i'm throwing together a 53 F-100 with a 350/350 combo and i want to use a 1 wire alt with the stock inductive pickup amp guage.i know some will say i need a volt meter but I want to use the stock guage anybody got a simple wiring diagram for the charge circuit? keep in mind this is a non pole amp guage that just piggybacks on the wire I'd like the engine to stop running when I turn the key off thanks, Bruce
Induction meters don't burn up ... just run the wire thru the loop. Since the 6v Ford was pos. grd., you'll run it the opposite direction ...
You are correct, that the guage will work and not burn out wired as you state but it will not stop the engine from running when shut off . More work is needed for that problem.
Induction meters work on AC circuits, the 12si 1 wire output is DC. Those original gages can be converted to volts, thats the way to go.
You really don't want to do this. But if you insist, here's my $.02 Your battery cable will, of, course, go to the stud on the starter. You then need a fat wire from that stud to your amp meter. No other wires must be on that stud. The entire electrical load of the car will be going thru that one wire. After it goes thru the ammeter it can go to the various electrical things - fuse panel, things that use circuit breakers such as headlights, things that use fusible links such as cooling fans, stereo amps, etc. And you don't want fusible links under the dash so your fat wire has to go back out into the engine room. If you calculate the entire electrical load of the car (in amps) you will be able to figure out how fat that main wire needs to be. (fat = gauge). So, depending on the total electrical load, you might have over 100 amps running around under your dash. I wouldn't want that. Also, this fat wire is now a single point of failure on the car. I wouldn't want that either. The alternator needs to connect to the same place the load is. Alternator juice will flow thru the gauge into the battery thus showing charging. Battery juice flowing thru the gauge in the other direction to the load will show discharge. The Ron Francis catalog once contained a good explanation of why we shouldn't run ammeters. It may still be included. Look for it.
I used the stock ammeter on my 50 ford with a early GM one wire alternator. I think it might only be 37 amp output. If you run the output wire through the loop on the gauge first it will work fine. I don't have much of a load to run. It has been this way for over 10 years no problems.
If the engine 'runs on' with the ign turned off, you are inadvertently feeding the coil. The wire going from the starter solenoid thru the ammeter loop should terminate at the ACCESSORY post on the ignition switch; you probably have it connected to the 'IGN' side. Ergo, when the switch is 'on', both the 'IGN' and 'ACC' are hot. Switch off, and the 'IGN' is cold, as is the 'ACC'., as when 'off', there is no connection between the two.
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