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Quality alt doesn't exist? Anyone have suggestions?


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Okay, brand new here.

Quick questions for someone with vastly more experience than I have;

I'm trying to hunt down an HO alty for my 2011 Nissan Sentra. It's the base 2.0L I4. The problem I'm running into is that the only place I seem to be able to find an HO alt that even FITS is through powerbastards (no good reviews that I can find) or through BNR (same issue). I found one place out in CA that had one with guaranteed direct fitment and 300/320A output, but they wanted $800 for it.

Can anyone point me in the right direction of a HO alt that's NOT almost double my mortgage payment that can get me to the 200A mark without getting too far into custom brackets, etc? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Some additional details:

Running a Memphis Audio 16-SRX750D.1

Also running (1) Kicker 44VL7S122

Amp gain is dialed back pretty far (50%) and still getting voltage drops at night when listening at a normal (high) volume.

This car also has a CVT trans, which I've noticed seems to want to 'hang' in first while the sound system is engaged so I'm wondering if my current draw is throwing the shift point somehow.

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Am I missing something here?

DC Power is the company that wanted $800 for the direct fit alternator. That's way too much for a car that's going to be retired in 2 years.

 

On the grounding issue, I'm QUITE certain that all of the grounds are SOLID. The issue here, is that the factory alt is only generating right at the 100A mark. There's not enough CURRENT to go around. Yes, I suppose I could add an additional battery and/or replace my existing battery, but it seems to me that the alt would be the best bet. I need more current to supply all of the components in the car PLUS the sound system (if my math is right, I need close to 80-100A available current for the sound system alone, not to share 100A across the system and all of the car's factory electrical)

Also, when at or close to peak, with this sub and this amp, it's already a stressing factor for the factory 3. Just seems to me that doing the big 3 upgrade and increasing current would be the most sustainable method of powering everything.

 

Not trying to step on toes, since I came here to ask for help. Just, your post doesn't make sense to me. Could you explain a little better?

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Like he said, you need to upgrade the battery. You need more reserve power for your stereo. It's not a constant load and the alternator only provides power when asked for it. By the time it is asked for more power the beat is gone. The battery will be able to buffer that. 

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Okay, not all of my tunes are constant drops, so I could see the battery offsetting the load there, but on some tracks, it's hammering about 90% of the time (these are, of course, my favorite jams) and seeing the voltage drop issues (light dimming, etc.) almost constantly. That being said, even going the route of a secondary battery, will the 100A alt be able to compensate for, and recharge both batteries? My daily drive is about 2-3 hours, and just trying to do what makes the most sense.

If the alt isn't the way to go, would someone kindly suggest a battery setup that would be best in this scenario?

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high output alternator really is for after you have done a few things.

1) big three upgrade - atleast 1/0 size wiring. This will help allow grounds in the rear of your vehicle to reach to front with less resistance, among other things

2) upgraded front battery to either AGM or a quality lead acid

3) possibly a rear reserve battery

 

I ran my stock alternator on a civic which was about the same as yours for a rockford 750 prime with no voltage issues. I had a front AGM and no rear. I upgraded to big three sometime between that and my upgrade to 2k.

 

What battery do you have in your car now? Your amp is pulling less than 70 amps and is running at 2 ohms (more efficient than 1 ohm) so you should have no issues with voltage unless your alternator itself is a lemon. 

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Well, I was going to skip the battery step altogether, and do the alt upgrade and big 3 at the same time with the mindset that big 3 would reduce ground resistance, and allow for the higher current without issues, and with the higher output, the battery wouldn't necessarily *NEED* to be changed or added since the alt would be supplying more than enough current that even with rapid successive drops, nothing would be deprived of all the power it wanted. See my thoughts here? I have no plans to go above the 1kRMS mark in this vehicle so no need to 'future-proof for upgrades'

However, I can see that making a change to AGM up front would probably facilitate better power transfer through the entirety of that charging system.

Current battery is lead-acid. Nothing fancy.

 

 

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6 minutes ago, Jake_The_White said:

Well, I was going to skip the battery step altogether, and do the alt upgrade and big 3 at the same time with the mindset that big 3 would reduce ground resistance, and allow for the higher current without issues, and with the higher output, the battery wouldn't necessarily *NEED* to be changed or added since the alt would be supplying more than enough current that even with rapid successive drops, nothing would be deprived of all the power it wanted. See my thoughts here? I have no plans to go above the 1kRMS mark in this vehicle so no need to 'future-proof for upgrades'

However, I can see that making a change to AGM up front would probably facilitate better power transfer through the entirety of that charging system.

Current battery is lead-acid. Nothing fancy.

 

 

Yeah High output alternator for a system under 1k rms is a waste of money honestly.

 

First things first, grab your self a meter and check your alternators output before buying any batteries. This video could help you diagnose any issues with the alternator.

 

If your alt looks good then throw a XS power, northstar, hell even a yellow top if you want in it. I just checked XS power's website and it didn't find a direct replacement but you might be able to use another one of their batteries with a smaller or slightly larger size with some modifications.

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