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Silver Member Username: RichierchPost Number: 119 Registered: Jun-05 | i have two Infinity 1230w 12" subs and an audiobahn a12005dn amp...will i need a new altenator for my 2003 mazda protege |
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Gold Member Username: IlluminatorPost Number: 1070 Registered: Apr-05 | Yeah, definitely. One that puts out around fifty more amperes than your current one. What does your current one put out, anyway? |
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Silver Member Username: RichierchPost Number: 120 Registered: Jun-05 | i have no idea what does that cost |
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Gold Member Username: IlluminatorPost Number: 1073 Registered: Apr-05 | Around $250...i'm not sure. You'll have to check a few of the threads with links to alternator replacement websites. |
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Silver Member Username: RichierchPost Number: 121 Registered: Jun-05 | anyone else have any input to a 2003 mazda protege altenator |
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Bronze Member Username: VoodoochildeGreencastle, Indiana Post Number: 87 Registered: May-05 | Definately need a new alt as Jexx said, or else you'll end up paying more than $250 in the end. |
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Silver Member Username: Mikechec9Chicago/atlanta Post Number: 529 Registered: May-05 | that's just a 600 watt amp. its not even 1 ohm stable that i am aware of. even if it were, you would only need a 90amp alternator. unless i am missing info that everyone else has, you should be more than fine. |
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Silver Member Username: Iufan4lifeulLouisville, Kentucky Post Number: 227 Registered: May-05 | Ah, most people on here are obsessed with new alternators, I think you all just have crappy cars. My car also has an 80 amp alternator (like yours) and mine runs fine with an Alpine MRP-350 which isn't much smaller than that one... should be fine, it is your basic setup. I know people running a thousand RMS off of less than 100 amp alternators. If you notice a major problem, then upgrade, it won't hurt you to wait and try it out. If it can't handle it, it will drain your battery (if it starts doing this STOP the subs and amp and get a new alternator) |
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Silver Member Username: RichierchPost Number: 122 Registered: Jun-05 | where cna i find an alternator..and with that do i have to get a new battery. |
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Gold Member Username: IlluminatorPost Number: 1078 Registered: Apr-05 | You have to consider the fact that the car utilizes 30-40 amperes of the alternator's output to run properly leaving you with whatver is left. "I think you all just have crappy cars" Ouch, that isn't true for me... |
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Silver Member Username: Mikechec9Chicago/atlanta Post Number: 535 Registered: May-05 | dude, you will be wasting your money. an alternator runs 200-600.00. first, 600 watts is overated in an audiobahn. but let's say it's not. 600 watts/13volt battery= 46 necessary amps. i didn't upgrade my alternator until i got 3000 watts (just to my subs). it ran me 400 something. if/when you do upgrade your alternator, it should be when you have a killer sub system. otherwise you will be buying one now and one later. i'm pretty certain your alternator carries at least 80 amps with it. but i got mine on ebay from dominic iraggi (iraggi alternators). lifetime warranty, so it shouldn't be shady |
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Silver Member Username: RichierchPost Number: 123 Registered: Jun-05 | so what your saying is that my alternator should suffice...and im only 16 so the reason my system isnt a huge beast is cause im on a budget i thought i had a pretty good one but im getting mixed input panasoic CQ-C8301U [HU] 2 12" Infinity 1230W's [SUBS] Audiobahn A12005DN [AMP] Infinity Reference 6812cf [FRONT DOORS (5x7)] Infinity Reference 9613i [REAR DECK (6x9)] |
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Silver Member Username: RichierchPost Number: 124 Registered: Jun-05 | obviously havent installed it yet |
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Silver Member Username: Mikechec9Chicago/atlanta Post Number: 537 Registered: May-05 | no, i'm not saying that at all. i'm completly overkill b/c i have no choice. i started out with just one 1600.2 firing into two 4ohm subs. it was going to be 800watts/sub. then i got my new subs that are 2ohm subs (800-1600 watts rms). so my choices became 400watts/sub or get another amp and push 1600watts/sub. i would MUCH rather 800 watts, but it wasn't an option. before that system i had three 12's with an audiobahn pushing about 800 (overated) watts total into all of them. my absolute loudest system EVER by far. i loved it. so, i would really have rathered not been forced into buying an alternator. just trying to save you any unecessary agony that i have had to endure when it is not necessary. sorry, it seemed disrespectful. that's not how i intended it at all. it took me years to accumulate what i have and it's still much to my wife's dismay. i'm supposed to be on a budget too. that's why i'm broke now, lol. as far as the system, i think infinity has some of the better sq in their price range. subs and components. i take sq over spl any day at all (of course sql is best, imo). you have a nice system, but i would personally upgrade my amp to at least twice the power so i can put at minimum the rms of 300watts into each sub. and if you get a class D amp (audiobahn makes those too, like the 8001dt i had), you still won't need an alternator b/c it's 80% efficient. i.e., the alternator and charging system will be seeing only 20% of its power. otherwise man, you're straight where you are at. infinity makes quality drivers and your's is a very quality sub, and i'm pretty annal about "quality" subs, lol. |
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New member Username: GhowardsClark, SD USA Post Number: 1 Registered: Jul-05 | what do you guys suggest as to using a cap or upgrading your alternator? I mean which one would you suggest |
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Silver Member Username: Mikechec9Chicago/atlanta Post Number: 542 Registered: May-05 | a cap means nothing by itself. glass just laid down a more than pleasant spread on the subject: "ok I'm going to take a few of these comments apart to examine the misinformation that comes from advertising and a general lack of understanding on a few things like how a capacitor actually works, just to try to answer a few of these objectively. -whats the different purpose you speak of? a capacitor will reduce the response time for peak current demands between the alternator and amplifier, if and only if the alternator has enough current to maintain voltage rails, which means it is at or below the amount of current draw the alternator is capable of supplying. once the alternator is overdrawn, all bets are off. Also, a capacitor works to filter AC ripple caused by the alternator itself. Remember an alternator as the name implies, generates AC voltage, which is then rectified into DC voltage by a "voltage regulator" bridge rectifier. The DC voltage regulator isn't perfect, so the DC voltage can have an effect called AC ripple which basically means there's a pulsting to the voltage that shouldn't be there. A filtering capacitor can smooth that out to give a more constant 12-16VDC voltage rail. -you'd also need to say that a second battery does not help either? a second battery won't really help by itself if the alternator is too weak, while the car is running, correct. additional isolated batteries are used to increase runtime for the system when the car is shut off, and the alternator is no longer in play, so you can draw more current, for longer periods, before you kill the batteries. Also the isolator protects your starter battery from being drained by the stereo, so you can still start the car later. -What I'm saying is that a cap is much like a battery and the more the better? no. not raelly. a battery generates electricity through electro-chemical reaction to act as a power supply. technically if we still hand-crank started cars, we wouldn't even have a need for batteries in cars. A capacitor on the other hand, cannot generate current. It can only stor current for a brief period, and release that current in a burst as needed by the circuit it's in. A capacitor's voltage parallels that of the circuit voltage however, so if the alternator can't handle the demands, and voltage rails sag to say, 10 volts, guess what? Your capacitor will be at 10 volts as well, so it's not going to supply anything capable of boosting the voltage back to where it needs to be. Don't confuse current (I) with voltage (V). -When you get a better amp, the power supply has more caps (for more stored energy) so why wont having a bunch of caps help in some way? oh boy. ok, a power supply uses capacitors in a completely different way than you're trying to suggest. A capacitor in a power supply can have several uses, including filter capacitors, and current storage but remember in an amplifier, you're dealing with a regulated PWM circuit, with multiple voltage rails, ranging anywhere from 5 volts to 65 volts. You're really oversimplifying things for two reasons in this argument. one is to make your case, and the second is due to a lack of understanding about how electronics and amplifiers function. I can help you understand a little bit about amplifiers, if you have the patience to read a primer I wrote on their basic functions: http://www.wickedcases.com/caraudio/amplifiers.html -After all, it we removed are batteries our alternators would blow the first time you cranked your tunes(or burn up the brushes). As I see it, every little bit helps. Please tell me if I'm wrong on this. you're wrong on this. otherwise think about this.. when you have a dead or damaged battery, and someone jumpstarts your car so you can get home, or to an auto parts shop, why doesn't your alternator blow up as soon as you disconnect those jumper cables? The battery is in parallel with the alternator, and while it does filter voltage, keep in mind a few things: -a battery is only used to crank the car till the engine is running, to turn the starter. -once the car is running, the alternator puts out a higher voltage than the battery above idle, in order to put the battery into a charging state. -before we had alternators, cars had generators. we haven't always had alternators. -When you first add a cap, it is charged and ready to go. You play your system for a while, and it seem fine because your cap is supplying extra juice when your voltage rails dip, so you don't even notice the problem anymore. not quite the case. What actually happens is the capacitor masks the symptoms of the overstressed alternator by smoothing the spikes in demand for current. In other words instead of the lights dimming when bass hits, your lights will just be dimmer all the time, but by a lesser amount, because while there still isn't enough current for everything, the capacitor is hiding those spikes that let you see the problem. end result, you still kill your battery and alternator, your amplifiers still clip and fry your speakers and damage teh amplifiers, and you still end up replacing a lot of expensive parts.. but you now get to sit there and wonder what happened, because you thought your magical capacitor fixed all of your woes when it stopped the lights from dimming when the bass hits." |
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Silver Member Username: RichierchPost Number: 125 Registered: Jun-05 | if i wire the subs to too ohms it will give them the 300rms they need the amp is 600x1@2 ohms |
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Silver Member Username: Mikechec9Chicago/atlanta Post Number: 549 Registered: May-05 | you're cool then man. let us now how it sounds when you hook it up. those subs are extra clean with that power. |