hey all. I have a 1990 ford E150 conversion van and I'm installing a 3 post battery isolater but the instructions are kinda vauge. my alternator has a post with a thick black wire with orange stripe and there is a plug with one little orange wire. the instructions say to move the bat. wire on the post of the alternator to the center post of the isolator but doesnt say anythingthing about a plug with one wire, it does have instruction for plugs with 2 or 3 wires. do I leave the plug eith the little orange wire on the alternator? any help would be great

 

I wouldn't worry about the little wire. Most of those are pretty straightforward, a charge wire from the alternator goes in the middle and the wire that used to be on the alternator would be on the main battery side, then a new wire to the aux. batt.

 

thanks for the help wired it up and she fired up and seems to be charging correctly looking at the dash gauge,

 

I want to install a battery isolater on my 1998 Ford E150 and am also confused.

Do I make a direct connection from the alternator to the solenoid/relay? Any suggestions on brand to use? Most of the instructions that see have 2 large posts that go directly to the starting battery.

I wanted to install a second battery on the frame, but the box seems too low for a deep cycle battery. I found several batteries that will fit, but the ah are not sufficient.

 

it depends on your alternator, does it have a 2 or 3 wire plug? or does it have a post with a 1 or 2 wire plug. as far as what brand, If you can afford it I would spend the money on a good one. money is tight for me right now so I bougt a used one off of ebay for 7 bucks but its only 70 amp. I will bump up to a nicer one that that is more amperage. as far as installation I installed a 3 post isolator, the lead on the alternator post goes on the 1st post of the isolator ( it basicly traces back to the posative battery post) and then you run a new cable from the center post of the isolator to the post on the alternator and the 3rd post is for the second battery. for the second battery(a 120amp per hour deep cycle) I'm installing (cramming) a second battery tray on the drivers side under the hood. then will run leads from the new battery to a 1600 watt power inverter in the van. in a few weeks I will be installing a solar panel and charge controller.

 

I'm not sure if your van is an S2 or S3 alternator, I suspect an S2. If it is, get rid of it because all the power goes through spade type connectors that get hot and melt. Here's a used one I just picked up for a $10 best offer. This one is going in my 73 Pathfinder 4x4 van with an isolater and second battery.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161706217841?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Or you can get new ones off ebay for $80 plus shipping. 130 amp and they'll most of that at idle. You will need a mega-fuse in the charge line.