[fastback ry]

I'm sure this is an age old question but where is a good place to connect the positive wire for an Edelbrock carb electric choke? I just took off a Holley and the wire for that electric choke was connected to the alternator. Reading the Edelbrock installation sheet they said not to hook it up to the coil OR the alternator. I know I need to find a 12V line that is live when the key is on. Just wondering where others have put theirs.

Thanks.

[65BlueHorse]

I found a wire under my dash that got hot when i turned the key on and had a full 12 volts and wasn't connected to anything so i just found an end that would plug in and wired it up. I don't know if you will have any extra wires or not but i would check first.

[Veronica]

Originally Posted by 65BlueHorse

I found a wire under my dash that got hot when i turned the key on and had a full 12 volts and wasn't connected to anything so i just found an end that would plug in and wired it up. I don't know if you will have any extra wires or not but i would check first.

Hello. That was probably the accessory feed. If it was a single black wire that had a three prong female connector on the end of it, that's what that was. You could also run it straight off of the back of the ignition switch.

[fastback ry]

Why is it a bad idea to run it off the alternator "T" terminal?

I read somewhere that the wiper motor is where some connect it. Any thoughts on that? Good/Bad?

Thanks for the reply 65BlueHorse and Veronica

[Veronica]

Hi again. Splicing into another component's power supply is never a great idea for a number of reasons. It robs power from the other component, it can cause the wire to be carrying a greater load than it was designed for, it often exposes bare copper to the underhood environment, which greatly accellerates the timeframe for that wire corroding away to a useless state, etc...

Hooking it straight to the alternator will have a much stronger current going to the choke than needed, causing it to open almost immediately, which pretty much negates the whole reason for having a choke in the first place.

[GypsyR]

Nobody seems to know why Edelbrock says no to use the alternator. Their choke assembly is basically the same as a Holley or an OEM Ford. Just a bimetallic coil that "unwinds" as it heats up from having voltage applied to it.
I, and many others, just hook it to the "S" (Stator) terminal on the back of the alternator. Nothing original, literally millions of Fords came from the factory hooked up that way. It works. If you check the voltage at the S terminal with the car running, you'll usually see around seven volts. It goes up and down. Happily choke coils aren't particularly voltage sensitive, they are dirt simple.
This involves hooking up just one wire. The S terminal has no voltage on it unless the car is actually running. It couldn't be any simpler or more reliable. If your car has an ammeter, most likely there is nothing at all currently on the S terminal.
Some folks have used a relay triggered off the ignition switch and drawing power directly from the battery. Which works great, but to me is unnecessarily overcomplicated with more chances for malfunctions later on. There are other valid ways to hook up a choke coil too.
Hooking up to an "Accessory" ignition switch position means you would be powering the choke when you are just listening to the radio so you probably don't want to do that. Hooking into the ignition coil wire is simple enough but then the choke would be drawing power away from the coil which is not a good thing at all.
One Edelbrock I have in a driver Ford has been hooked to the S terminal for going on four years now. Still working great.
I understand there can be real complications hooking your choke up this way to a Dodge or GM alternator. I avoid working on either so I couldn't personally say.

[MIL1ION]

The Stator terminal of the ALT only puts out 7 volts

I presume the E choke this thread is about requires 12 volts

therefore the Stator would not be good

I would use the yellow accessories plug .

[fastback ry]

I connected the wire to a 12v source. After messing with the timing the car started up. I let it run for about 5 min but the air horn didn't look like it was opening up. I goosed the throttle and it died...of course.

Seems like there is binding in the choke linkage...it's a brand new carb.

Could Edelbrock have set the choke settings correctly? I stuck a paper clip (bent 90 degrees, 1/8 inch from the end) between the top of the slot in the choke piston cylinder and the bottom of the slot in the piston. Held the paper clip in position and closed the choke valve by pressing on the pison lever. Never felt resistance. I had to stick the paper clip down the slot piston cylinder about 1/4 inch before I touched the top of the piston. I had the .100" clearance between the top edge of the choke valve and the air horn. So with that, is it so far out of whack that it has to get super hot (hotter than normal) for it to start opening the air horn for more air to get in it?

[MIL1ION]

Take the choke coil housing off and point a running hair dryer on it to see if it contracts.

You may need to pit some lubricant in the piston housing of the choke housing as the piston may be corroded and stuck

[fastback ry]

Problem solved. There's a tang at the top of the air horn that connects to the choke linkage. It was bent too far so that the linkage couldn't get proper travel. Straightened it out a little and SHAZAM!!! The air horn is opening up like a large mouth bass.

Thanks for everyone's help. It was greatly appreciated.