W-T ground mod/150amp breaker question

[Doubletrouble]

 I kind of touched on this in another thread but can't remember which one or find it so here we go. Sorry for rehashing this.

 I did the basic W-T ground mod and installed a 150amp breaker between the alt. and passenger side battery. The breaker seemed to trip early (it was a cheapo from Amazon $12 made in china) but prior to the mod not once did it ever fry the 140amp OEM fuse which leads me to believe that the breaker is sub-par.

 So my question is:

Which 150amp breakers are you all using with no problems? I have no tuner or major mods for that matter, basically stock truck, original alternator with about 148k on it.

 Need to get this done since it is getting chilly and I'll need the grids before long and the extra draw there will surely trip that cheap breaker. I've had them disconnected over the summer.

[hdpwipmonkey]

Here is the one that I used.  No issues  with it so far.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G5WHP2M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

[Doubletrouble]

 Thanks, I'll get one ordered soon. If that doesn't solve the issue I'll have to look closer at the grid heater draw and the alternator diodes. I'm pretty sure the cheap china breaker is the culprit.

[Towrigdually]

I ordered an Eaton from delcity when my no name amazon special kept tripping, they were also on sale at the time to. 

 

https://m.delcity.net/store/EATON-Hi-Amp-Marine-Breakers/p_823677.h_795462.r_IF1003?mkwid=&crid=410099918330&mp_kw=&mp_mt=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI86b0xdG57AIVAeWzCh2iVw2_EAQYAiABEgLiVPD_BwE

[Dieselfuture]

[Threadzy]

Where did you mount the breaker? If it gets to hot from the engine heat. It will cause it to trip. Mine is mounted on the firewall above the PCM. 

[LorenS]

I bought a Blue Sea unit and it is attached to the passenger battery tray.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0051OWRHE?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

[Dieselfuture]

So far it's been fine

 

[Doubletrouble]

 Mine is attached to the passenger side battery tray as well, but on the front side of it. 

Nice little bracket @Dieselfuture

[Doubletrouble]

 I finally received my breaker. No idea what took so long. I ordered the one hdpwipmonkey linked to. Installed today. We will see what happens.

[Mopar1973Man]

On 10/15/2020 at 11:47 AM, Doubletrouble said:

Which 150amp breakers are you all using with no problems?

 

I'm using the cheap China/Amazon breaker. No issues to report. 

 

I've done another ground wire mod and even let him use my breaker on the customers truck and would pop the breaker all the time. We swapped to an actual 150 Amp fuse on his truck and the problem left. There is something about system loads or other accessories that keep the alternator constantly charging or weak batteries with internal shorted cells. The break is held to the high charge rate too long and the bi-metal strip heats and pops.

 

My truck I've updated most all the lighting to LED's and HID headlights so my electrical load is very low on the alternator. 

[Doubletrouble]

 When I first start the truck I tend to wait until the batteries recover (looking at the volt meter) before I turn on any extra electrical load.

 I hoping maybe the breaker I had was faulty to a point. I'll see if this new one is up to the task. It's 49° here now and a low of 33° tonight so the grids will come on and I'll monitor it closely.

 Prior to the ground mod I never had the oem 140 breaker blow at all. 

[Mopar1973Man]

2 minutes ago, Doubletrouble said:

Prior to the ground mod I never had the oem 140 breaker blow at all. 

 

OEM is a very thin 140 AMP fuse. Same here never popped the factory fuse either. 

3 minutes ago, Doubletrouble said:

I hoping maybe the breaker I had was faulty to a point. I'll see if this new one is up to the task. It's 49° here now and a low of 33° tonight so the grids will come on and I'll monitor it closely.

 

It might be... I'm saying its not possible but at the same time I'm still using a 140 Amp breaker with no problem. Mine is tucked on the BHAF side near the fender and guarded by the heat shield too. If its too close to hot surfaces it could trip early for no good reason. 

[Doubletrouble]

 I have mine in front of the battery box on the driver's side. It's cool out now so heat at first shouldn't be an issue. Maybe after she warms up good. I'll report back after tonight. 

[hdpwipmonkey]

When I installed my breaker I enabled the ECM voltage view on my Quadzilla so I would be able to see if the breaker pops before the truck completely drains the batteries.

[Mopar1973Man]

Tip: Thew volt gauge will fall to 8 and set the CHECK GAGE light when the voltage drops from 12.00 to 11.99 volts. 

[hdpwipmonkey]

4 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Tip: Thew volt gauge will fall to 8 and set the CHECK GAGE light when the voltage drops from 12.00 to 11.99 volts. 

Thats good to know

[Mopar1973Man]

Yeah when I burned up the PCM and I stuck the new alternator in of course it wouldn't charge without the +12V to the field. So I drove from Ontario OR to Parma ID to get to friends place for help. About half way there the volt gauge fell to 8 Volts and chime went off and I looked down at the Digital display on my USB charge port and it just fell from 12.00 to 11.99 volts. It will not come back up till the voltage is back above 12.00 again.

 

It a dead clue something is wrong with that fuse/breaker if the CHECK GAGE light comes on and volt gauge is sitting on 8.

[Doubletrouble]

 I forgot to report back but so far, after 1 night sitting at work she seemed to fire up just fine. Grid heaters are hooked up again and the new breaker has not tripped once yet. So far so good.