Alternator question

 

Silver Member
Username: 2pacalypse1971

Sandusky, Oh

Post Number: 227
Registered: Jul-05
my friend has a 12 inch w7 and a 1000/1 running on it on a stock alternator, he has a 2000 honda civic, he is interested in gettin a new alternator off of ebay, i see one that was like 160 amps, this amp is the only thing he is running do you think this woudl be good enough, not sure but i'd prolly say he has a 105 amp alternator right now or soemthing
 

Gold Member
Username: Ctmike

Ct.

Post Number: 3126
Registered: Feb-06
160a would be good.
 

Silver Member
Username: Qbenjamin

Florida

Post Number: 236
Registered: Nov-06
The upgraded alt would be great, but he could also get a Power Capacitor. Maybe like a 2.5 Farad. I have a lot more wattage than him running in my car, with no dimming whatsoever, my stock alt is about 105a. Only other upgrade I have is the Yellow Top. JFYI.
 

Gold Member
Username: Nyyfan13

Fi SSD USA

Post Number: 3101
Registered: Jul-06
160 will work good.

i wouldnt get a cap, it tends to hide the problems then fix them...
http://wickedcases.com/caraudio/capacitors.html
 

Gold Member
Username: Nyyfan13

Fi SSD USA

Post Number: 3102
Registered: Jul-06
i wouldnt get a cap, it tends to hide the problems **rather** then fix them...
 

Gold Member
Username: Ctmike

Ct.

Post Number: 3129
Registered: Feb-06
"I have a lot more wattage than him running in my car, with no dimming whatsoever, my stock alt is about 105a"

sounds like you need to find out exactly how big the alt. in your own car. and yeah that cap. isn't helping you any.
 

Silver Member
Username: Qbenjamin

Florida

Post Number: 237
Registered: Nov-06
My cap is helping me fine. My stock alt is 105a do you know what yours is? I am currently running:
HCCA D5000 @ 1ohm
2 H2 12.4's
1 Nakamichi PA 2004

Anything else you would like to point out CTMIKE?
 

Silver Member
Username: Qbenjamin

Florida

Post Number: 240
Registered: Nov-06
 

Gold Member
Username: Ctmike

Ct.

Post Number: 3140
Registered: Feb-06
2500wrms mono amp and either 100 or 200wrms x 4 speaker amp so about 3000wrms roughly. off stock charging system. i wouldn't upgrade anything, sounds perfect.
 

Gold Member
Username: Nyyfan13

Fi SSD USA

Post Number: 3120
Registered: Jul-06
3k off a stock? wow...
 

Bronze Member
Username: John_mcdon

Post Number: 11
Registered: Jan-07
This is how i paid for my kicker subs and xplode amp

No lie!!!

http://www.cashcrate.com/index.php?ref=167278

Get started today!!
 

Gold Member
Username: Nyyfan13

Fi SSD USA

Post Number: 3126
Registered: Jul-06
im sorry to hear you have an xplod amp...
 

Gold Member
Username: N2audio

Lawrence, Ks USA

Post Number: 1154
Registered: Mar-04
"My cap is helping me fine."

Helping what?
With that much power on that alt you're probably running at or near battery voltage most of the time. There won't be any dimming to see because the alt will never recover to 14v especially with the cap there to soak up the extra voltage on the rare occasion the alt can supply it.
 

Gold Member
Username: Carguy

Post Number: 5864
Registered: Nov-04
An important point: Prolonged use at battery voltage (12.5v), you risk shortening the battery's life by having it's voltage drop below 12v. You also increase the chance of getting stranded with a dead battery.
 

Gold Member
Username: Ctmike

Ct.

Post Number: 3157
Registered: Feb-06
but he has nothing to worry about, he has a 2.5 farad cap.:-)
 

Silver Member
Username: Qbenjamin

Florida

Post Number: 241
Registered: Nov-06
I have a display on my battery terminal and cap, that CONSISTENTLY reads 14.4-14.6v.......Before I had my cap, just running off the yellow top I got 13.6-13.8v CONSISTENTLY......But you right my cap isn't helping any.......
 

Silver Member
Username: Qbenjamin

Florida

Post Number: 242
Registered: Nov-06
Damn, do I really need to post pics for you to see that what I am saying is true? Don't doubt something that you don't know or aren't sure of.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Jeromebaker

Post Number: 56
Registered: Dec-05
I don't know about caps. I have a tsunami 1.5f, and a power acoustic 5 farad. Currently using the PA, All using a yellowtop on what I think is a 130 amp alternator
(05 taco).
My lights still dim, and parking my truck for a month actually drained the yellowtop completely,
I had to charge it back for a day.
The thing is constantly draining battery power, even when the truck and system are off.

My conclusion is that the cap uses more juice than it's worth. I have actually seen no difference where it needs it, the cap is drained after a single bass hit. I haven't pulled it yet because I don't want to have to pull up my seat and carpet to get new wire through and I don't want to tape 2 pieces up together.
Prolly I'll do the latter.

But I really have not been impressed with the caps that I own now. It's money that would have been better spent on either a HO alternator or a secoond battery.
 

Gold Member
Username: Carguy

Post Number: 5865
Registered: Nov-04
Maybe this might shed some light on the situation. You can have 5000w system with stock alternator and battery. It'll work fine as long as you stay within the stock's unit. As soon as you push it beyond that, is when you start having problems such as dimming lights, rough idling, voltage dropping below 12v, alternator dying etc.
If you don't believe me, try it. Run some test tones. The 14.4v you see on the cap will disappear in a heartbeat. Sometimes what you hear and what the test equipment measure are 2 different thing. A song could sound like 1500w, but when measured is only 800w. This is why you haer lot of people say/assume 2500w can be run with 75A alternator without any problem.
 

Gold Member
Username: N2audio

Lawrence, Ks USA

Post Number: 1155
Registered: Mar-04
So adding a cap magically BOOSTED your entire electrical system's voltage a 1/2V or more??

wow - that's a plain old miracle.

Unfortunately, that's just not how it happens.

What's this display on your battery terminal?

As for the display on your cap - I wouldn't trust that as far as I can throw it.

Take some DMM measurements to back up your claims then at least there will be something interesting to think about. But I will absolutely guarantee you that just adding the cap didn't change things the way you're claiming it did. It may appear that way - but there's another explanation.
 

Gold Member
Username: Juliob

Santo DomingoDominican Re...

Post Number: 4040
Registered: Dec-05
IDK why you guys bother to change quintin's mentality. Bro your liying, there's no way you can do that. I've seen systems with 80A alts and 800w f*cked up.

Charging system is the most important thing in car audio, before SQ of course lol!
 

New member
Username: Cgarza

Post Number: 3
Registered: Jan-07
I had a cap but didnt like it, most people it works fine. I bought a stinger red battery. I'm running three amps 1000 watts each,3 tvs & dvd player with no problems.
 

Gold Member
Username: Juliob

Santo DomingoDominican Re...

Post Number: 4043
Registered: Dec-05
^^^^ B.S flag too..
 

Gold Member
Username: Ctmike

Ct.

Post Number: 3192
Registered: Feb-06
you mean 1000w peak amps, right.
 

Gold Member
Username: Adddisorder

West palm, Florida

Post Number: 2947
Registered: Jan-06
yet another thread with noobs giving bad advice.

and yeah julio i couldnt even run 700rms on a 80a alt. it killed it. (guess i should have used a cap)
 

Silver Member
Username: Qbenjamin

Florida

Post Number: 245
Registered: Nov-06
for all you dumm!!assess that say it's not possible, as soon as I get another day off to take pics, I will do so with the CAP ON & OFF. For all you other cats throwin shots at jigga you only get half a bar Fvuck yall ni88as.

Juliob when you post pics of your install you can get on my level. For the idiot CTMIKE obviously your not very bright since I posted the amps up for you to see. I am probably wrong, the D5000 does 1000w peak.....
 

Silver Member
Username: Qbenjamin

Florida

Post Number: 246
Registered: Nov-06
CTMIKE yet another thread with noobs giving bad advice.

and yeah julio i couldnt even run 700rms on a 80a alt. it killed it. (guess i should have used a cap)

You probably have a piece of shiat car, because I had the 1200D running at 1 ohm with 1 of my H2's and I didn't even have the yellow top or the cap.......Still no dimming whatsoever.
 

Gold Member
Username: Ctmike

Ct.

Post Number: 3198
Registered: Feb-06
ummm, when did i say "yet another thread with noobs giving bad advice"? read again retard. calling someone a fuc_king retard when you can't even read yourself, shows how smart you are.

and when i said the amp does 1000w peak, it wasn't for you, it was the person saying thier running 3 1000w amps since majority of the time when new people here write it that way they mean peak and not rms since they don't normally know better. god, you are a stupid motherfuc_ker huh? please leave the forum since you really aren't that bright yourself but seem to try to call out other members that have been here longer and simply try to help others. no one said it's completely impossible, just really stupid to do. the only people i know that would even suggest running that much power on a stock alt. of 105a. is a dumb bb or cc installer, and of course you.
 

Gold Member
Username: Ctmike

Ct.

Post Number: 3199
Registered: Feb-06
ohh, could you please tell me where you got that great cap.? i was going to upgrade my charging system for my next setup, but if they work so well i might just get a few of those instead.

screw an upgraded charging system, caps. ftmfw!!
 

Silver Member
Username: Rob932

Post Number: 110
Registered: Feb-05
i had a pcx1500, 1000watts rms and it was dimming my lights and like an idiot i got a cap(this was several years ago before i knew anything)and my battery still died and my car wasnt a piece 2002 monte ss. I got a new alt and no prob.
 

Silver Member
Username: Qbenjamin

Florida

Post Number: 247
Registered: Nov-06
well, sux to be you. No upgaded alt needed for my application!!!
 

Silver Member
Username: Rob932

Post Number: 111
Registered: Feb-05
and caps are generally used to smooth out ripples or voltage drops from a change in the load. It could not add voltage as was said before if the voltage goes up w/ a cap it means your battery and alt are already struggling to keep a constant voltage. so as was said before caps tend to hide the problem and in the long term your battery still may die w/ heavy use.
 

Gold Member
Username: Carguy

Post Number: 5902
Registered: Nov-04
As Sherlock used to say it's elementary. If you know and UNDERSTAND how electronic components work/behave, then it's impossible to make such assumptions. I won't point out the person making the mistake but it's not that hard to figure out either.
 

Gold Member
Username: Juliob

Santo DomingoDominican Re...

Post Number: 4045
Registered: Dec-05
quitin is not so smart. I posted pics already lol!

Ctmike knows about car audio, you can't argue with some1 who knows the deal. Try fooling some newbies is not wise. If you don't know about one subject, then don't post cr4ppy info.
 

Silver Member
Username: Qbenjamin

Florida

Post Number: 248
Registered: Nov-06
Don't post crappy info? Have you ever even installed your own amplifier let alone a radio? When you actually start installing your own products, then you can talk about somebody not knowing something.

As for evryone else, I got so pissed at replying to the comments that I noticed I didn't explain that before I had the cap and only the upgraded battery (Yellow Top), the alternator would only charge back up to 13.6-13.8v, after I got the cap it would charge back up to 14.4-14.6v, so to say that the cap isn't doing anything, then that is certainly not true. If your only running 800w RMS off of a stock charging system and your battery and alt goes, then you initially have a problem else where. I have plenty of buddies that run setups in that range, and they don't have any electrical upgrades. But of course like you claim, that's not possible, but they have been doing it for YEARS........
 

Silver Member
Username: Nickb4247

Post Number: 117
Registered: Dec-06
^^^^^^^^^^^^^RETARD^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Its simple math.
Current X Voltage = Wattage
105amps(ur stock alts max output) X 14volts(your systems voltage when engine is running as dictated by your electrical systems rectifier) = 1470 watts. Thats running at the limits of your electrical systems output capability. Now, lets consider amplifier inefficiencies.
Class A/B - 65%(varies)
Class D - 80%(varies)
With a class A/B amp your electrical system will only allow around 950 watts of output, any more and the amp will begin clipping.
With a class D amp your electrical system will only allow around 1150 watts of output, any more and the amp will begin clipping.
And the above example takes no other electrical devices in your car that run off your alt into consideration. This is assuming all 105 amps are available to your amp. Which is not true. Your prob only have 80 amps at the most still available to your amp.
I disagree with some of the statements above that caps are useless. Caps are generally used to smooth out ripples or voltage drops from a change in the load. They compensate for the capacitance of the wire used to power the amp. They should only be implemented if your electrical system is already adequate. If not, they simply drain more power by putting a larger load on your electrical system as they attempt to charge off what little current is left.
Stop being hardheaded. Listen to what we have to say.
"Don't post crappy info? Have you ever even installed your own amplifier let alone a radio? When you actually start installing your own products, then you can talk about somebody not knowing something."
^^^Most of the "old timers" on this forum have installed all their equipment by themselves. Amps and HU's are like kindergarder for use. Try designing your own high-output ported enclosure or T-line. Try setting up and tunning a 4-way active crossover network.
In the end, you are about as educated in this field as a kid thumpin down the block with a pair of duals.
STFU
 

Gold Member
Username: Juliob

Santo DomingoDominican Re...

Post Number: 4048
Registered: Dec-05
there you go quintin. You're the only person who thinks MA audio is awesome, you're the only one who runs 3k rms with a stock alt. Shall i continue?

Bro you're just retard, just because you learned how to connect a HU doesn't means you know more than we do. STFU and start reading useful info.

Again, stop posting cr4ppy info.

Nice one nick.
 

Gold Member
Username: Adddisorder

West palm, Florida

Post Number: 2952
Registered: Jan-06
hahaha this has gotten funnier.

Q - learn some basic electrical knowledge and learn how charging systems work (as well as caps). then pull your head out of your a s s and come back to this thread.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Jeromebaker

Post Number: 57
Registered: Dec-05
Come on now, where does MA Audio even come into play here?
 

Silver Member
Username: Qbenjamin

Florida

Post Number: 252
Registered: Nov-06
LOL, I praised MA audio? I bought that amp as a last resort moron. As some who praises LANZAR and cionsistently runs thier newer stuff, your set up if far from GREAT! So you can STFU.

AND NICK before you add you 2 cents, find out more moron. Setting up a crossover is as easy as tuning and listening for clarity.....Designing and tuning a box is as easy as typing in some number of L x W x D into some forum......You are acting as if that takes rocket science.
 

Silver Member
Username: Nickb4247

Post Number: 121
Registered: Dec-06
He is far from help.
 

Silver Member
Username: 2pacalypse1971

Sandusky, Oh

Post Number: 229
Registered: Jul-05
i think my topic's question was answered in the second post, Thanks! for the answer and teh entertainment
 

Gold Member
Username: Carguy

Post Number: 5910
Registered: Nov-04
Honda civics come with 75A alternator, not 105A.
 

Silver Member
Username: 2pacalypse1971

Sandusky, Oh

Post Number: 230
Registered: Jul-05
yeah to be honest wiht ya, he just found out that it was a 75 amp alternator, and the thing is, his light dim just slightly, so 160 will be a big step up...
« Previous Thread Next Thread »



Main Forums

Today's Posts

Forum Help

Follow Us