Honestly? I mean, think about it. My system has a 125 stock alt. If 80% of it is being used for my cars electrical system - and I have a 600 watt amp, which prolly draws roughly 60 amps of power - i'd say its safe to assume I'm never even close to putting out 600 watts.
Anyone else think this is a big problem? I bet most people out there never push what they think they are pushing.
i know i have this problem.. my 1000 watt memphis amp has 120amp worth of fusing on it.. so it is capable of burp drawing 120 amp.. well my alt is only like 120ish.. soo yeah i knwo im not getting full potential..
not with a DMM (multimeter) but with a watt meter/power meter. i have had my amp benched with my 120 amp alt with 2 batts and big 3 done and my amp was putting out 1293 rms watts at 1 ohm. cant wait for the HO alt.
your amp puts out full power when the voltage peaks from your Head Unit. If you have a 4 volt pre outs and your amp is matched to 4.0 volts (where it should be) at approx 3/4 volume your amp will reach full power. Now if you are using a stock alt and have your headlights on and are at idle then yes voltage drop will play a huge factor and you will never reach full potential from your amps. just ask Dave (drivingreckless) he knows all about this lol.
A 600 watt amp should be fine on a 125 amp alt. Most vehicles only use about 60% of their alternator capacity at any given time, unless you have every single accessory in the car on.
The way to tell if you need a bigger alt is to watch your voltage. If it drops below 12 volts with the engine on, you alt is not supplying enough power. As a general rule though, a system up to 1000 watts will usually be ok on a stock alt. Any more than that definetly requires an HO alt.
A large case stock will handle worlds more abuse than a small case. Better internals.
Factoring the fact than an amps draw is not continuous, up to 1000w may work. Depends on the amps actual draw. *shrugs* Im betting at idle at full tilt a stock small case system will show the wear 75% of the time or better when watching it on a meter.
I've got a 70 amp alt, and about 1400 watts rms. It's obviously too small, but if my revs are up, like on the highway, with the stereo cranked, I haven't seen it drop below 14.0v on either amp. It usually sits at 14.1 or 14.2. Even at idle with the lights on and fan at full blast, it won't drop below 13. I'll get a bigger alt eventually though.
well one thing i was thinking about is how much GM vehicles wiht the driving lights that are on all the time.. i wonder how much those lights draw.. i know on most cars the difference between lights on and off is huge.. so my amp is probably never putting out full potential.
me? I have an infinity ref 600a or whatever it called. Honestly it is pretty solid if I say so myself. Set if infinity kappa perf comps driven by a candence 2chan, around 100 watts to each.
Amp's can borrow some current from your battery, it's not constantly pulling the amount of amps it is fused for...Well maybe I your clipping the shiz out of it or playing test tones..
yeah justin but when you have a high current demand that your alt cant keep up with your battery wont be able to keep up for long either, and it wont be getting recharged at all.
ive got a 100 amp alt and a kicker kx that is rated on the birthsheet as 1470 so i know im not getting full potential because of the alt, i do have a cap (i know it doenst do much but i bought before i knew anything about car audio) but its got a digital meter on it and it never usually goes under 12 while im driving so does that mean i am getting full power from my amp
It will recharge when you turn your stereo off lol, yea I did not mean that a bigger battery is the solution, but for short bursts it can help provide the necessary power.
Hell I only have a 160 amp alt, and it produces no where near that while @ idle. My interior lights dim when my 350 watt subs hitts.... but my outside lights are all ok, and I don't see my voltage meter move either. The wires for mhy interior lights are probably very tiny and have alot of resistance where as the wires to my amps are all 0ga split to 4ga.
Next upgrade will be to replace the 4ga (actualy I think it's a little thicker) from alt to battery but it's no easy talk on my titan I guess or everyone would be doing it. High output alt for my truck is very expensive as well but it might be $500 well spent.
well that amp alone probly draws right around 120a plus your cars draw, plus the draw if you have another amp.
i run 1500rms with a 180a alt and kineik hc800 under the hood and all 1/0 wiring.
i get a little dimming due to my voltage dropping from 14 down to 13v on hard bass hits. which is no big deal.
the only thing you have to keep in mind is an alt only puts out around half its power at idle
so a 200a would be fine for you but if your happy with what you have right now i would hold off till your alt starts to go bad, or you could just take it easy on it and not buy a new one. because your amp isnt constantly putting out its max rms
thanks alot man this thread got me worried for a second that my alt is gonna die out on me and its a brand new truck i dont play it hard all the time, i was worried i was gonna have to buy a alt and not be able to get my rims soon ha
really i have no idea there are too many factors. just if you get dimming at lower volumes and stuff also look at the stator or the coiling in your alt to see if its burnt up thats a good indication its F'ed up
All i can say about this.... without a sufficient alternator that will hold 14.5V with your load on it, you wont get the full potential, even with the batterys and all. My theory is that when the Voltage is lower it has to pull more amps and more amps = more heat in alot bigger of a ratio then more voltage = heat. Just think of house power wires, not even 0gauge... and pass 110V and doesnt need to pass many amps, maybe around 80amps tops or so. so at best it would pass about 8800Watts RMS, now think of car audio 14.5V right? to get that power you need LOTS more amps(606A) to acheive it and that is LOTS AND LOTS of heat generated even in the 0gauge which is bigger then house electrical wires (this all depends on wire length as well) but passing that many more amps to keep up with the voltage drop isnt always possible because all the heat that it will generate so they have to regulate it somehow that it wont keep trying to peak performance on a lower voltage then it was designed to peak at which in return, more current = more heat = things frying so there is somthing in the amp regulating it is my thought.. but i may be wrong.. i never really looked into it but that should give some kind of general rule about power.... higher volttage = less amps but then higher voltage also becomes alot more dangerous to mess with..
Well that last post of yours wasn't very clear but oh well it's not my problem if you blow up your stuff so...besides, I think you've spent enough time on here to know better than that.
My alternator busted yesterday and the car went dead. It was stock though. Ford is replacing it for free as the car is still under warranty but i really need a HO alt. And i only got a Crossfire VR1000 and a dls 4 channel.
...seriously though.
