Red cable from alternator to battery 1... - Diesel Forum

thephoneguy · 11-01-2009, 06:56 PM

I have a 2006 F-250 Diesel truck. Hy hypercgarger touch screen displays a nominal voltage of 12.6volts. I am suspicious that the red cable from my alternator to battery 1 may be defective and i am willing to replace it with a thicker gauge one. The problem arises that the factory one goes down like into the engine covered with a heat protector cover and am not sure where it goes. As a test I disconnected it and installed my own 2 Gauge cable from the alternator to battery one. Now nominal voltage came up to 14.6 but I am not sure if I am overriding any regulator, filter or whatever the factory cable one goes thru in this hidden route i can't follow or see. Am i doing something wrong? Should i leave the new cable gauge 2 as is or what? Can someone help?

69cj · 11-01-2009, 07:04 PM

Leave the new cable on or fix the old one. The connector at the alt. is a common problem. The regulator is built into the alt. so you are not bypassing anything. repair the old one and leave the new one and you have double protection and could upgrade to a beefier alt. if needed.

thephoneguy · 11-01-2009, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 69cj

Leave the new cable on or fix the old one. The connector at the alt. is a common problem. The regulator is built into the alt. so you are not bypassing anything. repair the old one and leave the new one and you have double protection and could upgrade to a beefier alt. if needed.

Thank you, i appreciate it very much.

thephoneguy · 11-03-2009, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 69cj

Leave the new cable on or fix the old one. The connector at the alt. is a common problem. The regulator is built into the alt. so you are not bypassing anything. repair the old one and leave the new one and you have double protection and could upgrade to a beefier alt. if needed.

I left the factory red alt cable on and added a new gauge 2 cable to it. If I disconnect the factory cable it reads 14.6 volts however if not and leave it connected it reads 12.6 volts. Are you sure this factory red alternator cable doesn't stop anywhere between the alternator and the 1st battery?

KevinTamu · 11-03-2009, 01:32 AM

Phone Guy, I'm pretty sure the stock goes directly from the alternator to the battery one. I could be mistaken though. Also, are you doing this when the glow plugs are still cycling? If you are, the voltage will read 12v-12.5v or so until they stop cycling, then it will spike to around 14v. This could be your problem.