I had a 1 volt drop between my alternator and the battery on the charge wire.
Was that on the Centech harness? That's a lot more than I would have expected from the new wires. Even as long as they are, I thought a clean 10ga wire would not have that much drop.
Don't remember checking before, but I will next time.
I know its controversial but I ran a larger gauge direct to the battery from the alternator to try and help with my low voltmeter readings.
Also for reference this is with an explorer style alternator on a centech body harnessed rig.
Nothing controversial at all. Or should not be. It's what all the factories do, and the only thing that it changes on an Early Bronco is you lose the ammeter's full function.
BUT! And this is a big but... That's what you're absolutely supposed to do with anything even approaching an Explorer alternator's 130+ amp output capability!
The stock wire, and even the new replacement Centech wire, were never expected to pass more than 60a or so. Certainly not the typical 95 or 130 amps from a modern alternator for any amount of time.
Yes, Centech claims that it can handle 100a, but I'd say that's probably close to being maxed out and probably not a good idea to test that theory for the long term
So you did the right thing no matter what. It's exactly how Ford wired your Explorer alternator, so is how anyone who's swapping one in should as well.
It helped but I also don't read a bunch over 12V when charging. I definitely don't see 14V which would seem to be the standard for an optimized charging system.
That's extremely strange for any setup like you have. That 14v is definitely the expected voltage. It's what I've seen on every setup, whether Ford, GM or just about any other I've worked with.
I'll check mine again the next time I think about it, but every other vehicle I've ever owned has read consistently in that 13.5-15 volt range at various times. With 14.5v being the most common reading.
The new computer controlled rigs (sometimes the voltage regulator is the ECU in fact) will vary the output based on need vs conditions. Lowering the load when the battery starts getting hot.
Does yours give you any trouble? Working fine in the long term so far? You're taking the readings right at the battery terminals? Checked your meter on another vehicle just to be sure?
Very curious how yours pans out over time. Even the OP's does not seem to be dying quickly, even though that one only shows 12v all the time. Either there is something else at work here, or that's one heck of a battery!
I want one...;D
Paul