Thread: One wire alternator???

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....Hey folks, How's is everyone's week going??? Ok I hope ///// Anyway, my question is; What are the advantages/dis-advantages of a one wire alternator??? I'm confussed on them, so they have the voltage regulators in them or do you need to run a seperate volage regulator???
Also, is a 140 amp alternator enough for a stereo system with an amp {100 x 4} & air conditioning???
Thanks all, Bill

advantage for me is 1 wire is cleaner install. I use a 200 amp for mine,
Stereo, amp, power windows,AC,power trunk...etc.

One wire alt. has every thing self contained. All that is needed is run the wire to the battery. As far as the capacity for the load you would have to figure out your load at max draw and go from there, but I think a 140 should do the job but bigger realy won't hurt. it won't charge more than it needs

Bill: I think the main advantage is ease of installation and not having a separate regulator to mount. Nothing could be more simple, because you run the one wire straight to the battery and you are done.

As for whether the 140 is enough, maybe someone else will know. I do know that my Sons had severely bumped up stereo equipment in their cars, and the high output alternators they used even had a shortened lifespan because of the heat they generated putting out all those amps.

Some of our stereo guys will know this answer better, I'm sure.

Don

Yep, I forgot about batteries. They had two deep cycles in the car to handle the drain. Denny is right, as usual.

Don

I just converted my car to a "3-wire" internally regulated alternator. Apparently some people have come to refer to all "internally regulated" alternators as "one-wire" which isnt true.
The nice people here at CHR referred me to this site where I schooled myself on the in's and out's:

http://www.madelectrical.com/electrical-tech.shtml

I am not endorsing their products (I'll leave that to you) but these three tech articles are worth a peek:
1.Remote Voltage Sensing
2.One-Wire Compared to Three-Wire Alternators...and
3.Chevy Main Electrical Power System

I highly recommend you check it out before making your decision. A little lengthy but VERY informative (for me anyway. Personally, I would go with the three-wire and the article (2nd one) explains why.

Like anything else that is published by someone, the views expressed in that article are solely the opinion of the author. Don't base your own opinion only by what you read in that one article. One wire alternators have been used by thousands of rodders and others, and for the most part have performed flawlessly. That is my own experience after using them for probably 15 years.

Besides that, alternators aren't rocket science. You bolt them on, run them, and when they wear out (which they all do) you replace them.

Don

......Thanks to all .... now I just have to make up my mind. I hate decissions! or should I call this a 'quality problem'??? Thanks again, Bill