i've been running a chevy 1 wire alternator on my rig and have been through about 5 of them now in 5 years. not a daily D. Is it possible that the alternator is running backwards, the fins are pushing air into the alternator instead of pulling it out. Batterys keep going too. when it starts i've got about 14 volts reading, but when i turn my fan, headlights, rocklights on the volts drop to about 10-11. The alt. is a 95 amp. One wire goes directly to the battery. I dont have any relays for the fan, its a 2 speed taurus fan. ANY suggestions would help. Thanks..... Brenden

I would have the alternator checked for output first. if its putting out the correct current and amps then I would check out the wiring in your rig. if you have lots of paint and bad connections that don't carry current it will over work the alt. if I were you I would remove and look under every cable & ground strap. you will most likely find burn or carbon marks on the ends whitch cause resistance

If it is the same problem I was having, The GM Alternator requires a 100 ohm 10 watt resistor on the stator wire or you will burn it up very fast..

Try looking for a short in a starter wire or something like that, mine was half melted to the header and was making the alternator work really hard and eventually burning it out.

I've rewired the whole truck, new fuse box, new everything. no wires are touching metal. i've been running this set up for the last 3 years. I notice a big drop in volts from the 14.2 to about 12 when i hit the fan. then 2 hella 500 headlights drop it to about 11, then 3 napa tractor rock lights drop it to about 10. It sits at that volt the whole time.

Are my wires 14 gage for the fan to small. i have it coming from the fuse box to a toggle switch, then to the 'high' speed on the fan. i just cant believe that 1 fan drops my volts 2-2 1/2 volts. would a relay inline to the fan do anything to help this situation.

I guess i just shouldnt have put a chevy alt. on a ford.... i think she's pissed at me.

Thanks Brenden

I guess i just shouldnt have put a chevy alt. on a ford

No, No, No. You put a ferd on a Chevy Alternator. Thats obviously the only decent part on your rig :flipoff2:

But seriously, your wiring is all f$%ked up. Also, the Taurus fan draws almost 40 A right there (and more than 100A starting up), with everything else added youre maxing it out, and the alt. is getting too hot. 1st, you need a bigger alternator, second you need a FAT wire, 4 gauge, running to your battery from the alt. Also, you NEED a relay on that fan. I use a 85A continuous duty solenoid, available at any parts store for about $35. Dont use a 40A plastic relay, you will melt it. Not to mention, the wires coming off your fan are 8 gauge, and your wiring it without a relay with 14 gauge wire. Use the wire youve got going to your fan to activate the relay, and wire the fan with 8 gauge, with a fuse, right from your battery keeping the wire as short as possible. Do a search for Taurus fan, lots of info w/pics and part #s on how to properly wire it.

You might want to re-check your light wiring. If its anything like the fan wiring its f#$ked too. :flipoff2:

Good Luck

FYI think two-way. Its not only the wire size going to each device, its the ground return too. I use 14 ga with relays for lights and have no problems. I don't use the frame ground either :D As for the fan, at least match the same size that is on it. OEM is always on the smaller (cheaper) size.
As a test take a 55 watt lamp and connect it using a 15 foot piece of small gauge wire, and measure the voltage, now use 14 ga and measure the voltage. Think of it like water pressure, a small garden hose will only let out so much water. If you don't want to use relays, upgrade to "house" light switches as they won't have the voltage drop like those toggle switches. :flipoff2: Every electrical problem I have had in the past few months has been bad/dirty/missing grounds.

FYI think two-way. Its not only the wire size going to each device, its the ground return too. I use 14 ga with relays for lights and have no problems. I don't use the frame ground either :D As for the fan, at least match the same size that is on it. OEM is always on the smaller (cheaper) size.
As a test take a 55 watt lamp and connect it using a 15 foot piece of small gauge wire, and measure the voltage, now use 14 ga and measure the voltage. Think of it like water pressure, a small garden hose will only let out so much water. If you don't want to use relays, upgrade to "house" light switches as they won't have the voltage drop like those toggle switches. :flipoff2: Every electrical problem I have had in the past few months have be bad/dirty/missing grounds.

http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/onewire-threewire.shtml
Read this link, It pretty much spells out the problems with 1-wire alternators.

Thanks for all your help guys. Things make alot more sense now. I'm going to try a few things and i'll get back to you about it.

Brenden

Read this link, It pretty much spells out the problems with 1-wire alternators.

Theres nothing wrong with one wire alternators if your system is properly wired. The fact that a 3 wire can sense voltage and compensate for old wiring systems or a hacked wiring job is nice, but as that article states, the flip side is that if the sense wire is run from a place with a large voltage drop and a large gauge wire is run to other things, the large gauge wire can see way too much voltage.

I really think if you want to spend $20 not to have more wires going to the alt, great. Either way you look at it problems only arise when your wiring is not properly done. Proper wiring will have very little voltage drop at any point in the system. If you have much drop, you need bigger power or ground wire, or have a bad connection. Nothing a cheap multimeter cant tell you...

Also, conversion brackets are made to use a Delco cs144 alternator on many different vehicles, and they are badass. My cs130 used to have a huge voltage drop if it was run hard, the 144 maintains 14.4 at ALL times. The case is pretty big, but if you can fit it in there, its worth it.