i have a client with a 6 battery bank in the bed and dual factory battery locations up front. he has 2 alternators and each alternator is going to its side battery so the driver side alt is going to the driver side battery and passenger alt going to the passenger side battery. i dont know - does having 2 point of voltage input going to two different batteries in an electrical system present any kind of issue?  e.g. should these alternators be rewired to both go to a single positive terminal on one battery or is status quoe good enough? we are pushing close to 1200A at full tilt and are considering a 3rd alternator in an after market bracket (current two are in factory locations). (power stroke)

Set up stock, they work as one. Which is the way they should be. Just they way they are mounted on the engine for use of space for use of the Serpentine system. 

ok so having each alternator go to its own battery is a non issue then, no chance for any voltage differential to cause issues in the charging system.

They should all be together as one. Both alternators support both batteries. At least that’s the way it should be sharing the load. If you trace the wires, all should be going to a master control point somewhere under that hood. I would verify that with a certified Ford technician before changing anything if it’s not that easy to trace out. 

no, none of this is factory wiring,  the client has rewired with 4/0 gage and added his own mechman after market alt to the second factory location where one did not exist before. he has one mechman with power going to the passenger side battery and the second mechman is going with power to the drivers side battery, they do not go to a central point.  i have run 3 alts in my truck and always had them going to a single charging distro block and then to a single battery, i never considered what possible problems (if any) would be present if multiple alternators were going to different points in the charging system.

3 Alternators to one battery ?? Why 

seems like a major waste of money. 

Nevermind. Not worth the time.

ok we are getting off track here, the question is simple: in a multi battery configuration with multiple charging points should all the charging devices be going to a single connection point in the electrical system OR can they be connection at multiple junction locations with out ill effect?

I’m an electronics technician. So reading your post assuming you know what a amp draw actually is, it’s hard for me to read your question(s) and give you a straight answer.

example: an alternator makes 280 amps.

i feel like you are over read or over complicating? I'm not asking about amperage or wiring sizing or anything like that. rather I'm asking that if in the same way you can get grounding differential that can cause induced noise in a system by having grounds spaced all over the vehicle could the same thing or does the same thing occur with the power input feeds from the charging system?  e.g. if you have two alternators that deliver power to different points in the system could that cause a difference in voltage potential that could cause erroneous functionality in either the charging or electrical system?

rather is there a "standard" practice for multiple charging systems to be routed to a single point or is it acceptable to have them connected to different batteries in the system.

 

it makes sense to me that routing one alt to the other and then to one battery would be the best way to run the wire but ive never looked into this so i thought id ask

Part of a Big 3 design is a direct line from the alternator to the battery (shortest route possible).

also, you can never have too many grounding points. However, they all have to be clean and secure.

The setup you are describing poses zero problems.  Even if one alt is producing more current or voltage, the battery will act like an accumulator.

ok, kool. i just hadn't considered the effects of that style setup before so i wanted to check