[badk5]

the white clip on the back of the altenator has a red wire and a brown wire . the red wire i think goes to the junciton block or starter but the brown wire goes the wire harness then up to the gauges. i was wondering if i could cut that wire and run it to my volt meter on a triple gauge sunpro cluster since my rig wont have any oem gauges working.just some dummy gauges for looks.

[dh79]

I may be wrong, but I think the brown wire is just for the charging indicator light. I don't know if it actually provides input for the voltage gauge.

[badk5]

well it shows its getting some power. wouldn't that work on a sunpro voltage meter??

[bracketeer]

I would leave the brown wire to the idiot light. It will let you know immediately if your fan belt falls off. A voltmeter can be connected to any switched power source.

[RCastle]

If you have a computer controlled vehicle,cutting unknown wires may even trip your Check Engine light.

[badk5]

actually its a 75 pick up cab on a 83k5 blazer frame, and the brown wire doesnt go anywhere so would it work for the volt meter, theres' no oem gauge cluster in my truck. i just got the triple gauge cluster from sunpro. I'll probably put gauges in where the stock ones go but not run any wires to them. only gauges im goin to have are the 3 sunpro and a tach. this is a trail rig.i built this thing from the ground up. just not to familar with the wires.

[bracketeer]

Power goes through the idiot light then to the brown wire to the alternator. It grounds when the alternator is not working. Thus turning on the idiot light. If you hook a voltmeter to it. It will always read zero until the alternator stops working. Then it will show voltage. A voltmeter can be connected to any switched power source. The large red wire will work with an ammeter.

[badk5]

Originally Posted by bracketeer

The brown wire will work with an ammeter.

thats exactly what i wanted to hear

[bracketeer]

I was editing that posting and you posted while I was changing it. Besides an ammeter and voltmeter are not the same thing. The ammeter has to be connected to the large red wire, not the one next to the brown wire.

[badk5]

all im trying to hook up is the volt meter that comes with the triple sunpro gauge cluster thats 32.99 at auto zone and im not sure what wire i should hook the volt meter to. would i be able to hook it up to the brown wire? theres no oem gauges in the truck and there wont be. what would be a good wire to hook it up too?

[NDNslicks4me]

forget the brown wire.

hook your gauges up to a fuse in the fuse box. make sure it is only hot with the key on.

[bracketeer]

1st post

A voltmeter can be connected to any switched power source.

2nd post

A voltmeter can be connected to any switched power source.

[docvette]

Doc here,

First, Sampling of Volts and amps are TWO quite different animals...

Volts are always measured in Parallel to the load...(across power and ground) and may be tapped almost anywhere..

However THE most accurate is directly across the source (the battery) Because, If you lose a fuse link, or fuse on an Alternator circuit, certain parts of that harness will read 14.4 (the hot side of the fuse toward the Alternator) And everywhere past the open (Vehicle buss and battery) will show a drop, because it is not getting a charge.

Amp Readings are measured In SERIES to the load...(Source Current..Meter..Load Cable...) Usually shunted across the Battery cable and vehicle buss..

The Big red wire on your alternator should go to a fuse link <---READ) on the starter, The second red wire, should go to an switched source..The brown wire should go to a lamp, then a resistor (usually right off the lamp holder), then a fuse, to a switched source. You could install your Voltmeter on this line, just isolate the fuse at the fuse panel, clip and abandoned the wire from the resistor and lamp, a few inches/feet away and splice in here. The other side of your gauge will go to your brown wire.

Doc