Roundabout 40A , that�s right.

What worries me most is how VW in the 80s/90s could afford to run the
alternator wire to the A/C, the alternator wire to the batt and the big
hot wire from batt to starter unfused!

Today, nothing�s unfused because of Americans claiming 47mio dollar for
a burnt toe...
;-)))

For the A/C I will put a waterproof inline 60A fuse in the wire from the
alternator.

Regards
Raimund

Am 22.08.2010 20:37, schrieb David Beierl:
> At 10:59 AM 8/22/2010, Michael Sullivan wrote:
>> on the C pillar of my 91?  When a/c is off, wire is cool.  When a/c
>> is on,
>> ire gets too hot to touch within 5 minutes.  Kinda concerned to cover
>> the
>> pillar until I feel better about this.  How hot is too hot? It is the
>> wire
>> on the right as it comes from the alt.
>
> You've got no local overheating at the terminals, so they're in good
> shape.  The insulation looks fine.  It's a 6 mm^2 wire, like a fat
> AWG 10, with PVC insulation.  Under German regs it's allowed to have
> a working temp of 70C which is 158F.  It's allowed to carry 39 amps
> at 50C/122F.
>
> Personally I think it would be better if it were a #8 wire, or had
> another #10 in parallel.  I have some concern that it might be
> exceeding maximum working temp down in the engine box.  At the least,
> make sure that the alternator end of the wire looks like the end you
> photographed.  Like car builders in general, VW tries to used the
> absolute least possible amount of copper...
>
> Yours,
> David