Hi I have a 1999 VW Beetle 2.0 Litre GLS Automatic and I blew the stock alternator and battery it is all replaced now with new stock stuff but I need some help. I only had a 150 watt bazooka mono channel amp with a 500 watt mtx 10" sub with a 200 watt pioneer deck. my friend told me that i need a cap and it will fix my problem but after reading a few other topics it seems that isnt the case. would it be the stock alternator that was the problem because i mean its a new car my friend 93 accord takes amp watts fine. is it just my car that the alternator cannot handle 150 watts! Thanks for any advice and wheres a site that would sell bigger alternators for my car if that is the only way to go.
well, your pioneer deck really is about 15-20 watts per channel.. "200 watts" is a peak rating, and is really meaningless for this. 150 wats from a mono amp is only a draw of about 15A of current, so unless you're seeing issues with lights dimming, or voltage drops on a meter when the stereo is playing, chances are you may have just had a faulty stock electrical system and the problem is now fixed. Best thing to do is use a multimeter and check voltage. I'd suggest the use of a VOM (analog) though so you can see the needle sweep if voltage is dropping significantly when the stereo system is in use. if the votlage does drop below 12 volts, you really need to consider a larger tahn stock alternator for the car
@andy don't know about the beetles, but in VW Golf models the pin of the ISO connectors to the HU are wired differently, they do not meet DIN ISO specs.
The way you described, compared to your freinds car, I would locate the problem to the vehicle.
Besides for the power consuption you run,I doubt that a bigger alt is really needed. Do as GW says.
the VW dealer will always blame it on anything that isn't a VW part. that's typical dealership bullsh*t.
the fact is, 15A of current draw over stock shouldn't cause any problem, and if voltage rails aren't dropping, it's not the amplifier. If 15A of draw blows up an alternator, you'd never be able to add driving lights or fog lamps to the car without blowing up the alternator, too. They draw just as much power as that maplifier, and they do it continuously, not at peak output
It takes a whole lot of stuff to kill an alt. But not hooking up a tereo. The alt is an Ac device which supplies DC to the batt and its kind of strange that the alt died.
How did you do the wiring?
With bad wiring you can short the batt and/or drain it. But in common sense the alt can't be effected.
Feel sorry about buying/running a VW and customers services wants to blame you.
"chances are you may have just had a faulty stock electrical system and the problem is now fixed."
The system was professionally installed and the car was fine until the system was put in it acted up and died. I checked the amp + sub was hooked up fine. I asked a local sub store they said maybe my sub is bad?? also, the headlights never dimmed when i was driving it just died