maxduracell Posted March 16, 2005 Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 How much power can you run thorugh the stock alternator? my amp is only a 400 watt amp and is rated to 40 amps but its never pulled more than 30. Also ive been told that if i put a capacitor on the system that it will help prolong the life of my alternator. is this true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustPaus_88TSi Posted March 16, 2005 Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 You'll be fine with that amp on a stock alt.. A cap can be beneficial AND harmful to your system, depending on the condition of your wiring/connections etc.. Often, people use cap's as a bandaid to cover up "dimming", which is caused by bad wiring to begin with. Cap's smooth out the voltage that's drawn by the amp(s), by storing extra energy and releasing it when you abruptly draw a large amount of current(large bass hit, or continuous tone).. So the Cap sends extra juice to the amp when needed.. However, the alt is charging the Cap AND the battery in this instance.. Instead of just keeping the battery happy.. In SPL situations, Cap's have been proven to actually cause a voltage drop(not good=less voltage=less power.. low voltage can fry amps also).. Cap's were first designed and intended for SQ systems, not SPL.. So the cap would be placed on the mids/tweeters amp, for better clarity.. Prolong the life of the alt? That's not going to happen by placing additional strain on it, that's for sure.. I'd upgrade the wiring before I added a Cap.. Wiring: Battery-to-alt(fused for the gauge of wire) battery-to-ground Alt-to-ground etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burton Posted March 16, 2005 Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 Â Or buy one of Tim Cs 110 amp alternator and be done with it. Â I can have my system that draws 40-50 amps slammin', and run my neons, headlights and climate and can BARELY see a flicker of the lights when at a stoplight and a BIG bass note hits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxduracell Posted March 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2005 heh i looked into the alt conversion but for the moment i should be ok it seems. Plus i dont have neons and i never run the a/c so i dont have to worry about that. i dont car for light much any ways i took 3 of the 5 courtesy lights out of my truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts