I contacted DC Power and got a response to my question about an alt for my car. There are 4 different models they have for my car from a 175 amp alt up to a 260 amp alt. My question is, how much power can I run off of a given alt? For example, if I had the 175 amp alt how much RMS power could I expect to run off of the alt safely vs a 260 amp alt. I feel I do not have any current problems with my stock alt that I am aware of. I maintain 13.8 volts even at high volumes and my lights do not dim. However, my alt is stock, and original so it is getting old and of course was not very powerful in the first place. It's a stock alt on a 2000 celica. As of now I'm running a fosgate 4 channel P4004 and a JL 500/1. I may or may not upgrade the sub amp in the future. If I did change my setup, the highest in RMS I would go would probably be 2000 RMS. So I guess I'd like an alt that will do good for now, but also give me room for upgrades in the future, if I ever did choose to. Also does upgrading your alt help you to maintain a 14.4 volt current? As most amps at rated doing their total rms on 14.4 volts. How do people get a 15+ voltage and maintain it?
Get the largest one, do it right the first time and you've got room to upgrade. If you're gonna spend the high cost of an HO alternator get the best one.
When looking at H.O. Alts, The idle amperage rating is the more important rating to look at. You will not likely ever see the actual "Max rating "power from the alt. The voltage regulator used will determine what voltage your alt will charge to. My DC Power alt keeps my batts at anywhere from 15.5- 14.7. And running my RD5750 @ 4 ohm, I can't make the voltage drop below 14v. But I have a decent battery bank.
I'm thinking I'm going to go with the 190 amp Denso alt option. The 2 other options with more power are GM conversion kits. I'm thinking of upgrading my current sub amp from a 500/1 to the 750/1 or 1000/1. Would I notice much difference with the 750 or should I just go for the 1000? I want a little extra bump than I currently have now, but I don't want it to become over powering to the point of it being too loud. The 500 does well, so I'm thinking twice the power = twice the loudness, is this true? Also, are the wires pretty easy to hook-up to after market alts? I'm thinking I'll use 0 guage to run the big-3.
He said the most he will ever upgrade to is 2000 watts rms. This is why the 175-200amp alt would be his best option. With a good AMG deep cycle he should have no problem running 2k rms.
Listen to M.S do it right the first time! I know you say now that the most you will ever run is 2000rms but you never know what the future might bring. Also if you ever decide to run more accessories you will have plenty of head room. I don't thing you need an extra batt just upgrade the big 3, get a good strong batt with a good amount of cca's. I preffer megatron but thats just me. good luck!
The Denso 190 alt does 130 amps at idle. The largest 260 alt does 140 amps at idle. The 190 also runs at 14.6 volts vs the 14.8 of the 260. The difference between the 2 are $100 so it isn't much more to upgrade to the largest choice. I don't ver plan on running over 2k rms though, so I'll more than likely go with the 190.
As I had mentioned in a post further up on this one, I am thinking about upgrading the amp to my 12 w7. If I was looking for a solid amp to run 750-1000 rms at a 3 ohm load, what amp would you say go with? I'm sure for the price range a JL 750/1 or 1000/1 would run me I have a few other options.
The larger alternator is obviously the better choice, but for the power you plan on running you wont see much of a difference for daily listening. Now if you compare what you would get power wise while revving things, that's a different story.
I'd go with the larger alternator if money isn't an issue, but with a good battery chances are you'll be good even with 2000 watts.
2x the power does not mean 2x as loud, but it should give you a nice boost in output (on paper 3 db, though that is not guaranteed.)
So I looked at the manual for the 500/1 and I believe it showed me how to strap two 500's together. Pretty much you make one the master, the other the slave, by turning certain features off on the slave. My question is, would you run speaker wire from each amp to the woofer terminals? Or is there some special way of running them? I have no experience in this area.