Upgrading Your Electrical System

The Big 3 Upgrade

As you should know, the bigger the power wire in your sound, video or lighting system, the better it will perform and you should experience less dimming and/or voltage drops.

1) Alternator Positive to Battery Positive (optional fuse)

2) Battery Negative to Chassis

3) Chassis to Engine Block

Replacing/adding larger wire to these three critical spots can reduce or rid your electrical system of dimming and voltage drops.  Overall, giving your charging system a larger surface area to travel over, will stabilize power and relieve strain on the alternator and battery.

If you have little cash to spend on a High Output (HO) alternator at the moment  and the thought of even buying a DRY CELL battery is daunting to you, this is a cheap and quick solution for your voltage issues.

Each wire serves its own special purpose, so you need to upgrade/replace all three for maximum potential of this mod.  The Alternator Positive to Battery Positive wire is pretty small on a stock electrical system, so quite obviously upgrading that particular wire will increase power flow from the alternator to the battery.  In DC power systems, power flows negative to positive.  So upgrading the main grounds is just as important as the main power wire is.  And lastly, since the alternator is grounded to the engine block, you need a way to transfer that energy back into the system.

DIY Steps

1)  Start out by disconnecting your Battery Negative.  This will interrupt power through the whole system allowing you to safely work on the vehicle without danger to you or the cars more fragile electronic devices.

2) Sand down the potential grounding point for the new Chassis to Battery Negative point.  This should be shiny metal when you’re done.  You want as clean of a connection as possible.  This connection must be tight and secure when you’re done.

3)  Screw the new ground wire in place but DO NOT reconnect it to the Battery Negative yet.  Lay it down on a piece of cloth or paper and wait to connect it till after you finish the other elements of the project.

4)  It’s time to add onto the existing Alternator Positive wire.  Again, make sure that the wire is hooked snug on the terminal and not exposed to the elements.

5)  Take the other end of the Alternator Positive wire and if you so choose, run it through the fuse holder. If you’ve decided to not get a fuse holder, then run it straight to the battery positive.

6)  Attach the wire along the way to something that won’t get too hot and that won’t vibrate too terribly. Go ahead and connect the wire to the positive battery terminal.

7)  The last step is the Chassis to Engine Block wire. Remember to sand both points well, just like the when you did the Battery Negative to Chassis. All you need to do for this step is to find a non-essential bolt on the engine block to attach the wire to. Non-essentials are those that don’t hold a liquid in. For example… using the Oil Drain plug as an attachment point probably isn’t the smartest place.

Take the other end leading off of the engine block and sand a smooth place on the chassis. If you want to do more than one lead off of the block that would be fine as well. The more the merrier.

9)  You’re just about done. Re-check all of the new and old connections you just fiddled with to ensure stability, safe connection and good contact. After you’ve made sure everything is safe, you may re-attach the Battery Negative wire to the negative terminal on the battery.

Congratulations!  You’ve just completed the cheapest and easiest upgrade to your electrical system.