Big 3 upgrade: 4awg or 0awg
Dual alternator's FTW
If your system is drawing more than your alternators idle output then your slowly destroying the alternator. Then one day your at a stop light, theres some smoking chick in a car beside you, you throw in a cd expecting your bass to kick in but what happens is on that first bass note the whole car dies and she drives away laughing
OK maybe I wen a bit overboard on the story but you get the point.
Find out how many amps you system is drawing and make sure the alt. has an idle output equal or greater
If your system is drawing more than your alternators idle output then your slowly destroying the alternator. Then one day your at a stop light, theres some smoking chick in a car beside you, you throw in a cd expecting your bass to kick in but what happens is on that first bass note the whole car dies and she drives away laughing
OK maybe I wen a bit overboard on the story but you get the point.
Find out how many amps you system is drawing and make sure the alt. has an idle output equal or greater
Your stock alternator is 75A PEAK output. At idle, it's about, let's say 35A.
The high output alt you were quoted on, puts out the same power your stock can do at full power. Let's say 60A at idle, and 140A at full.
Most alternators put out about 50% of their peak power at idle, unless it's specifically designed to put out more, so it's not a real issue to worry about.
But with 500W, I don't think you have much to worry about just yet alternator wise, but do the wiring upgrade, and consider running a positive AND negative run from the battery to the amp, since my mecahnic buddy says most cars today are built cheap, and spot welds on cars today aren't designed to carry much current, and grounds can be pretty poor.
Also, go with the 0AWG, because there's always a chance you will get bored with your current power level, and will want to upgrade it later. Just look for good connectors, because 0 size can be tricky to work with.
Last edited by andrewsfm; Nov 3, 2008 at 10:46 PM.
50 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 70
Ahahaha that story fails. sorry.
It was a 1993 HB Civic running 2 RF Punch 15's off a Punch 200DSM
2 punch 8's and a set of Alpine 5.25 comp running off a 4 ch 400 watt Alpine (can't remember the model #)
The song was # 11 on Dr Dre The Chronic, the road wast Hastings, right where it turns into the Barnet Hwy.
It wasn't my car, I was a passenger and yeah it sucked (I still make fun of him to this day, over 10 years later)
But Fail, I don't think so
BTW- It was his 80 amp alt that gave out, it only lasted a year with his system and then went down the crapper, we got towed home.
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