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Post by Comet Cyclone on Aug 23, 2013 20:28:42 GMT -5
I run one, but Friday night was the 2nd time I have had the alt wire get caught on sheet metal and arc off. Last time it smoked the battery, this time the wires went up in flames. Do you all wrap your wires in a way that they don't get caught on anything? Always wrap or protect wires/cables where they meet metal. Duct tape, old garden hose, whatever. Try to run everything thru to same area. Keep it simple and clean. Ask the guys what took them out.....Battery cable, wires grounded out, kinked line etc. Its usually something stupid. I usually take it one step further and add fuse(s) or a breaker(s).
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Post by towtruckdriver on Aug 25, 2013 20:10:08 GMT -5
Only thing that draws much power is starting you vehicle after that doesn't take much. Run a good battery and your set. Extra to go wrong with the alt.
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Post by STROMI 121 on Aug 25, 2013 21:04:13 GMT -5
I have not had an alternator issue in 15 years other than throwing a belt or blowing a fuse. Even when it happened, my batterys were fully charged (because of my alternator) at that point.
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dm440c
Feature Winner
derby drivers against drama- there's no crying in demo derby!
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Post by dm440c on Aug 26, 2013 12:37:47 GMT -5
Once I put the wrong battery in before the derby; it was a half dead one from the night before instead of the fully charged one I meant to put in. The car stalled halfway through the heat and there wasn't enough left in it to start it again. Another time a friend put a half dead battery in thinking it was charged after spending all night on the charger but as it turned out his battery charger had crapped out and he didn't know it. Similar results, and you could say that to avoid either of these scenarios you could either get in the habit of testing all batteries before putting them in the car or running a charging system. Nothing is fail proof.
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Post by shr283r on Aug 29, 2013 20:49:39 GMT -5
I'm running no alt and electric fan. I have a semi battery for the engine and a good car batter for the fan. I gues if one goes dead I'll run fanless and use the other.
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Post by whartl on Sept 7, 2013 17:06:30 GMT -5
If you run electric fuel pump def gotta run an alt
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Post by redneckracing12 on Sept 8, 2013 22:46:55 GMT -5
If you run electric fuel pump def gotta run an alt Not true, if your talking a show like mayhem where the feature last 3hrs then yes, but a county fair there no need for a alt if your running a electric fuel pump.
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Post by White Trash #8 on Sept 9, 2013 7:11:55 GMT -5
With the exception of loosing a belt I have never had a problem, it takes no extra time cause its already part of my engine harness, just hook it up, and I run an inline breaker. I have been thinking of not running one, but would only do that with two large batteries, but if it ain't broke ........... IMO theres really no wrong answer, if your not gonna run one, just make sure you have enough battery power to get you through.
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leadfoot455
Heat Winner
I drive this way on purpose!
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Post by leadfoot455 on Sept 10, 2013 15:27:30 GMT -5
I ran an electric fuel pump, two electric fans and never had a problem with not running an alternator. Just used two batteries
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Post by STROMI 121 on Sept 10, 2013 21:10:10 GMT -5
OK, we have established that it is not nescessary to run an alternator if you are running short heats of mutipal or heavy duty batteries. I think we all agree on this assesment.
My question is what possible reason is there NOT to run an alternator? It keeps any battery charged, provides extra current to the ignition/electrical system, and prevents any accidental neglect or requirement to charge the battery with a battery charger.
We all agree, you do not have to run an alternator, but for what logical reason would you want to run one?
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Post by fordpower111 on Sept 10, 2013 22:06:19 GMT -5
Money! Cheaper to run a alternator. If your battery for some reason dies on you the alternator will keep the engine running but if it dies your screwed
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dm440c
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Post by dm440c on Sept 12, 2013 11:47:00 GMT -5
I reject the notion that it adds potential failure modes, it is too easy to add a circuit breaker or fuse or fusible link to protect against catastrophic failure and the chances of the damage reaching this point are possible but not that high; also this failure mode can be partially mitigated by smart routing of the wires. SO, adding some current overload protection and routing the wires intelligently should mitigate just about all of the risk.
The only logical reason why my engine may not have one is because I didn't feel like taking the time to find or fabricate brackets and find the right length belt in the pile of belts. Only so many hours are available for each build and sometimes the charging system isn't high enough on the priority list to make happen. Other than that, I like having it. None of the other arguments aside from time spent make much sense to me.
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Post by rhull1977 on Sept 12, 2013 12:11:54 GMT -5
I reject the notion that it adds potential failure modes, it is too easy to add a circuit breaker or fuse or fusible link to protect against catastrophic failure and the chances of the damage reaching this point are possible but not that high; also this failure mode can be partially mitigated by smart routing of the wires. SO, adding some current overload protection and routing the wires intelligently should mitigate just about all of the risk. The only logical reason why my engine may not have one is because I didn't feel like taking the time to find or fabricate brackets and find the right length belt in the pile of belts. Only so many hours are available for each build and sometimes the charging system isn't high enough on the priority list to make happen. Other than that, I like having it. None of the other arguments aside from time spent make much sense to me. This is the way I see not running an alternator. Although I have one that I will never put an alternator on because brakets are in a bad location.
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ynotracing
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Need time to work on my 74 LAC damnit
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Post by ynotracing on Sept 12, 2013 13:42:30 GMT -5
spent 15min making the bracket with my DP measured what i needed spent another 15min in the belt pile and ran one wire back into car and hooked it up. Still see no downside to running one, only time my alt got damaged was in my 3rd bone stock show in 02 when a imp parked on my hood and shoved everything back.
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leadfoot455
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Post by leadfoot455 on Sept 12, 2013 16:21:18 GMT -5
Alternator sticks out.. if it gets hit and throws the belt off then you lose your water pump and power steering. Water pumps is the main reason..
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