High Output Alternator Updgrade- Big 3 question (1 Viewer)

[Salsita]

Swapped out the alternator with a Phoenix Alernator 240 amp high output one.
Doing the big 3, positive terminal on alternator to + battery, engine block to -battery, and body to -battery.
I left the existing ground wire from battery in place to the engine block and doubled up the new one instead of cutting it out of the harness and loom.
However I put a bus on the new wire from the alternator to the battery so it made sense to isolate and abandon the existing OEM positive connection cable to the alternator (taped off, zip tied to bracket).
Is my thinking sound on the positive connection from alternator to battery sound?
Is the ECU reading the alternator output from the plug on the alternator or from positive lead I've abandoned?
Should I wire both positive leads to the alternator poste and double them up like I did the negative (this doesn't make sense to me, but may be ignorant of something)

 

[staffaction]

Howdy, What did you end up doing here? Noticed you didn't get any responses.

How is it working out? I'm doing a ton of under-the-hood work soon (timing belt) and am wondering if this is the time to put in a high output alternator.

What was your reason for doing so and was there anything "special" you had to do because of it being high output?

Right now I don't need it but as we slowly mod over time I think it will come in handy. We are installing OBA soon, and eventually a fridge. eventually lights, radio, and who knows what else.

Do you know if the type of battery makes a difference here? i.e. keep the regular battery or replace with a deep cell?

 

[Salsita]

Howdy, What did you end up doing here? Noticed you didn't get any responses.

How is it working out? I'm doing a ton of under-the-hood work soon (timing belt) and am wondering if this is the time to put in a high output alternator.

What was your reason for doing so and was there anything "special" you had to do because of it being high output?

Right now I don't need it but as we slowly mod over time I think it will come in handy. We are installing OBA soon, and eventually a fridge. eventually lights, radio, and who knows what else.

Do you know if the type of battery makes a difference here? i.e. keep the regular battery or replace with a deep cell?

I ended up installing it and it all has worked well.
Keep an eye on pulley diameter and put in writing the size you want in case one with a smaller diameter gets sent and need to follow up.
Seemed like a good as good a time as any to upgrade component because the alternator failed.
I anticipated adding a winch, a ham radio, additional lights and extra battery.
Having read other builds by folks who were "buy once cry once kind of frugal," they pointed this out as a good idea.
I pull a travel trailer and it is also nice to charge the 2 house batteries as we go.

Sorry for my pokey reply, been burning up my weekends covering loose ends helping extended family.

 

[Salsita]

I ended up installing it and it all has worked well.
Keep an eye on pulley diameter and put in writing the size you want in case one with a smaller diameter gets sent and need to follow up.
Seemed like a good as good a time as any to upgrade component because the alternator failed.
I anticipated adding a winch, a ham radio, additional lights and extra battery.
Having read other builds by folks who were "buy once cry once kind of frugal," they pointed this out as a good idea.
I pull a travel trailer and it is also nice to charge the 2 house batteries as we go.

Sorry for my pokey reply, been burning up my weekends covering loose ends helping extended family.

Ok folks, a year and a half later and the dashboard lights up like a Christmas Tree.
What is it?
Diagnostic is that the alternator is failing and started surging in volts..
Phoenix Alernator

 

[HomersCanyonero]

Is there and did you consider an oem high capacity toyota alternator for a sequoia?

Im not sure if there’s a 180 Amp Toyota Sequoia alternator that fits the GX with no wire upgrades.

 

[Salsita]

Is there and did you consider an oem high capacity toyota alternator for a sequoia?

Im not sure if there’s a 180 Amp Toyota Sequoia alternator that fits the GX with no wire upgrades.

Oh, good idea, never heard of that. I'm mid install of replacement, so next plan!

 

[HomersCanyonero]

I found the 150 Amp first generation (2001-2007) toyota sequoia alternator that fits the gx470 per other posts I saw.

I haven’t found a 180 amp one yet.

 

[jdevtac]

I found the 150 Amp first generation (2001-2007) toyota sequoia alternator that fits the gx470 per other posts I saw.

I haven’t found a 180 amp one yet.

I believe DC power makes one aftermarket for the 470 that’s 180amps. But it’s also costly compared to the 150 sequioa alternator. As far as I know, for OEM, there is nothing larger than a 150 amp sequoia alt that will fit off the shelf.

I went with a 240 amp mademan alternator. Hoping I don’t end up with a Christmas tree lol.

I’m guessing the Phoenix is having an issue with the voltage regulator but my knowledge of alternator troubleshooting is about zero aside from install and upgrading all the wiring.

 

[jdevtac]

Oh, good idea, never heard of that. I'm mid install of replacement, so next plan!

On my upgraded wiring job since it’s a 240 amp mademan in my instance, I reworked the OEM wiring. I have a 1/0 positive cable from alternator to positive battery terminal and then what I did was took the OEM alternator positive at the fuse box, cut it to enough length to reach the battery terminal and that is my new battery positive to fuse box. The short black wire I taped up and nixed entirely. I did this because I don’t need a 240 amp alternator trying to send amperage through that small black wire like the OEM Setup has it, and this also allows me to pull my power from the positive battery terminal and send it to my aux fuse panel, rather than deliver it to the OEM fuse box, and then have it come back out to the battery to then go to my accessories.

Anyway, I guess my point is I’d go over the wiring of the setup in addition to something possibly being wrong with the alt itself.

 

[jiggletits]

Stock alternator has plenty of charging power. This seems completely unecessary unless you’re one of those car audio d’bags with a dozen 16” subwoofers in the back

Solar on your camper would be a much wiser investment.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

Stock alternator has plenty of charging power. This seems completely unecessary unless you’re one of those car audio d’bags with a dozen 16” subwoofers in the back

Solar on your camper would be a much wiser investment.

Im in the solar power generator camp, but here’s my dilemma….

When driving on highway to get to remote destination, I’ll be charging the power station using the cigarette lighter plug which will charge at about 80 watts on average (120 watt max).

So, what kind of impact 4 hours of charging at that rate on a daily basis for a week have on my 130A stock alternator or standard car battery from Costco?

Will a 150A from a sequoia help?

When parked and there’s sun, then I’ll be using solar panel at 120 watt max to charge the Bluetti power station.

 

[jiggletits]

It will have zero impact. Your alternator ‘charges’ constantly. It is always spinning. If anything you’ll be limited by the amp rating of that circuit. Nothing to do with alt.

There’s also an inverter on board that is what 400w? You don’t need a bigger alternator until you are maxing out all of the potential draw the car already has and then some.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

It will have zero impact. Your alternator ‘charges’ constantly. It is always spinning. If anything you’ll be limited by the amp rating of that circuit. Nothing to do with alt.

There’s also an inverter on board that is what 400w? You don’t need a bigger alternator until you are maxing out all of the potential draw the car already has and then some.

Wow, I think you are right for a change! LOL.

It turns out that my Bluetti EB70s power station only draws like 10 Amps max when you are charging at 12V = 120 Watts maximum. So, not a drastic demand on my alternator. The Bluetti EB70s has about 716W of storage, so it takes about 6 to 7 hours to fully charge off the cigarette lighter outlet.

So, I don't need a high output alternator after all! And I don't need to do the "Big 3"

 

[jiggletits]

Most people don't, it's just more unnecessary crap hyped up by all the mod-happy people trying to get followers on youtube. If you need more wattage just use your 115V inverter socket in the rear. You lose efficiency going from DC to AC back to DC but it should still have higher total available power.

 

[jdevtac]

Wow, I think you are right for a change! LOL.

It turns out that my Bluetti EB70s power station only draws like 10 Amps max when you are charging at 12V = 120 Watts maximum. So, not a drastic demand on my alternator. The Bluetti EB70s has about 716W of storage, so it takes about 6 to 7 hours to fully charge off the cigarette lighter outlet.

So, I don't need a high output alternator after all! And I don't need to do the "Big 3"

If you are running a load of accessories pulling more than the alt is supplying then it’s a possible consideration, but dual battery vs solar vs alternator really fit different purposes. The only figure I’ve seen for a 470 amp draw was like 90 amps at idle with the 130 amp alternator. I exceed that with my sub and other items and thus have a higher output alternator. I don’t need a second battery or solar panel, as it doesn’t fit my application.

Most people probably upgrade to a 150 amp sequioa alternator just cause. Price difference between that and a 470 spec alternator isn’t that different and you get an extra 20 amps.