Adding an alternator

68002 Views 303 Replies 46 Participants Last post by M.Liston, Apr 8, 2022

galevin

Discussion Starter · May 31, 2017

I have a rather qualified mechanic (Billy) with over 30+ years of experience telling me it would not be hard adding an alternator (plus a new belt) to our cars. He's been working over at my house and recently added electric power steering to my 34 Chev 6BT 12 valve twin turbo cummins rat rod:

No he didn't build this but he's helping me make some changes. He feels it wouldn't be hard to add an alternator and belt and forget the IMA. Sure there will be a big mpg decrease. I've done a search on alternators and came up blank. So for all the guys that have bad IMA's, what is the reason an alternator can't be added with another belt and have the alternator supply juice to the 12 volt battery? Billy is also wondering if our engine was used in any other automotive model? He's asking questions I can't answer but I told him it's not as easy as it appears.
Thanks,
Gerald

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141 - 160 of 304 Posts

MichaelWoodcock

· #141 · Jan 14, 2018

retepsnikrep said:
Why don't you just use the proven meanwell 600w psu in this thread.

I hadn't read the thread in it's entirety until you mentioned a proven method (other than the alternator mentioned in the title)
My mistake, I appriciate the direction! I just used the DR250 unit because it was what I had still in working order

eq1

· #142 · Jan 14, 2018

^If Eli were still around he might post a 'Picard face palm'...

Balto

· #143 · Jan 14, 2018

eq1 said:
^If Eli were still around he might post a 'Picard face palm'...

Did he die...?

eq1

· #144 · Jan 15, 2018 (Edited)

^ hmm, that might be a philosophical question too deep for the interwebz...

edit: He hath risen(?): http://www.insightcentral.net/forum...-obdiic-c-gauge-volume-2-a-4.html#post1347618

MichaelWoodcock

· #145 · Jan 25, 2018 (Edited)

eq1 said:
^If Eli were still around he might post a 'Picard face palm'...

deserved...
I'd rather that than see what Julian might post

I just recieved my HRP-600-12 PSU today, will install this week.

It's been a very long time since I took a physics/electricity class, so correct me if I am mistaken.

The bridge rectifier should turn the AC voltage to DC voltage, right? Also, at over 200 VDC, I think I should be very careful and heat shrink the wires as best as possible, I have long forgotten the DC arc gap math though, but I seem to remember DC can jump a much larger gap than AC, is this something I should be worried about? I presume not, but better safe than sorry.

I am thinking of making a little sheet metal cover for the back to protect the PSU, Bridge rectifier, and wiring from luggage.

And last but not least, is it best practice to fuse the outputs from the car's stator? I was considering one 300V glass fuse for each phase. I am going to drive with a small fire extinguisher, but I'd prefer to not have to use it.

I believe I read earlier that the ARDUINO mod is capable of eliminating the no VTEC issue, so I think I'll do some research on that soon after.

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retepsnikrep

· #146 · Jan 25, 2018

Yes heatshrink the connections and use common sense re spacing.

Use fuses if you want in the phase wires, I didn't.
The psu is fused internally on it's input.

A cover to protect the stuff from luggage is a good idea.

MichaelWoodcock

· #147 · Jan 26, 2018

Got everything installed today and it all works good! I used 10AWG wires from the PSU to the car battery cables. I used 16 AWG IIRC from the stator leads to the bridge rectifier, and I used 14 AWG from the bridge rectifier to the PSU.

I didn't have the proper connectors for the bridge rectifier as they were wider than normal, so I ended up soldering these connections instead. I notice though that my bridge rectifier gets VERY hot, not so hot you can't touch it, but you'd be dumb to leave your hand there. Is this normal? or should I swap for my spare?

retepsnikrep

· #148 · Jan 26, 2018

I assume you have bolted your rectifier to the aluminium psu case or ima box case cool it?
I assume you have also used heat transfer paste to aid heat transfer.
Post a picture.

MichaelWoodcock

· #149 · Jan 26, 2018

Thanks for the tip, I haven't done any of that. I will machine a custom heat sink and place a small fan

retepsnikrep

· #150 · Jan 26, 2018

You don't need a fan . Remove the top cover of the psu, drill a hole in it and bolt it to that.
Making sure you don't foul anything underneath.

Rory57

· #151 · Jan 27, 2018

MichaelWoodcock said:
Got everything installed today and it all works good! I used 10AWG wires from the PSU to the car battery cables. I used 16 AWG IIRC from the stator leads to the bridge rectifier, and I used 14 AWG from the bridge rectifier to the PSU.

I didn't have the proper connectors for the bridge rectifier as they were wider than normal, so I ended up soldering these connections instead. I notice though that my bridge rectifier gets VERY hot, not so hot you can't touch it, but you'd be dumb to leave your hand there. Is this normal? or should I swap for my spare?

Soldering to rectifiers with push-on terminals is bad practice because there is a serious risk of damaging the diodes in the rectifier. This is because the thermal connection between the diodes and the connection tab is very good and if you get the tab hot enough to solder to it then you may well have got the diode and / or it's connection to the tab hot enough to do damage.

Unfortunately this damage is not immediately evident but leads to a serious reduction in the life of the rectifier.

How do I know? A product I was once responsible for began to fail in just this way after an unauthorised change in production method. ("We ran out of push on tags so we soldered the wires directly") Cost a lot of money and product reputation.

highwater

· #152 · Jan 27, 2018

retepsnikrep said:
The solder on the meanwell psu pcb was very high melting point and my normal soldering iron set to 450C would not touch it.
I had to use my 100W almost glowing red uncontrolled iron (light sabre) to melt it..

Definitely hard to soften the solder!!!!
I"m using a butane Ultratorch, after Peter's comments, and it just barely will melt the solder on the psu. 85 watt equivalent on high setting. Didn't even try my 35 watt pencil.

Randall

Tano

· #153 · Jan 27, 2018

Confused newbie

Can we make this a sticky or a reference google document? I get a tad lost switching back and forth between the different electronics different posts list.

MichaelWoodcock

· #154 · Jan 30, 2018

Rory57 said:
Soldering to rectifiers with push-on terminals is bad practice because there is a serious risk of damaging the diodes in the rectifier. This is because the thermal connection between the diodes and the connection tab is very good and if you get the tab hot enough to solder to it then you may well have got the diode and / or it's connection to the tab hot enough to do damage.

Unfortunately this damage is not immediately evident but leads to a serious reduction in the life of the rectifier.

How do I know? A product I was once responsible for began to fail in just this way after an unauthorised change in production method. ("We ran out of push on tags so we soldered the wires directly") Cost a lot of money and product reputation.

Thanks a bunch for the heads up. I am fixing the issue right now. I should have known from experience. Regulator rectifiers that get hot are more likely to fail.

I filed down the tabs on my current spare until they were the perfect size.

I am going to convert all of the lights on my insight to LED. The fan on this unit seems to turn on and off based off current. I should add my current 12V battery is getting weak and will be replaced soon, but there are a few instances when the fan turning on and off can be annoying, and if there's a relay inside the PSU it may not last very long.

Example: idling the car at a red light with some accessories and turn signal on, fan will turn on when turnsignal light is on

idling or driving with some accessories on and the wiperblades on intermittent, fan will turn on every time the wipers move

This may or may not change with the replacement of my 12V battery, we'll see.

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McShrimpsky

· #155 · Feb 8, 2018

retepsnikrep said:
I assume you have also used heat transfer paste to aid heat transfer.

MichaelWoodcock said:
Regulator rectifiers that get hot are more likely to fail.

I definitely didn't think about adding thermal paste to the rectifier... I've been driving with this setup for a couple months now, so is there a chance that the rectifier has been damaged by running hot for that long? I need to reattach my PSU to the compartment wall anyway (turns out EVERYTHING shakes loose over time if you don't Loctite it), so I was thinking about swapping in my spare rectifier while I'm at it. I'd have to take off all that heat shrink and Loctite I put on last month, though, so if the rectifier is probably fine I'll just apply thermal paste and call it good.

MichaelWoodcock

· #156 · Feb 8, 2018

McShrimpsky said:
I definitely didn't think about adding thermal paste to the rectifier... I've been driving with this setup for a couple months now, so is there a chance that the rectifier has been damaged by running hot for that long? I need to reattach my PSU to the compartment wall anyway (turns out EVERYTHING shakes loose over time if you don't Loctite it), so I was thinking about swapping in my spare rectifier while I'm at it. I'd have to take off all that heat shrink and Loctite I put on last month, though, so if the rectifier is probably fine I'll just apply thermal paste and call it good.

Couldn't hurt to change it, and carry your current one as your spare. That's what I'm doing, this way I still have a working spare with questionable life left, and I am less likely to have to swap it on the side of the road.

davenm

· #157 · Feb 10, 2018

Could anyone who has done this mod (PSU + bridge rectifier) and made a measurement of the A dimension in the picture below post it here? Thanks.

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MichaelWoodcock

· #158 · Feb 10, 2018

14.5mm od,

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MichaelWoodcock

· #159 · Feb 25, 2018

i made a little change to my setup today, I put a rivnut in the PSU, added a heat sink i had laying around from my old computer build, and now the rectifier stays just a little warmer than ambient.

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retepsnikrep

· #160 · Apr 20, 2018

Just an update these psu's do have a parasitic drain of about 100ma.
If you leave the car parked for more than about a week it may flatten the 12v battery..

A nice big fat 60A diode in the output or a 60A 12v relay to disconnect it from the car battery when parked would be best.

I might add one to mine as it killed my old 12v battery...

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