Ipoksmote Posted April 1, 2020 Report Share Posted April 1, 2020 Soooo I just spent $450 on a 200amp iraggi h.o alternator and I still have a regular battery up front (and none in back).. So do I need a new battery to utilize my h.o alternator?? Battery : Super start CCA 725. Rc 120 System demands. 2k rms watts I dont know much about electrical. But I'm learning. Common sence tells me batteries can only put out so much at a given time...so even though my ALT can handle my system....my battery probably cant...am I right?? ---- I guess the root of my quandary is how does electricity flow in a vehicle. How does the power from the alternator get to my amplifier? Does it run to the battery, then THROUGH the battery, then to my amp. Ooooooorrrr does it run to the battery, but not go through it, and go to my amp? So if my battery cant put out the demands of my amplifier then it doesnt matter how big the alternator is? I'm so confused because they say when the car is running all the draw is coming from the alternator. Except my amp isnt connected to the alternator, its connected to the battery. Soooooo......I'm confused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1point21gigawatts Posted April 1, 2020 Report Share Posted April 1, 2020 A battery is just for reserve power mainly in most cases. The alternator is what feeds the amp when the cars on unless the amp is pulling more amps than the alternator is producing then power pulls from batteries. That alternator will rarely see 200 amps unless your rpms are all the way up which nobody does unless they are a race car driver or their transmission is messed up. And just because an amp or amps say they are delivering 2000 rms at 1 ohm doesn’t mean you will ever see that 2000 rms. After impedance rise, aka box rise, you will see way less because you will hardly ever see 1 ohm and it rises ohms as music plays. So with them factors you want to say that your amp(s) are pulling about 120 amps and less than 100 amps on regular music. if I had to guess and your other electronics in your car probably around 50 amps or 80 amps at max consumption. If it’s an suv then factory electronics pull about 60-80 amps to 120 or so max consumption. On idle I’m guessing that alternator feds our about 100 amps. So at about 2500 to 3000 rpms you will reach demand of just the system. If you are only running 4 gauge wire then all you are capable of pulling is 150 amps of current. If you are running 1/0 you can maximize your output. If your headlights and dash lights aren’t dimming on certain bass notes then you are good on current. Now that you have a high output alternator you need to upgrade your wiring to a big 3 or big 4 to keep your voltage up and charge your battery better and quicker even if you headlight aren’t dimming, still upgrade with a big 3 or big 4 to minimize voltage drop and your battery will be happier as well. If you head lights are dimming after the big 3 upgrade then get led headlights but if the headlights and dash lights are dimming on bass notes, which I doubt, then get a small secondary AGM battery. I honest don’t think you will ever need a secondary battery or better battery under your hood then what you have now for that amount of power. Your alternator should take care of you just fine. Just go with the big 3 upgrade. Because that will charge tour battery quicker so it can pick up the slack the alternator leaves behind concerning amperage. I was running about the same amount of rms on a stock 130 amp alternator and regular battery under hood with stock electrical and I was dimming on certain bass notes and I was fine. Just had to watch rest voltage on battery to know when to charge. You will be ok with that alternator and that battery just get a big 3 upgrade. “How can we help you?” “And don’t forget to tell them that the customer isn’t always right.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1point21gigawatts Posted April 1, 2020 Report Share Posted April 1, 2020 Since you edited and added another question, let me tell you a easy way to look at it. When your car is off your battery is reading around 12.6 volts and when your car is on your alternator is working now and the battery reads 14.4 volts or more. The battery is just there to basically start the car and then the alternator takes over. Your alternator is feeding the amp. The only time the battery feeds the amp is when the amp pulls more current than the alternator can produce so the amp pulls from the reserve power which is the battery. “How can we help you?” “And don’t forget to tell them that the customer isn’t always right.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1point21gigawatts Posted April 1, 2020 Report Share Posted April 1, 2020 You are good with what you have. Just get a big 3 upgrade and ride like a boss. “How can we help you?” “And don’t forget to tell them that the customer isn’t always right.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1point21gigawatts Posted April 1, 2020 Report Share Posted April 1, 2020 And on the big 3 run 1/0 gauge and I would run 1/0 to the amp too just in case you ever upgrade and with what you have now you won’t ever have to worry that your amp is t getting enough current. But you can get away with 4 gauge from battery to amp but make sure you do the big 3 with 1/0 gauge. “How can we help you?” “And don’t forget to tell them that the customer isn’t always right.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ipoksmote Posted April 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2020 DUDE I seriously appreciate the time you took replying to me. I'll come back to this and read it so many times probably. Completley cleared it all up for me, thank you! I've already got 1/0 all through my car, and I asked him twice about the output of the alt. And twice he said max output is at 1.3k rpm. I gotta read this again you cleared up so much for me, and probably for some other guys on this thread because I've found similar(ish) topics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ipoksmote Posted April 1, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2020 Something just clicked and it's off topic, but you said ohms changes and so does wattage. Sooo is this where a "constant power amplifier" is better then a "non constant power"? Basically a constant power amplifier will be producing a higher wattage throught the dynamics of a song? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1point21gigawatts Posted April 1, 2020 Report Share Posted April 1, 2020 constant power amps help with that issue because from 1 ohm to 2 ohms is a small difference and down to 4 ohms isn't a big difference either like a normal amp load change. On constant power amps the change in rms vs ohms is very slight from so that does help with box rise a lot. But the biggest constant power amp I know of is the Rockford fosgate t2500 and I wish they made a bigger one. 😕 “How can we help you?” “And don’t forget to tell them that the customer isn’t always right.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1point21gigawatts Posted April 1, 2020 Report Share Posted April 1, 2020 3 hours ago, Ipoksmote said: DUDE I seriously appreciate the time you took replying to me. I'll come back to this and read it so many times probably. Completley cleared it all up for me, thank you! I've already got 1/0 all through my car, and I asked him twice about the output of the alt. And twice he said max output is at 1.3k rpm. I gotta read this again you cleared up so much for me, and probably for some other guys on this thread because I've found similar(ish) topics You’re welcome dude. “How can we help you?” “And don’t forget to tell them that the customer isn’t always right.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1point21gigawatts Posted April 1, 2020 Report Share Posted April 1, 2020 3 hours ago, Ipoksmote said: Something just clicked and it's off topic, but you said ohms changes and so does wattage. Sooo is this where a "constant power amplifier" is better then a "non constant power"? Basically a constant power amplifier will be producing a higher wattage throught the dynamics of a song? What kind of amp are you running? When I told you I was running about the same rms I was running a constant power amp at 2 ohms. A Rockford t1500 bdcp. Awesome amp. Pulled a lot of current but grade A amp and I would recommend it highly. “How can we help you?” “And don’t forget to tell them that the customer isn’t always right.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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