Remove Control Box - Alternator

[mollythemoggie]

Hi Guys,
My car is running an alternator and I wanted to remove the control box..


I know you can just join the a and a1 wires all together but what should i do with all the wires going to my earth?

Cheers,
Tom

[bmcecosse]

Earth them! But it's neatest by far to just leave the box in place - still looks more or less original.

[millerman]

[frame][/frame]

Who wants that old box, get rid of it looks much neater

Plus each circuit can have its own fuse

[phurn]

Good god!

[MarkyB]

There are rather a lot of potential points of failure on that setup millerman , it looks like a bus bar but without the bar.

Home made connections, including mine, have a much higher failure rate than factory ones.

[millerman]

Time will tell

What's a 'bus bar'

[bmcecosse]

Usually a length of copper bar for distributing the voltage through a panel. Dunno how it got to be called 'bus' bar though..... Alec will be along in a minute to tell us!

[katy]

Proper spelling is.............BUSS

[bmcecosse]

Certainly NOT in UK........

[MarkyB]

Looks like it should read busbar;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busbar

[Boris64]

As an amateur sparks enjoying a new multimeter and adding a few bits to Boris (radio (done), charging socket, reversing light and someday soonish, a heated rear window) I have run out of space behind the fuse box screw on the switched side (green wires).

Millerman, your live and switched fuse boxes in the image above are a terrific 'explanation' of what's going on but I'm looking for something a bit more old's kool.

PS no offence, but if you turn it the other way up you will only have 2 wires going to the top (brown & red (collected whites), between the boxes maybe? You would also save 3 or 4 connections and it would IMHO look much neater with wires direct from the loom to the bottom of the boxes.

If I add an expanded fuse box, do I need a relay to jump from the existing switched (white) wires, or will the existing wire ratings be sufficient for my plans?

Thanks.

Pete

[bmcecosse]

A relay would be overkill to feed a fuse box - but you should use a relay to power the heated rear screen if you go on with that.

[Boris64]

Bmc,

Thanks that's great. I'm look to retain as much simple and original as poss.

Pete

[Tudge]

Sorry to resurrect the thread quite late,
I'm planning on doing a similar thing to millerman, but using premade fuse boxes like these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-Power-in-6- ... 5af065ff87

Question I've got is: is the voltage stabiliser only needed for the fuel gauge? It seems to be the case, but on the schematic in the workshop manual I can't even find it!

[MarkyB]

The voltage stabiliser for the fuel gauge is a small separate unit, it should be on the back of the speedo.

[millerman]

Boris64

PS no offence, but if you turn it the other way up you will only have 2 wires going to the top (brown & red (collected whites), between the boxes maybe? You would also save 3 or 4 connections and it would IMHO look much neater with wires direct from the loom to the bottom of the boxes.

Good idea and certainly no offence taken Any other ideas let me know but keep it simple!

[Tudge]

Thanks MarkyB, I knew where it was, I was just confirming that it's only the fuel gauge that needed stabilisation.

I've just drawn up a diagram for the proposed new wiring - can anyone see if I've made any silly mistakes or there any problems with it please tell me!

I've tried to stick to british wiring colours, but I know very little about them, so again if anyone's got any suggestions I'd love to hear them!

Many thanks.[frame][/frame]

[MarkyB]

It looks like the alternator is live all the time, is that normal?

[bmcecosse]

There already is a very simple and easy to follow wiring diagram at the head of this section - I commend it to you. No need to re-invent the wheel!

[Tudge]

Thanks for the replies, I've already been on this forum a little while, but somehow I knew bmc wouldn't approve... Is there no advantages to having a separate fuse for each circuit?

To be honest, I just fancied doing something a little different as I won't be buying a premade wiring loom anyway...

And MarkyB - cheers, I think maybe I missed a ground off the alternator?