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? About clamping alt


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A friend of mine doesn't think his alternator is putting out what he should. He has a mechman s series 240a alt a northstar under the hood, a northstar 480 in center console, and 2 xs d7500's in the trunk and running a sq4500 on 2 hdc3 18's and 3 q90.4's. He is still dropping in the low 12's when playing music full tilt.

I went to clamp his alternator to see if it was putting out as many amps as it should, but he has 2 runs of power wire coming from his alternator. My question is, when clamping, do I clamp both wires, or just one?

When clamping one I got around 82a, and both I got a little over 160a. But to me, 160 still seems low for a 240a s series mechman. Any input would be great.

Here's a pic for reference. He went pretty overkill on electrical but still having low voltage issues somehow.

770716E3-4AFA-46B5-9FD0-08877A5BA027.jpg

Fi Team 18's (4)
Crossfire 16k
Crossfire 400.4 & 800.4
Pioneer AVH-X491bhs
140ah cmax
CES 320's (2)

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Alright. Then when he played a tone, he dropped to 12.4 and alt was clamping 160ish amps. Does that seem low for a 240a s series mechman? He was also revving to 2k rpm.

It just seems like his voltage is dropping more than it should. I have pretty much same amp, less battery Reserve, and a 240a g series mechman and I've never even went below 13.7v full tilt.

Fi Team 18's (4)
Crossfire 16k
Crossfire 400.4 & 800.4
Pioneer AVH-X491bhs
140ah cmax
CES 320's (2)

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Alright. Then when he played a tone, he dropped to 12.4 and alt was clamping 160ish amps. Does that seem low for a 240a s series mechman? He was also revving to 2k rpm.

It just seems like his voltage is dropping more than it should. I have pretty much same amp, less battery Reserve, and a 240a g series mechman and I've never even went below 13.7v full tilt.

Seems low. Yes. For reving, yes. See if he revs more if it can do over 200 hot. 200 hot would seem OK i guess. But, yes, to me. Low. What is the difference between the A and G series ?

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I'm not too sure on the difference. I know the s series is used for higher rpm applications like racing. But still thinking at 2k rpm it should be putting out at least 200. On mechman website it says "offers the best balance between peak output, and output at engine idle RPM."

And especially with almost 600 ah of battery reserve, low 12's seems low for just a single q4500 and 3 q90.4's

Fi Team 18's (4)
Crossfire 16k
Crossfire 400.4 & 800.4
Pioneer AVH-X491bhs
140ah cmax
CES 320's (2)

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Naw... i feel ya.

If you where doing 170 or whatever, but voltage was staying "higher" id just say your not making enough demand. But, dropping that low, and not seeing a larger amperage number is a bit odd, im with ya. No idea what mechman stuff is. But, seeing 11's or whatever, id think the amperage would be up there. Around rated at least. Dunno man. How old is the alt? All that good shit?

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Alt is only a little more than a year old, but he's not the original owner. And he's not sure on the pulley diameter, but he knows it's smaller than stock. Had to get .8" smaller belt

Fi Team 18's (4)
Crossfire 16k
Crossfire 400.4 & 800.4
Pioneer AVH-X491bhs
140ah cmax
CES 320's (2)

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