3G alt. with external regulator?

[Broncobowsher]

I've heard of plenty of issues with the battery selector switches over the years. That wouldn't surprise me.
Where do you have the "sense" wire hooked to? Try the battery itself. That way the regulator can actually see battery voltage and not alternator output voltage.

 

[ntsqd]

I need to look at that. I don't recall moving any of that, but I could have as I did that work almost 3 (?) years ago. Everything battery cable-wise on the truck was about to age-out, so I made new cables. Carolprene 1/0 welding cable, Greenlee hex die crimper, adhesive HS bridging from the jacket to the lug. The selector switch is Blue Sea Systems part.

 

[Broncobowsher]

I was saying that because the typical retrofit install is just loop the sense wire to the alternator output. But if you have losses in the cabling it would help explain the not full charge you are seeing. And why Ford put the seperate sense wire from the regulator to the battery, to see what is really happening at the battery. Although now that I think of it, there is nothing to account for losses on the ground side. But a battery cable directly to the block should be pretty good.

 

[ntsqd]

Wasn't just Ford that did that, but like you say, most alt. upgrades or conversions just loop back to the positive stud on the alt. This does have the E-250's 130A alt. on it in place of the stock 90A or 95A, but I left the wring for it alone after deciding that the charge wire was large enough for the higher output alternator.

As I recall the stock ground cable (this is a '96) had a mid-span tab in it that grounded to the chassis before jumping across to the engine block. I duplicated that, but with separate cables. Even the Aux battery is grounded to that same chassis bolt.

 

[Steve83]

...there's something wrong. Which, given the random cold start stalls, there likely is. Need to closely examine all of the battery cables and the starter. And have a look at the wire...

All those problems are what killed the previous battery - not the Ford or direct-replacement 3G VR.

...the battery selector switch.

That's another likely suspect for what killed the previous battery.

...die crimper...

There's another. The best way to attach a terminal to a wire is with solder, which is cheaper, easier, & reusabler than crimping.

...a battery cable directly to the block should be pretty good.

True dat.

...the stock ground cable...had a mid-span tab in it that grounded to the chassis before jumping across to the engine block.

Correct.

(click this text)

I duplicated that, but with separate cables.

Separate cables don't duplicate a single. It would be close to the same if the B- post cable went directly to the block, and then the short cable went from the block back to the frame. But even that' isn't the same as a single 3-terminal cable. And once all those problems are fixed, the factory 4ga wire is plenty big enough for a gas engine starter.

 

[Broncobowsher]

It's little, but a single cable of copper is a better connector than 2 seperate cables. Each transition (cable to lug, lug to lug, lug to cable) is a loss. And potential poor connection.

In the world of electrical connections, a good crimp is king. Solder adds another material change to the mix.

 

[ntsqd]

The OEM ground cable had a mid-span lug at the frame bolt that I couldn't duplicate. I had no option but to make the ground cable two separate cables and stack the lugs on a longer bolt.

A former co-worker of mine was once put on the solder vs. crimp debate by Boeing and told to resolve it. 18 months later he did. They're equal. BUT with some important caveats. The crimp must take the cold-welding to the point where a cut thru the crimp, once smoothed & polished, does not show the boundaries of the individual strands, but not so far that it extrudes the crimp zone and makes it longer. A soldered joint relies on cleanliness and the experience of the person doing the work. In the end it was felt that it was easier to design and mfg crimp dies with the correct dims than it was to try to train up a huge crew of solderers.

I use a Greenlee hex die cavity crimper for all of my cable crimps. This is all color-coded for NEC type electrical work. In that work you have to use the brown banded lugs on a particular size of cable, and crimp it with the dies marked with the brown dots. These dies leave behind a mark in the crimp that indicates to an Inspector which size die the crimp was made with.
As I don't always use an NEC cable lug on the intended cable I'm pretty sure that I'm not always getting a perfect crimp, but I am being very careful about which die I use on each cable.

I have the regulator pigtail and the cheap regulator should be here today.

 

[ntsqd]

Occurred to me that I had the old, 95A alternator laying around in the boneyard. Took its regulator off and took it to the wire wheel on my original bench grinder. I'm beginning to wrap my head around exactly how I need to make the mods required. Not too excited to be soldering to pins molded into plastic, but unless the socket side of the regulator connector (i.e. that part molded into the regulator) is available as a pig-tail I'm left with that. I've no idea how to search to see if such a pig-tail exists. Does anyone know what to call these connectors or who actually makes them?

 

[Steve83]

Each transition (cable to lug, lug to lug, lug to cable) is a loss. And potential poor connection.

I agree. It's called "insertion loss", and it rapidly becomes significant, as the joint ages.

In the world of electrical connections, a good crimp is king. Solder adds another material change to the mix.

IDK which electrical world you mean, but solder is the best for everything except some plastic-shell connectors. Crimping is only better than everything else, and it's quicker & cheaper than soldering very large connections. But even 4ga stranded Copper battery cables are VERY easy to solder.

The OEM ground cable had a mid-span lug at the frame bolt that I couldn't duplicate.

Did you look at the pic I linked? I used a scrap of Copper tubing.

...it was felt that it was easier to design and mfg crimp dies with the correct dims than it was to try to train up a huge crew of solderers.

So since it would be incredibly expensive for anyone to have such a die made for this job using these cables (or whatever cables are on the vehicle now) and some specific terminal, the only logical solution is to solder.

...soldering to pins molded into plastic...

I don't understand why you think you need to.

I've no idea how to search to see if such a pig-tail exists.

Try this page:

(click this text)

 

[ntsqd]

Steve83, I mostly don't ever look at anything that you post. Whatever info might be there isn't worth it.

 

[ntsqd]

I have modified an older regulator to essentially be a "pass-thru" regulator where the OEM plug can plug in like normal, but the circuits are passed thru to the ARS5. Life has gotten in the way of testing this system. I had a trip come up and I didn't want to be testing this while in the desert - didn't seem like a good plan. Hopefully I can get a few of these cats herded out of the way and can test it before the next trip.

I do have the parts needed to upgrade the charge cable to 6 gauge. That needs to happen soon regardless.