Take A Moment For A Chuckle...

I'm not sure why anyone would need that. Why? No battery would appreciate 320A current going in. However, for applications that do require a high output alternator, the more reliable method is dual alternators and dual batteries. Batteries wired together in parallel so CCA is doubled, each alternator is wired to one battery. Under the rare condition that both alternators are near full output this system will work best over many years. Open the hood of a 6.7L dodge diesel with dual alternators and see this exact setup.

Yeah Northwest Regulator engaged me in 1993 to revamp the small-frame 95 amp 3G Ford alternator for BOOM THUD stereo clients. Nothing else would fit. Small frame alt. I ended end increasing low end power from 38 to 55 amperes hot and top end 5500 RPM to 155. The OEM dish rectifiers are a pain. I substituted 40 amp
Units (8) rectifiers. This year-long project got me hot on the trail of developing the remote rectifier concept. The audio buffs HATED the cosmetics of a black hard anodized alternator case.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
A Clydesdale can carry a sack of groceries, no problem.

True, but the load some of these sound systems produce is amazing.

A Clydesdale can carry a sack of groceries, no problem.

We have used several of these on street rods my customers bought at car shows. Never had a problem with any of them.

I have seen too many 2800 JB Leece-Neville alternators with melting around the output studs to ease my discomfort. For many years Leece used sintered ceramic major housings then changed to plastic. Prestolite never made a good alternator IMHO and if they stopped short quickly, Motorola would have gotten a brown nose.

I have also seen too many steel alternator output studs near 350F to suit me. To thwart corrosion I soldered 1/2" silicon bronze bolts onto the Niehoff's and Delco's remote rectifier studs. Finding fine thread bronze 1/2" bolts was a chore.

The bus's Niehoff has disc fans at both ends. The Delco has one fan but the Pabst fan really twirls air into the rear of the unit. Regardless even in open air both exceed 200F when working hard. A drop of water on the housing bubbles off within 1-2 seconds. And this is with remote rectifier!

Chum lee, the "320" is deception incorporated. So are "20 WAT LED" from China. Try as I might with the best selling 18-watt 6 LED 12-volt lamps (internal regulator) on eBay I cannot get them to accept >13 watts. They ALL LIE. It's stupid. The 13 watt CREEs are amazingly bright.

Reminds me of the BS (macho) about the Fighting Rooster "El Capitan" down here. Guaranteed in a cockfight, the monster will render the opponent unfit for chicken tacos inside 10-seconds.

When market confidence erodes, sales plummet. Turn on the TV, and Ron Popiel, appears (RonCo). Peruse eBay and find 500 watt "Epistar chip" LED light bars that are laughably dimmer than a 350 watt CREE light bar.

Purchase a "George Foreman" electric griddle and find out there is no on-off switch. The unit has to be unplugged.

We need to put a threat on the FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION. "Do your job or get disbanded". They complain "But but but...congress has defunded us..." Tell the failed lawyers to start looking for burger flipping jobs if they lack the intelligence to govern. Grrrrrr. Snap...

To reliably deliver 320 amps @ 12 volts (nominal) on a continuous basis would require a cable larger than the main cable off the positive side of the battery which leads to the starter motor in automotive applications. Not going to happen on this application with the output stud shown. Generating 320 amps (@ 12 volts) is going to generate huge amounts of heat with no place to go. I've yet to see a working alternator that glows red like a turbo but hey, anything is possible!

I think the 320 is a misprint. Probably should more accurately read an intermittent 120 amps.

Chum lee

The output stud on my externally regulated 50/120 chrysler alternator is steel, and Not an impressive diameter by any measurement.

Yet It still can deliver 120 amps. For how long? I know not. I only have 90Ah capacity, and it can take 65 amps from grid powered charging sources for ~20 minutes when depleted 56 of those 90AH, before tapering begins at 14.7v.

Chrysler in their wisdom located the alternator a few inches from exhaust manifold. I added a heat shield between the two long ago.

I have a temp sensor on my alternator casing. Idling at max load and temps skyrocket to the 200F range fairly quickly. Low speeds and low rpms is similar. Highway speeds maxed out amperage wise, and it is rare to see over 130f.

I do assume output stud is much hotter.
I could not really make use of a more capable alternator with the battery capacity I have, and I am not seeing the need for more battery capacity either.

Prestolite/Leece-Neville's 320 amp alternator has a 5/16 positive stud.

A0014962PAH - High Output Alternator

The "stud" is irridited steel. 8mm. Now gauge that to intermittant duty starter motor studs - 3/8"x24 pure copper. Ooooo lesseee. Eight rectifiers. The largest in the industry is 50 amperes x 4 or half the rectifier bridge. With a nominal pulley speed advantage of 3x1 their comments admit at 3,000 RPM this alternator can not keep up with standard hotel loads.
My 8-9/16" Niehoff is a 400 amp unit and it discolored both half-inch diameter copper studs and blistered a finger when I accidentally slid my hand into it. A month later the newly created remote rectifier got bolted in a foot ahead of the four Rolls three cell batteries.
I posted this for amusement plus a dash of reality. It just isn't China that peddles the absurd -although their LED smd heat sinking tech borders on Larry Curly & Moe level. Google image a 4875-JA Leece-Neville and see how Prestoloite had to create exterior rectifiers to withstand high amperage.

I came across this image today and dropped my coffee cup laughing. Unbreakable and it was empty. I have to believe I am the last of a dying breed as alternator engineering meaning the real stuff has gone off shore. Keep a remote rectifier I described months ago in the back of your mind. Why? Ummmmmmmm let's see - how do we get an immense amount of amperage all the way to the batteries? (3) 6-gauge wires or one 3/0 ? Fascinating amusing.