Ready to buy new alternator, which one?

[cw67]

My current alt. is an SI type one wire alt. It has gone bad and is running my battery down. I was looking at the powermaster #17294 (SI 100amp one wire) or the CS type #178021(105amp one wire). Both of these are chrome. Yes it has to chrome! I have read alot in the forums about the CS type. Can someone tell me why this one is better than the SI type. The CS is $189 and the SI is $129. I have read where it is better to go with the 3 wire setup, but I don't have stock guages and no dummy light, so I don't see where the 3 wire setup will help me any. I have read all the articles from the MAD websight also. I guess I am just trying to justify the extra cost of the CS type alt. and the 3 wire vs. one wire. Please help me make up my mind. Thanks

Chris

[HILROD]

I've converted 3 or 4 old cars to the CS style. The new style alternators are designed to put out more power, and at a lower rpm. Any car that has electric fans, or heavy use, or even an ecu, could benifit from one. The older units can't keep up. I've heard chrome holds in a lot of heat and can cause failures if used hard, but I have not found any hard facts about this. FRANK

[AAW]

There are a couple issues to consider.

The single wire alternators, while really easy to install, are not always the best choice by any stretch of the imagination. The problem is, they only sense what is going on inside the alternator, not what is going on further down the charging circuit where the other red sense wire is coming from. You might have a larger draw or some resistance elsewhere in the system that requires that the alternator "step it up a bit" to compensate for that draw so that you are actually charging 14+ volts back to the battery.

The second issue is that 1 wire alternators are a "specialty item" and cannot be purchased at just "any" auto parts outlet. They are generally something that must be mail ordered. No problem, right?

Not until you decide to take the car on a tour, vacation, or a show a long distance from home and the alternator dies on you. You will effectively be stranded there until you can get a new one mail ordered to you.

The "SI" style can be found at ANY auto parts store, anywhere in the US as they are the most commonly used alternator in the industry and are basically bullet-proof in that they seldom go bad. The "CS" units are also easier to obtain at an auto parts store than a 1 wire, but have not proven to be as reliable as the "SI" units have been.

That said, The best. most reliable choice would be a good quality "SI" unit.

[6'9"Witha69]

The MAD kit has a resistor to allow a 3 wire hookup w/o an idiot light in the dash. The difference in the way any one wire and a 12SI 3 wire work is night and day. Try performing the tests they recommend with charging system load and you soon find out that one wires are great for race cars and casual cruisers, but high tech and high load systems need a more adaptive and versatile charging system.

[cw67]

Thanks guys/gals for your input. I think I am going to switch to the CS style oem 3 wire alt.(105 amp) and buy either the M.A.D. conversion kit or I saw in classic camaro where they have a alt. conversion kit that plugs into the original harness and makes the nesessary connections. It doesn't look like it has the diodes and fusible links that the mad kit has. Any suggestions? Theresa, do yall have a conversion kit? By the way this is on a 67 camaro with a 327. It has a Mallary unilite distributor w/ a hyfire box. Plan on electric fans in the future. It has electric windows and 400watt amp for stereo etc. Thanks again.

Chris