[70NOVALT1]

can someone give any advice on how to wire up an alternator correctly. i just want to make sure i have it right next time before i burn out another one. i am using a mid eighties tpi alternator on my lt1 for packaging reasons, it is a lot smaller. i wired it the same way the lt1 alt was wired (only "L" wire from the connector was used on the lt1) this wire is the ignition on 12v source to get the alt charging. and then of course the power supply from the back of the alt to the batt. the tpi alt harness connector has wires in the "S" "F" and "L" location in the connector. i am thinking i may need to connect the S wire(heavier gauge red wire) also to a switched 12v source but not sure. also will not having any of these wires hooked up burn up the alternator? both of the alt i had would charge good the first time or two i cranked it but then would stop after no more than 5 minutes of run time.

 

[tnblkc230wz]

It sounds like you have a CS130 altenator. If you wired up your idiot light, it should go to the F terminal or you will burn up alts. If you wired it to ignition hot, then it goes to L. The S terminal is your sensing wire. It reads the voltage on the system and adjust the altenator accordingly. You can run it to the charging post on the back of the altenator if you are feeling lazy. I recommend you run it to your distribution block so you are sensing your voltage down stream of the altenator.