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Do I even need a HO alternator?


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Hello all, newly registered but I have been lurking for a month. I got back into the car audio game again after a 12 year factory sound hiatus. I recently purchased 2 Skar SDR-12s in their loaded enclosure along with a Skar RP1500.1. The Big 3 has been completed using 1/0 AWG pure copper welding wire from Temco. I purchased a new starting battery, group 124R, regular wet cell since I wanted to have everything fresh. There is no direct replacement 124R AGMs. I did call XS Power & they recommend a model I will purchase in the future. I did purchase a D975 which I wired in the trunk as a second battery in parallel. All wires are 1/0 AWG pure copper welding wire. The amp has it’s own ground & the XS battery has its own ground both to bare metal.
 

The real question is that my car is a 2008 Hyundai Sonata, the factory alternator outputs 110 amps stock. I have had this system wired for at least 2 weeks. I have been monitoring the voltage on both batteries & both are fully charged at 12.8 for the stock battery & 12.9 on the XS battery, when the car is off. When the car is running both batteries see 14.4 volts at idle. I have been blasting the system every few days if I get to leave the house. I am working from home, so on trips for food or groceries. I am not seeing dimming lights, the stock alternator is keeping everything running & charged. The system has been setup using a DD1+ with 8dB of overlap. The pioneer deck was set up at max 40 volume with no distortion. When I ride around the highest I go is volume at 35 & it sounds amazing. So if the RP1500.1 is running at 1 ohm which equates to 1500/12.8V = 117 amps at full tilt or is that math wrong? I purchased a AC/DC amp/clamp meter last night from Amazon & paid to have it here today. I checked the amp draw from the alternator just now with the car running, radio & amp off & it read 5-9 amps. I turned on my headlights & it went to 11-15 amps. I turned on the A/C & it was 15-17 amps. I then turned off the lights & A/C, turned on the radio & system & played a bass song at volume 30 & the amp clamp read 11 amps, that’s weird or a good thing? I then moved the clamp to the rear battery & checked the draw going to the Skar amp off the XS battery & it also said only 9-11 amps. I’m lost. Where’s the 117 amps at according to the math? So I am assuming I do not need to get an HO alternator or am I reading it wrong? The amp clamp seems to work, I reset it before every reading, it’s a TrueRMS AC/DC meter.

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You do not need a high output alternator for that setup. After impedance rise, you are seeing nowhere near 1500rms. That 110 amp alternator and batteries with a big 3 upgrade is enough to sustain that amp and your vehicle, no problem, full tilt. No worries. You don’t need a high output alternator unless you get a bigger amp. 

:stupid:“How can we help you?”
:guido:
“And don’t forget to tell them that 
the customer isn’t always right.”

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16 hours ago, 1point21gigawatts said:

You do not need a high output alternator for that setup. After impedance rise, you are seeing nowhere near 1500rms. That 110 amp alternator and batteries with a big 3 upgrade is enough to sustain that amp and your vehicle, no problem, full tilt. No worries. You don’t need a high output alternator unless you get a bigger amp. 

Thanks for the quick reply. I will follow your recommendation. I think I am good as well.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So Being VERY new to this I am wondering if I real need a New High out put alternator as well...?

I have a 2018 Ford Edge 2.0 . The stock alternator is either a 175 amp or 200, this i know for sure.

The set up is a Audio control Dm 810 dsp, (2) 4 Chanel 100 watt Rock ford Fosgate amps. and (1) 500 watt sub woofer amp. So call it 1300 watts ROUND it up to 1500 watts to be safe.

It took quite a while to tune and learn the DSP,  it is amazing how great it sounds now even compared to a few high end stock sytems I have heard. I am for ever a DSP fan now.

The down side to all this is I never new about the bms BATTERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM these newer cars. It seems I have created a huge  problem for my self.

I am fore ever chasing the voltage at the alternator and the bms system kicking in. I figured I would just ad in larger alternator or maybe a 2nd battery going dc to dc set up with an on board charger.......? I gotten quite a bit of flak from folks out side the car audio arena telling me I should have just bout a vehicle with a high end audio system in it. Not too sure at this point which direction to go and there are not too many shops I would trust at this point unless i need a back up camera or dash cam, factory head unit etc. They are out of the game for the most part.

I would love to hear some of the expert opions on these newer vehicle installs.

I fear this is going to turn into a massive science project and would sure like to avoid the this cost and headache if at all possible.

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Yes. You need a HO alternator. Maybe two or three of them :) lol

No. You do not need any more batteries. Just get one of those $49 ones from Walmart. That will probably be fine :)

 

Generally speaking, of course ;)

 

Batteries are over rated. Just make enough juice to begin with, that you don't have to store shit ;)

 

 

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5 hours ago, Ampped up said:

So Being VERY new to this I am wondering if I real need a New High out put alternator as well...?

I have a 2018 Ford Edge 2.0 . The stock alternator is either a 175 amp or 200, this i know for sure.

The set up is a Audio control Dm 810 dsp, (2) 4 Chanel 100 watt Rock ford Fosgate amps. and (1) 500 watt sub woofer amp. So call it 1300 watts ROUND it up to 1500 watts to be safe.

It took quite a while to tune and learn the DSP,  it is amazing how great it sounds now even compared to a few high end stock sytems I have heard. I am for ever a DSP fan now.

The down side to all this is I never new about the bms BATTERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM these newer cars. It seems I have created a huge  problem for my self.

I am fore ever chasing the voltage at the alternator and the bms system kicking in. I figured I would just ad in larger alternator or maybe a 2nd battery going dc to dc set up with an on board charger.......? I gotten quite a bit of flak from folks out side the car audio arena telling me I should have just bout a vehicle with a high end audio system in it. Not too sure at this point which direction to go and there are not too many shops I would trust at this point unless i need a back up camera or dash cam, factory head unit etc. They are out of the game for the most part.

I would love to hear some of the expert opions on these newer vehicle installs.

I fear this is going to turn into a massive science project and would sure like to avoid the this cost and headache if at all possible.

Honestly, compared to the systems that guys on this forum, and myself have built, their really is "no such thing" as a car that comes with a "high end audio system".

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6 hours ago, Ampped up said:

So Being VERY new to this I am wondering if I real need a New High out put alternator as well...?

I have a 2018 Ford Edge 2.0 . The stock alternator is either a 175 amp or 200, this i know for sure.

The set up is a Audio control Dm 810 dsp, (2) 4 Chanel 100 watt Rock ford Fosgate amps. and (1) 500 watt sub woofer amp. So call it 1300 watts ROUND it up to 1500 watts to be safe.

It took quite a while to tune and learn the DSP,  it is amazing how great it sounds now even compared to a few high end stock sytems I have heard. I am for ever a DSP fan now.

The down side to all this is I never new about the bms BATTERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM these newer cars. It seems I have created a huge  problem for my self.

I am fore ever chasing the voltage at the alternator and the bms system kicking in. I figured I would just ad in larger alternator or maybe a 2nd battery going dc to dc set up with an on board charger.......? I gotten quite a bit of flak from folks out side the car audio arena telling me I should have just bout a vehicle with a high end audio system in it. Not too sure at this point which direction to go and there are not too many shops I would trust at this point unless i need a back up camera or dash cam, factory head unit etc. They are out of the game for the most part.

I would love to hear some of the expert opions on these newer vehicle installs.

I fear this is going to turn into a massive science project and would sure like to avoid the this cost and headache if at all possible.

You don’t need a bigger alternator or a 2nd battery. I know that. But bypassing a battery monitor system on a newer vehicle is something maybe one of these guys on here that have a newer vehicle knows because I’ve never owned a newer vehicle. Lol! But I know for sure on that amount of current draw on them amps, you don’t need another battery or a bigger alternator. The factory alternator and a regular battery is more than enough for that set up. 

:stupid:“How can we help you?”
:guido:
“And don’t forget to tell them that 
the customer isn’t always right.”

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I am a little confused. He wrote “2” 4 channel Rockford amps at 100 watts each & “1” 500 watt sub amp. How does that become 1300-1500 watts? 700 watts in my head, correct? Did I miss something?

 

I did a quick search on Autozone for his alternator on an assumed 2018 Ford Escape SE 2wd & there are a couple choices of 150-175 amp alternators. At 700 watts, he should be ok. The big 3 still best option here also.

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To Be clear......there are (2)  4 channel amps at 100 watts per each,  800 watts here, then a sub woofer amp operating at 500 watts.

A DSP running there too. So this is 1300 watts as far as I know.

Powering  2 pairs of Rockford  Fosgate  power component speakers with a 12" sub. Not the typical 7 SPEAKER installation but  wanted all the speaker holes plugged.  The center dash speaker I left unplugged.

I fit all this crap into the the area around the spare tire some how. It looks decent too but really do not want anyone knowing its there. There is no way to tell theres any up grade, thats what I want because the car is parked out on state land some times for a while.

 

The car battery is a AGM  TYPE      XS D3400. 

This actually made  a huge difference but fights the battery management system a bit. It rests at about 13 volts normally.

I can say with 110% cetanty that car manufactures want you to buy there upgraded systems. They have arranged the fuse panels way up in the dash now on most newer vehicles. Molded side plates into the fuse panel to block you from adding a fuse tap etc.

The newer battery management system is a real pain in the ass.

I really do not want to do any big three up grades if i can avoid it. Could maybe cause other issues. The pcm is so locked in to everything now compared to the 2010 model ford escape I had.  No battey management system, fuse panel right behind the fuse door.

 

Thank you for all your replies. I am  the newbe here, If you want to get get your arse kicked you have to go over to the hunting forum and i can do it there. L.O.L.  I am so glad to here someone  say....."You dont need an alternator."

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