Help with my battery relocation please

[Wall]

MAD talks about concern over hitting the battery with too many charging amps, overheating it. He controls charging amps to the battery by the gauge of the charging wire from engine to battery. I think he recommends 8 ga wire.

David, I'm not sure how much actual testing or current measurements they have done but this is not what I have seen. From my experience the alternators I have tested do not pump out max current to the battery unless the batteries are very low and need the current.



Granted the alternators I have tested are large 450-500 amp units used on transit buses but I believe a normal automotive alternator should operate the same. The data I have collected shows once the battery/batteries are fully charged they will stop taking current. I used a data acquisition system with multiple current transducers, and voltage channels to see where the current was going. I also used an adjustable load bank to increase the load from 0-300 amps in 50 amp increments.

Sorry for the rambling but my main point is you don't want to skimp on your alternator to battery charging wire size. Run a large enough wire to support the max current your alternator is capable of.