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One wire alt. question

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Old May 3, 2002 | 07:14 PM
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Default One wire alt. question

On a one wire alt. what do you do with the two wire plug that would have plugged into the voltage regulator? Im dealing with a internal regulator alt.

If I want can I just plug it in? Getting major noise from alt thru recently installed radio speakers. Any ideas?
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Old May 3, 2002 | 08:18 PM
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Default Re: One wire alt. question (Jvette73)

heres the deal... I put in a poineer supertuner and a passive eq that splits to two seperate power amps, one for front and one for rear. With the car not running and electric fan off both front and rear sound good. As soon as you turn on elec fan or start engine I get a high picthed whinning thru the front speakers only. I tried switching the rca cable to the front amp and it did not help. Did not notice a problem with the old sterio which had rear speakers only that were drivin off the amp that is currently being used in for the front speakers.
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Old May 3, 2002 | 08:34 PM
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Default Re: One wire alt. question (Jvette73)

Check your grounds...
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Old May 3, 2002 | 08:59 PM
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Default Re: One wire alt. question (Monty)

So why did you go to 1-wire, If GM thought that was a good idea they would have done-it. Every time you make a small change that effects something else. To many of us try to outsmart the engineers and al we accomplish is wasting time and money. The only guys that like the 1 wire are the hot rod guys that are trying to simplify the wiring.
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Old May 3, 2002 | 09:43 PM
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Default Re: One wire alt. question (73-454)

Its a summit 100amp alt. It came in the box with the one wire hookup. It just has a removable rubber plug in the voltage regulator port. Should I just remove the plug and hook the harness back up? Anyway Ive had this alt on the prior to changing stereos and it never caused a problem on the other stereo. And its not just the alt that causes the noise. It also has noise even when the engine is not running. Noise is evedent whenever you operate an electrical accessory such as elec engine fan and power windows ect...

I checked the grounds and both of the - wires on the amps are connected togeather and hooked to the negitive bat terminal. The eq is grounded along with the head unit near the dash area.
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Old May 3, 2002 | 10:34 PM
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Default Re: One wire alt. question (Jvette73)

I'm no expert, but the same thing happened on my car when I installed another amp. I also had my stuff grounded on the negative battery terminal. I was told by someone here on the forum that I had a "ground loop" and that I should find a chassis ground and not use the negative terminal on the battery.
I moved my ground to a different location, and added a filtering device from Radio Shack, the noise went away. Since I did these things at the same time I don't know which cured the problem.
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Old May 3, 2002 | 10:57 PM
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Default Re: One wire alt. question (Jvette73)

Some stereo's and amps have better internal filtering than others. Ground loops really can be tuff to find. The solution that smokehouse did is a good fix. Don't run all grounds back to (-) on the battery or (-) terminals. Use good frame grounds where you scrape off the paint, use a star washer and solder the lug to your ground wire. The filter he used was probably a ground loop isolation transformer to isolate the input of the amp.

If these do not resolve the problem, maybe a trip to the local high end stereo store for advice. Good luck.

Oh by the way, know what really raises hell with stereo systems - the MSD or Crane boxes. Good luck.
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Old May 3, 2002 | 10:59 PM
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Default Re: One wire alt. question (Jvette73)

As a general info for the forum on one wire alternators - pick up a copy of the June 2002 Car Craft Magazine. Great article on one wire alternators and some serious precautions if you convert to one.
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Old May 3, 2002 | 11:04 PM
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Default Re: One wire alt. question (bigvette1)

Ok then, when I get a chance I will try grounding the amps directly to the frame and see what happens. I will report back with the results. Im running Pertronix IgnitorII and accell 45k coil. Never had a noise problem with those either. The ground for the original amp that is now being directed to the front was previously connected to the - bat terminal without any problems. So maybe its cause I have two amps now grounded there that causes the problem.
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Old May 3, 2002 | 11:07 PM
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Default Re: One wire alt. question (bigvette1)

Are you sure the two wire plug you are talking about isn't the one for the ampmeter/voltmeter (whichever you have)? :confused: I got the exact same alternator for my 69. There is a black rubber plug you remove and just plug the two wire connector right in.

AC
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Old May 3, 2002 | 11:07 PM
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Default Re: One wire alt. question (bigvette1)

bigvette1, i subscribe to carcraft. Havnt gotten my june issue yet. Ill keep an eye out for it though.
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Old May 4, 2002 | 04:56 PM
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Default Re: One wire alt. question (Jvette73)

Got it all figured out I think. It's the small POSamp that was leading to the front. Instead of using it I wired the front speakers directly to the head unit which has equal power output as the POS amp. The only difference is now the front speakers are not equalized thru the passive eq. Only very minor noise thru the rear amp now. Ill get a filter for that. Sounds good now even with the engine running. My ears are still ringing. This 125 coustic with alpine 6x9's is kickin in that small compartment of the vette. Glad I dont have more power. I would go deaf if I had the money. Rock n Roll baby :chevy

Lesson learned: start engine and check for noise before proceeding to final installation. Otherwise, what the heck..do it twice :lol:


[Modified by Jvette73, 2:58 PM 5/4/2002]


[Modified by Jvette73, 2:59 PM 5/4/2002]
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