Running an alternator

[Stocker 2]

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

You don't think we know what that is?

Everyone knows what 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th round is but how many have been there and actually got to run that many rounds? Unless one has actually been there, they may not know what real hot lapping is.

[S/ST J718]

Not saying that I'm any kind of a heavy hitter or anything , earlier this year I doubled up in a local Super pro and local S/ST event with my car that has no alternator but does have two battery's went 5 Rounds in Super pro and won in S/ST. There was only one class between the two classes ( motorcycle ) that was 4 time runs and total of 9 rounds that night. I would put a charger to the car when fueling but had no trouble cooling the car or starting . Towards the end of the evening I was having ( being a old guy) a little energy trouble as the gate time was 5pm and the final in S/ST staged a 2:30 in am..... LOL

The reason I have no alternator was that back when i ran with one third round of a team race the alternator split in half 600 ft out. When it did that it killed my MSD box so I was done that day and had $175 repair on the box. So I just mounted another battery out back and give up on the alternator. It kind of helped my 60 ft. removing weight off the front and putting 45 lbs in the rear..... That's my two cents....

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by Stocker 2

Everyone knows what 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th round is but how many have been there and actually got to run that many rounds? Unless one has actually been there, they may not know what real hot lapping is.

Been there. No problem with two 16s.

[Coleydog]

I haven't bought any 16 volt batteries, but IMO, buying 2, plus the charger is a lot more $$ then one little Toyota junk yard Denso one wire alternator with a big pulley, thats maintenance free, and one less thing to worry about between rounds.
Mike

[FireSale]

Around $1000 for two XS 16v batteries and a charger. $250 for a Powermaster Denso. I run a full size alternator and it killed all my charging issues. I bracket race and now means now.

[Ed Wright]

I have run mine both ways. It's faster on 16 volts. If you just bracket race, that does not matter.

[b.guggenmos]

Not to poach the thread but this is some interesting stuff. When running a one wire alternator and the tech guy pushes your kill switch does the engine shut off? If so is it hard on the alternator? Just curious.

[FireSale]

Originally Posted by b.guggenmos

Not to poach the thread but this is some interesting stuff. When running a one wire alternator and the tech guy pushes your kill switch does the engine shut off? If so is it hard on the alternator? Just curious.

I had this happen with older style wired alternators and put a diode in the wire that was feeding power into the engine system to fix that. Currently my cut-off is a four pole switch from Moroso. One set of poles kills the battery power and the other set separates the alternator from the power system. I have to kill the car and demonstrate my neutral/park safety switch every race day. It always works.

[Eman]

Originally Posted by b.guggenmos

Not to poach the thread but this is some interesting stuff. When running a one wire alternator and the tech guy pushes your kill switch does the engine shut off? If so is it hard on the alternator? Just curious.

That is one of the things checked in tech. Mine is a 1 wire alt, I have a 2 terminal switch and yes my car shuts off. But my alt. and starter cables stay hot with the switch at the back turned off so I will be changing to a 4 term switch for safety reasons.
I honestly can't say if shutting the switch and killing power to the 1 wire alt with the car running will damage the alt. I do know that if or when you have alt. problems wired like my car is wired the alt will draw down your battery even though it will still charge which is another reason for a 4 term switch.