, even though the current is still following the same basic path.

[CBFryman]

what about alternator(+) to battery(+) and alternator(-) if there is one, to battery(-)

__________________

alternator (+) to battery positive first has to be changed from AC current to DC current....and alternator (-) to batery (-) is the alternator being grounded to the engine block and the engine block being grounded to the chasis and the chasis being connected to the bettery (-)

[Navy I.C.]

Originally Posted by CBFryman

alternator (+) to battery positive first has to be changed from AC current to DC current.

well I thought I could ask the question to people in the know without stating the obvious. yes, I know that ac has to pass through a series of diodes to become, (a pseudo), dc current but, because the people that could answer my original question already know that, I just thought I'd leave that part out...

Originally Posted by CBFryman

...and alternator (-) to batery (-) is the alternator being grounded to the engine block and the engine block being grounded to the chasis and the chasis being connected to the bettery (-)

since you so cleared that up, I guess I know enough about the ckt now, I can re-ask my question. resistance, in this case, is directly proportional to the amount of the medium, (conductors, metal frames, car chassis, etc)...right? This is...the idea behind using a larger gauge cable to lower resistance, right? so going off of that, my question, (again), is...would not a shorter cable run, (ie. batt- to alt chassis), do a lower resistance make?

please, excuse my grammar...

[TheSilentChamber]

because the resistance in the chassis is going to exist no matter what, unless you run individual grounds back to the the battery on everything.

another reason for grounding the block is because spark plugs no go boom with out it.

[Navy I.C.]

no, no ,no. I'm not saying inturrupt any other ckts, I'm just talking about the alt...

[sr20de4evr]

yes you could run a direct cable between the batt - and alt -, but it would really serve no purpose. I mean the alt is grounded through the engine, the engine has a much lower resistance than a puny little 4awg cable will. Upgrading the engine ground and battery ground instead will have the same effect, and it will also help out your entire electrical system, not just the alt-to-batt efficiency.