blowing an alternator

Justin from Detroit1 · Sat Dec 24, 2005 5:00 pm

No, caps are an additional strain on the alternator, and actually do more damage then good.

smoker · Post by **smoker** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 7:28 pm

Mithrandir wrote:do you have the gain high? when i had my gain real high on 300 watts my lights dimmed bad.

btw why do i have a porno picture under the smilies list?

porno? huh?

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 8:32 pm

porn? Where?

veggie-man · Post by **veggie-man** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 9:25 pm

now if i have a 400 rms system on my 80 amp alt. do you think i could get by if i just turn off the AC, unplug my radar, dim my int. lights , and dont use my highbeams i could get by without getting a better alt.? do you think if my lights dim when it hits i should just turn it down then my alt. wont blow? or run the system in increments? would any of this allow me to get by without getting a HO alt.?

JeremyC · Post by **JeremyC** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 6:05 am

veggie-man wrote:now if i have a 400 rms system on my 80 amp alt. do you think i could get by if i just turn off the AC, unplug my radar, dim my int. lights , and dont use my highbeams i could get by without getting a better alt.? do you think if my lights dim when it hits i should just turn it down then my alt. wont blow? or run the system in increments? would any of this allow me to get by without getting a HO alt.?

Why not just turn it down some. You only pushing 400 watts RMS at full volume. So if you keep it down a bit, and only crank it once and a while you should be ok. That is till you have the money to replace the alt.

I know KIki knows the formula for the amperage usage at diffrent volumes. I beleive turning it down 10% will drop the amperage almost in half (if I remember correctly)

So for now, just keep it turned down, and save the cranking it for special ocasions.

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 7:26 am

I think you will be fine with 400 wrms.

I keep hearing alot about "ransient draw" affecting the total. How dynamic the music is and the actual maximum RMS is only attained for split seconds here and there....

Give it a try, should be ok I think.

I remember running 600 RMS on a stock 80 amp alt just needed a cap...

Jonathan · Post by **Jonathan** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 9:46 am

A lot of it will depend on the music you're listening to. Poorly recorded music (like Rap) will have limited dynamic range to make the music seem louder at all volumes. They do the same thing with TV commercials, that's why an infomercial will be louder than the TV show you were watching. Some CDs are recorded so poorly that they only have 3db dynamic range compared to the average output, but if your gains are correct that means that the average output is half the power of the peak output. 6db output means average output is 4x less. And so forth.

Anyway, just remember that 3db requires twice the power, 6db requires 4x the power, and so forth. A small change in volume makes a big difference in current draw.

Darthness · Post by **Darthness** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 10:10 am

i run around 300w total for my system... i have no problems and my alt is like 70-75amps. (would be around 400 if i had rear speakers), so 400 shouldn't be much more trouble.

William from NOLA · Post by **William from NOLA** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 10:13 am

Jonathan wrote:A lot of it will depend on the music you're listening to. Poorly recorded music (like Rap) will have limited dynamic range to make the music seem louder at all volumes. They do the same thing with TV commercials, that's why an infomercial will be louder than the TV show you were watching. Some CDs are recorded so poorly that they only have 3db dynamic range compared to the average output, but if your gains are correct that means that the average output is half the power of the peak output. 6db output means average output is 4x less. And so forth.

Anyway, just remember that 3db requires twice the power, 6db requires 4x the power, and so forth. A small change in volume makes a big difference in current draw.

You know, I've come to the conclusion that commercials are louder for one reason only: So that when you walk away from the TV, you will hear the commercial!

I can rant on about the recording techniques used in most rap songs, but I won't. It's really more the mentality of the artist rather than the actual studio doing the recording (but it can be the other way around too).

BASSic_designs · Post by **BASSic_designs** » Mon Dec 26, 2005 6:42 pm

sorry, i havn't posted in a long time, just letting u know that i have (2) 1,000 watt amps on a 120 amp alternator and i have no caps (don't beleive in them). i do however have two optima yellow batts (one feeding each amp, each amp feeding to subs) i can turn volume to near max (ouch) for bout 5-10 min, and have not noticed any lights dimming.....i do however dim my dash lights (becuz i like my pretty head-unit display) and drive with low beams on. like i said...never experienced any alt problems, had all four subs in for about three months now