hey guys,
I finaly had time to stop off today and get some wire ends
so I can up grade my battery to ground wire, the engine to ground
wire, and tranny to ground wire, and while im performing those

id like to add a second charge wire to my battery from the alternator.
ive just got to figure out wich one is the bat. charge wire.

pic


wire #1 - did not show conductivity to positive batt terminal.
- stupid me for got to check ground with it, - its probly a ground wire -

wire #2 - is a skinny tiny little thing - not shure what it does.
wire #3 - shows about .5 resistance between the battery positive and right before the plug to the alternator.

so im guessing that wire #3 is the bat. charge wire- can any one confirm this?

and ive read some where that when installing a bat. charge wire from the alternator - its a good idea to put a fuse in the line so in the event of something hapening - the fuze will blow, not the battery - so thats a great idea. - but what size fuse do I need to put in there.
the biggest size fuse autozone had was the 30amp one I got ( its in the picture up there ) and its got skinny wires coming off it, much smaller than the guage wire I wanted to make my new bat charge wire from. should I go ahead and cut off most of the skinny wires, and soder on the thicker wires to the fuze holder I have, and hook it all up?
should it be ok like that?

 

The alt's negative terminal is its housing. The big wire on the back connects to its positive terminal. I don't have a book for the '84 but the other wires control the alt light on the dash and the field effect of the alt so the output can be varied. So #1 is not ground.

 

poo.
so its between wire #1 or #3
im leaning twards thinking that #3 is the charge wire,
only because it was showing a resistance of .5ohm
between the end of that wire, and the battery positive.

can any one confirm this?

 

The wire that chargesthe battery is the large wire bolted to the back of the alt. The Field wire can be hooked directly to that connection if you have a good, thick wire going straight from that to the + side of the battery. The last connection is an S connection. This means switch. It must be connected to the ignition switch but on a circuit other thanthe ignition (If not engine won't shut-off when switch is turned off). It cannot be connected to the + voltage all the time because it will keep the electro-magnets energized all the time and kill the battery while the car is off!
Big connection onback of alt...Straight to battery, with big 10 gauge wire. The two smallwires ar marked on alt housing 'S' and 'F'. Switch is S... to switch. F is field andcan be conneted to the big + charge bolt on the back of alt or to the + side of the battery directly.
This is correct for all of the older alts. or retro'ing them onto older cars.
You All Take Care and Be Safe, -John