Ammeter pegged

[superwrench]

Well...I got the dash complete with the cluster and switches all in this '72 Challenger. All the gauges (rallye) work including the tach and clock. However....even though the charging system seems to be charging at around 13.6 to 13.9 volts, the ammeter is WAY over to the right ....like right off the scale.  I put Sniper Efi into this thing and the main positive wire goes straight to the battery, and the switched + goes to the accessory on the fuse block. Nothing else is on in the vehicle, so why is the ammeter showing excessive charge??? The battery is new and is good. Is the ammeter foobarred??

[Chryco Psycho]

Well I doubt the ammeter is bad , even with the EFI connected to the battery the amperage drawn from the battery is replaced by the ammeter so I bet the extra load is going through the ammeter , I would use a bypass 8 or 10 ga from the alt output to the bat terminal on the relay , you may still be drawing more amps than the alt can supply & running the battery dead while the engine is running with the alt at full output

[superwrench]

So.....leave everything as it is now, but run a decent guage wire from the + alternator straight to the starter relay??

[Chryco Psycho]

start with that

[superwrench]

This why I come on this forum......good information !! The bypass fixed the problem . Thank you sir !!   

[Chryco Psycho]

 
So the options you are running was pulling more than 60 amps even if it was pulling it from the battery , it would not have lasted long like that !!
Make sure your alternator is putting out enough amps , most only put out 60 amps max , if you are using more than that the battery will still run down while running , you may have to upgrade to 100 amp .

[peterro]

FWIW, I just recently ran an 8ga wire with 12ga fusible link from the alt to starter relay and my ammeter is now in the middle. I can see some slight movement when hitting the brakes but largely it doesn't matter to me. I also got an extra volt at the battery when running.

Thanks a LOT for the tip.

[Chryco Psycho]

Glad to help