EZ harness question

[Ohio Bronco 21]

Any idea on this?
Im installing an EZ harness. It has 2 wires going into the engine compartment that are marked (solenoid power) and (Alternator Power). Im running a 1 wire "GM" style Alternator, DO I need the Alternator power wire hooked up? When I power the Solenoid wire the Alt wire is hot and also when I power just the Alt wire, the solenoid wire is hot. That is just putting the wires seperately to Pos on the Batt.
I do not believe that one wire powers anything the other doesnt in the EZ fuse box.
Im just trying lay everything out at this point on the truck. The EZ fuse box has provisions the original Bronco box didnt, so I am also trying to reduce some of the stuff going through the stock style Headlight switch as well. I dont plan to make soldered permenent connections till I run everything to see its ok.

 

[Stingray240cs]

I installed that harness in my Bronco. If you don't get an answer, I'll check my install when I get home. I think I had a similar question to yours and ended up calling the EZ Wiring. I'm pretty sure the answer is yes you need the Alternator Power wire hooked up.

 

[Ohio Bronco 21]

Im wondering what its intended function or what else it powers in the set up.

 

[Stingray240cs]

Solenoid power goes to the battery side of the solenoid. Alt. Power goes to the power output of the alternator. I'm using a 3G alternator.

As for what it powers, I'm not sure. I do know that he told me it had to be connected. If you give them a call they will let you know. Sorry I couldn't help you there.

 

[Ohio Bronco 21]

Solenoid power goes to the battery side of the solenoid. Alt. Power goes to the power output of the alternator. I'm using a 3G alternator.

As for what it powers, I'm not sure. I do know that he told me it had to be connected. If you give them a call they will let you know. Sorry I couldn't help you there.

I appreciate the help. Not to much trouble to attach the Alt wire.

 

[DirtDonk]

Is the solenoid wire a large (possibly 10ga?) Red wire? Or is it a smaller (14ga maybe?) Purple/Violet colored wire?
Sounds like the larger Red one, but wanted to make sure.

Most likely leave the alternator wire off in your application. What color and size is it? Sounds like a match to the larger solenoid wire. If so, leave it off. If it's a smaller (Green maybe?) wire used to excite the alternator, leave it off.
With a true 1-wire alternator, which it sounds like you'll be running, there is no need for an exciter wire and as a main charge power wire for a stock alternator, this new one is too small.

If the solenoid wire is the larger Red variety, then it's your main power supply wire for the entire fuse panel and all interior/exterior/engine compartment circuits.
Does it utilize a fuse or fusible link?

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Stingray, are you using only the supplied alternator wire, or did you also connect a larger gauge charge wire direct to the battery? Got pics?

I've never done an EZ harness, so am not speaking from experience, but if you're using a too-small wire for your 3G charging duties, it's not safe for the long haul and you've just been "getting away with" using it.
It's fine for lower powered alternators up to about 70 amps, but not sufficient size for a 130+ amp 3G.

Sorry if all of this is incorrect for an EZ wire setup, but it's pretty important that you don't have a melt-down, so it's worth bringing the subject up I think.

Paul

 

[Ohio Bronco 21]

The Solenoid wire is a 10 Gauge wire for use with a fusible link, it goes to the positve power side of the Solenoid. The other wire listed as to the Alt is also a red wire but not 10 gauge, maybe 14 gauge. It seems I get power through to it when I hook up the solenoid wire and vs versa. Seems it may not need to be hooked up but couldnt hurt if it was? I just like to know what , goes where and why anymore. Im also writing everything I do down as I seem to forget stuff quicker anymore, lol.

 

[Stingray240cs]

Hey Paul, there are two wires coming off the alternator power connector for the EZ Harness. One is the supplied/built-in "alternator power" wire and the other is a short heavy gauge power wire that goes to the battery side of the solenoid. The heavy gauge wire isn't part of the harness. I'll grab a picture when I get home and get it posted up.

 

[Ohio Bronco 21]

My 10 gauge wire connects to my fuse box

 

[Stingray240cs]

My 10 guage Solenoid wire connects back to my fuse box like you were saying. The smaller gauge Alternator wire connects to the back power connector of the alternator. I hope these pics help. If you want pics of anything else let me know.

Back of alternator

 

[DirtDonk]

The Solenoid wire is a 10 Gauge wire for use with a fusible link, it goes to the positve power side of the Solenoid.

Sounds like the main power then. That'll be connected to the same post as the battery and you should be good to go there.

The other wire listed as to the Alt is also a red wire but not 10 gauge, maybe 14 gauge.

Sounds either like a sensing wire or an exciter wire. Neither of which you need for your 1-wire.

It seems I get power through to it when I hook up the solenoid wire and vs versa. Seems it may not need to be hooked up but couldnt hurt if it was?

Hmm, I wouldn't think so, but not sure if that's a good idea or not. Is there a diagram or instructions online anywhere for this harness? What do your instructions say about it?
One good reason to leave it off, I would think, would be if the large cable you're going to use ever fails you could have a melt-down of that small wire to cause some headaches. To say the least.
As long as everything is working, it's probably fine to connect. It's just for those "what if" scenarios we need to think about.

I just like to know what , goes where and why anymore. Im also writing everything I do down as I seem to forget stuff quicker anymore, lol.

Sound practice! Never hurts to question all things electrical. And it never hurts to write it down either!
A quote from another forum: "If you can't fix it with a hammer, you have an electrical problem."

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

...The smaller gauge Alternator wire connects to the back power connector of the alternator. I hope these pics help. If you want pics of anything else let me know.

Nope, those are perfect. Yours is connected like Ohio's talking about.
Because you have that large wire carrying all the load, that Red wire isn't really doing anything substantial. Unless the big one fails, you won't notice it one way or the other. Not 100% sure what it's for, but it appears to be a charge wire for a "stock" alternator setup. Looks bigger than 14ga, but hard to say by the pics if it's 10ga or not.

Is the Yellow wire from your alternator connector also connected there on that post? That's the 3G's sensing wire for the internal regulator. The Red wire is completely unnecessary for charging duties, but seems to be out of the way and not bothering anything.
Because it's not a sealed connector though, I would keep an eye on it every once in awhile to make sure it's not coming loose. If it escapes the confines of the crimp, it'll short out on something nearby and give you fits.

If you're confident of the crimp, and things are working as expected, just leave it alone.
Would still like to see a diagram or instructions sometime. Just to see what's up.

Paul

 

[Stingray240cs]

My system appears to be working fine. I was really just trying to help out Ohio. My bronco has only been running for 2 months though so I can't say I'm 100% sure.

Yes, the yellow wire is connected to the power post on the alt. Thanks for the tip on that connector. I'll get that taken care of soon.

I think this is the wiring diagram.

 

[Ohio Bronco 21]

Excellent help as always. Yeah this is the diagram with the kit, not much else

 

[DirtDonk]

You could even keep the same connector if you want (no reason to, but no reason not too either?) by simply cutting off the plastic insulator and soldering the connection instead.
Permanent and weather proof.

Always ignore diagrams like that, that show the typical (for that time) generic Ford charging system wiring. It's completely incorrect for a Bronco, or any vehicle of the same vintage that uses an ammeter gauge instead of a charge indicator light.
If you notice the next time you look at a stock Bronco setup, there are only three wires on the regulator. Not four, like in the pic.
"F"-"S"-"A" are the only ones used on an EB.

Luckily, in both of your cases you're using non-stock alternators. So you didn't get the chance for the instructions to screw things up for you.
But as we thought, the reason the Red wire is powered up anytime your solenoid power wire is connected to the battery is that they're literally two parts of the same circuit. One for power when the engine is off (solenoid power) and one for power when the engine is running (alt power) like on a stock setup.

You should be good to go Ohio, with what you've got. Your choices are just like anyone upgrading a stock wiring system with a more powerful, or a 1-wire alternator.
You either cut off the Red wire completely, making sure to cap off the end and keep it safe, or you terminate it with a connector and either attach it to the alternator power stud or the starter relay (solenoid) power stud, or for future use, give it it's own power stud that you can connect other accessories to.
Just remember that it's always powered when the battery is connected, so whatever you do it has to be either capped off, or connected to 12v positive.

Paul

 

[Ohio Bronco 21]

not a bad idea setting up another power source stud for future add ons.

 

[DirtDonk]

Yeah, works out really well for EB's. Even with new harnesses there are not always automatically a lot of extra locations to pull power from. And those starter relay posts can get awful full quickly with all the goodies we like to work in!

There are several different designs of stud or strip. Lots of single post styles. Many available new, or pulled from junkyard donors. I like the factory stuff myself.
One popular model is the buss-bar style on later GM trucks (approx '88 to '98 style) that have multiplr studs all connected together. Power one and use the others for goodies.


I cut one up into three sections and will epoxy them back together. That way they have a common base, but are independent. I like to use one section for "always hot" another for "hot with key only" and the other for "start only" functions.

Alternately, one of the larger "Radio Shack" style terminal strips works very well too, for most loads a Bronco needs.


Paul

 

[Stingray240cs]

I'm not sure how clear this is, but I sent an email the other day asking about the alternator power wire and was their (EZ Wiring) response.

"the alter power is the wire the alternator charges back through. If he already has a wire going to the batt from there then that is what I normally use as a bypass in addition to the alt power to give the dump of unneeded charge when not needed by system"

Hope this adds some value to the question of why.

 

[DirtDonk]

Well, the one clear thing we care about is that it's confirmed this is the standard charge wire, as would be on a stock wiring setup with stock (or near stock) output alternator.

As for a "bypass" in need of a "dump" I've never heard of such a thing on an automotive electrical system.
Maybe there's something to it, and someone like Viper's the one to know probably. But generally speaking, since an alternator only puts out what is requested by the voltage regulator based on system voltage, I don't know where any extra to dump would come from? But if there is indeed an over abundance of volts/amps that need to go somewhere, well, seems to me that's what the battery is for!

Either way though, what we discussed previously as the different methods to wire it are still legit. If you have both connected, you can leave it that way without issue. If you only use the large wire and utilize the smaller ALT wire in some other way, you're good there too.

Paul