I think i need a higher amp alternator...any recommendations? i have no clue where to look, and my stereo is going to want atleast 120-150 amps alone...

 

I use a Powermaster 150 amp. It has warranty also. Paid less than 200.00 from one of the big racing mail order companies

 

i dont know if that one is gonna give enough juice...it most likely would last longer than another stocker but my system draws a decent amount of juice over long periods of time (road trips)...i'll keep it in mind though since the price isnt bad...

 

All I have to say is don't go with a company who's motto is something amperage up yours. (Don't believe I can post the company due to them not being a sponser)

Horrible customer service, every alternator shipped to me was thrashed in shipping, and in the end he ripped me off of a core charge.

 

well that helps alot thanks, i'll steer clear of them...lol

 

what kind of stereo set-up you going to install.

 

I guess your talking about Nathan from excessive amperage. To hear that is quite suprising since i've dealt with him twice and he always bent over backwards to help me, and shipped the alternator in a week (time to build it and ship). Everyone that bought an alt. from him that i know of from this board and from fbodyaudio.com have nothing but good things to say about their experiences. i'm not saying you didn't have one, just that it is quite unusual. I also didn't know he did core charges. I have never heard of anyone sending him their stock alt. For me it was just buying the alternator. To the original poster, I recommend excessive amperage, as their product was quite superior to other alt's i've seen- and the service was good as well.

 

The core charge was due to the fact "his" alternator was faulty. He told me he'd ship me a new one which was better than the first and refund me $70 after recieving the old one back. I told him about the alternator being damaged when I recieved the new one and that I was going to swap the plastic cases and send the damged ones back. All 3 alternators I recieved from Nate were damaged and the packaging was horrible. I shipped the old core back in the same type of packaging he used. I get an email back saying it was damaged, blah blah blah. I explained to him again what the deal was and he said he was going to refund me anyways. Never saw it. Emailed him numerous times after that. No reply or refund. Alternator is still working fine except for my check guages light comes on every once in awhile when getting on it BUT he sent me 3 alternators that were damaged due to horrible packaging, accused me of packaging the core return poorly and stated parts were broken on it (remember this is a core return which I told him already had 1 broken part on it), then stated he'd refund me the $70, never did so, and then never returned any of my emails. He seemed to want to help but in the end blew me off. Hope he doesn't rely too much on the internet for business. I don't care too much about being ripped off.

 

i got atleast 120A of stereo equipment in my car...two 400rms amps that are fused at 60A each...i'd like a little room to grow as well...so i was hoping for something more like a 240A alternator or higher...

 

Go to a local place that rebuilds alternators. I had my alternator rebuilt to put out in excess of 190amps for about $135.00. He basically added 3 times the windings and upgraded the diodes and rectifiers.

-B

 

unless you are playing sinewaves at full tilt all day, you will not need that much alternator. If you go by fuse ratings, I have 350A of gear running off the stock alternator with no issues.

 

Assuming the idle output is good, it doesn't hurt anything. Plus it helps keep the voltage from dipping on those big bass notes.

Mike, your not the average guy. That may be why your fine on the stock alternator.

 

no, it only hurts the wallet. It's like buying a stage 3 race clutch to handle the extra power from your headers and cat-back.

 

What kind of poor example is that?

How about buying a Trans AM just to go to Church on Sundays. It may not be economical, but it gets the job done.

 

Now that I think about it, a stage 3 doesn't sound too bad for my stock engine. The Z06 clutch is way too soft for me plus it will help with getting the car sideways (drifting).

 

I don't think that the powermater alternators are very good for car audio I've heard they don't make much amps at low rpms. Might want to check on that before you buy one.

 

isnt the general rule that the higher you go on amps the less the alt will make at say, 900rpm?

i got a 200amp from nathan. i have to admit it was shipped like crap. a single layer box with just loose packing peanuts which let it end up breaking a chunk out of the little plastic vent on the back. but other than that i've had no problems with it, lol.
(well, i did end up having to pick out some packing peanuts from inside the alt....)

i didnt want to go thru the hassle of sending it back so i went ahead and put it in. nathan did offer to swap it, but i really wanted to get the stereo done. its been good for around 2 years now with about 30k miles on it.

anyway back to idle output. at idle (900ish) at night with the lights on and playing real low stuff i cant max it without dimming, but right off idle it pops right up. stays rock solid at idle during the daytime unless i have 36mafia playin or something... (btw, i'm not a boomhead, i listen to ac/dc, rush, or sound of urchin 95% of the time, and it doesnt dim near as bad at night playin rock)

wait, whats this post about again?...

 

i got a 150amp powermaster and at idle (around 500ish rpms...seems really low) my volts are around 13, as soon as start going forward the volts jup back up to 14 and stay their, also if cars in park or neutral the volts do not drop...when i first put the powermaster on i upgraded the alt to battery cable to 2gauge, and i was at around 12volts at idle, i wired the alt to the chassis with 6gauge cable and im now at 13 volts at idle, im wondering what will happen if i upgrade the negative battery cable to chassis with 4gauge?? hopefully a lil more increase in volts, however in my experience, even with the volts dropping to 12, i had no problems what so ever with lights dimming, def a huge improvement over the stock alt.

*edit* bought a new belt, a gatorback, and now even with the stereo up and heat on full, and headlights, im back up to 14volts at idle, would the belt really help out at all? strange to think that replacing the belt would give me +1volt at idle???? weird how something small seems to have a huge impact sometimes

 

so what are the recommendations then? i tested my charging system at work, sure enough its at 12.5v running with no accessories on. no high current drain, battery surprisingly is still fine even though i had to jump the car a week ago...

 

No, that's not necessarily the case with modern alternators. Back in the day the typical rewould alternator would sacrifice low rpm amperage for more above idle amperage. Things are different now. Alternators can be made to put out big power at low RPMs while still putting out even more at higher RPMs. That's why you need to know both specs. They can also be set to run at a certain voltage, say 14.6 or so. Some even have remote mount voltage regulator adjustors to control the voltage from the drivers seat.

On the other hand, others can put out big power at higher rpms and be less than stock at idle. I think the factory alternators on the LS1's put out around 35amps at idle if I remember correctly. The Alterstarts 235A unit puts out 120 amps at 800rpm. That's a huge improvement.

I think Nathans alternators kick in at 900rpm if I remember right.

I have a 6 spd car but I don't remember what the idle speed is, but I know that it can be increased simply through the computer. So if I need to set it at 800 or 900, I could. I could probably set it on the butterfly as well as I remember a set screw there.

Here's a thread with some different options.
http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/po...13-post10.html