Just a heads up for anyone considering a purchase of a HO alt...
Had 2 12's hooked up to the back of my car with 1200W amp providing power for them. My Toyota Camry's little 90A alternator was not going to be able to supply enough for for my subs, which I could tell right after I had them installed: Lights would dim during bass hits, etc... the usualy symptoms that would require one to upgrade the alternator. So I want to execessive amperage and had a 180A made and sent for $300. I had it installed and hooked up and everything seemed to be working... for awhile.
Lights would only dim slightly when bass would hit. Many people said the subs would get louder using more efficient and cleaner power with a HO alt and I do not find this to be the case. I didn't notice any increase in loudness, with the exception being I was able to turn the volume up on my HU more without the lights getting really dim. My windshield wipers would wipe slower, my power windows would work slowly, and the overall dim of my dashboard and interior lights would be dimmer at a lower RPM until i stepped them gas to shoot the RPMs above 1500 and then everything would look normal. The culprit to the problem was that the battery was taking a beating [big 3 was upgraded to 1/0 professionally].
Over time, whether i was sitting at a red light or idling going through a drive thru, the RPMs were not enough to cause the alternator to spin to give out sufficient power to whatever the car needed. Because of this most of the work was placed on the battery. My car battery died about 4-5 times over the course of 6 months because of this. It was taken to a mechanic twice. The first time they upgraded the wiring that was attached to the battery. Somewhere along the way a short happened that caused wires in my wiring harness to crap out which in turn led a fuse that continually blew whenever the car was in drive. This rendered my car useless until I could get it fixed. This fix cost me over $600, with the mechanic pointing out that the alternator played a role in this. When a wire shorted out because of the alternator's constant on/off from RPM idling, it blew itself out of comission and is no longer working. I took it to a shop that tested the charge of the alternator and they said they couldn't even get it to work and register anything. I was trying to power my system with faulty equipment. This again led to my car dying because it was running solely on the battery alone. Tired of the BS, I replaced my $300 upgrade with the original 90A alternator and I haven't had ANY problems since.
I wasted $300 for something that didn't do what it said it was going to, and in the long run it caused me more problems which involved me spending more money.
I'm glad I got my car working but now I can't get my subs to work like they used to... LOL... oh irony.
Anyway make sure to get your equipment tested to ensure its working properly. I wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else.}
That's a shame your HO alternator didn't work. BTW, who did the install? I did mine myself and after few problems, managed to get it working. No troubles anymore. Whenever you do a major upgrade like that, it's always a good idea to monitor your car's voltage for few days. Better yet, run several tests. Have you talked to Nate? Maybe he can fix your alternator.
i also had a problem when i fisrt had my HO alt after a few minutes the stator (coiling) burnt up. i got it rebuilt and it runs great now.
part of your problem or probly the entire thing is because you were pulling a large load at idle and your alt couldnt give out power becasue your car has a low idle. also your battery was probly "stock" so it couldnt supply enough current dipping below 12v damaging the batter and the alt.
i have always siad i wouldnt not trust EA alts or reccommend them due to things like this seeming to pop up every month. iraggi can custom make you an over drive pully that will let your alt put out more power at idle for 60$ish
I have an EA 200a alt and seems to work fine. As I would love to do that, as even at 2k RPMs my lights will dim and my cd player displays current volts and they drop below 12v, the battery is a cheaper version of a Optima Red, with higher stats and a 5 year unconditional warranty..but I do have just over 2krms hooked up
when you guys buy a ho alt, always as what it is suppose to do at idle. that is the most important. when you intall a ho alt you should check the voltage with your system on. if your voltage drops then you should return it right away so whoever made it can fix it.
as soon as i got my alt from dom at iraggi, he told me to check the voltage at the battery under the hood and check the voltage where my amps are. he told me as long as its over 14v then i am fine. til this day i haven't had a single problem with my ho alt (knock on wood).
Had the same problem with EA here. My car died several times too. I got it tested to see how many amps it put out and it was only 35-40 amps (supposed to be 160a) at 2000 RPM!! Shame =( I'm going iraggi for my new car.
True that. When I get my Pilot I'll probably be looking elsewhere if I decide to tack on a HO alt to that vehicle (if its deemed necessary). Iraggi +1 FTW.