[DML] DUMB QUESTION OF THE DAY

[mike clemens <rmclemns@xxxxxxxxx>]

This seems like a really dumb question, but my
research has not yielded any definitive answer, as to
why it was designed this way.

I'm working on Josh's car and decided to pull the
electrical wire between the alternator and the binding
post underneath the engine bay electrical cover. 
Why??  Because it appeared the electrical tape
wrapping this "wire" was melted badly in several
places.

This 'brown wire', according to the diagram, is
actually three, 10 gauge wires, all connected together
at both ends.  On Josh's car, two of the wires were
melted pretty bad and covered over by the PO (a really
ignorant PO) by layering on electrical tape.  Why they
got so hot is not the nagging question, I think I know
the answer to that one, the wires rubbed thru the
insulation and touched the frame, causing lots of arcs
and sparks.

The question I have is:  To replace the wire is a
given, but should I replace it with three 10 gauge
wires again or can I just use a 4 gauge battery wire
instead??  It seems really dumb to me to use three
smaller wires when one bigger one should work just as
well or better.  Maybe one of you electrical engineers
could chime in and let me know why it was designed
this way.

Mike   TPS    1630


      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Check out the hottest 2008 models today at Yahoo! Autos.
http://autos.yahoo.com/new_cars.html


To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address:
moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx

For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com

To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:dmcnews-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
    mailto:dmcnews-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/