Internal Regulated Alt To External Regulated?

[violent b]

First off, hello all. I have been reading the forums for some time now and just registered.

so my question is, can you take an alternator that is internally regulated and bypass the regulator so you can run an external regulator? let's say my alternator will only put out 14.4 volts, if I use an external regulator and bypass the internal one, will the alternator be able to put 15-16 volts?

this might be a dumb question but if you don't ask you'll never know.

Thanks everyone,

Bill

[EricM9104]

No.

[missinglink]

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QUOTE(violent b @ Jun 24 2008, 06:26 AM) 358666[/snapback]

First off, hello all. I have been reading the forums for some time now and just registered.

so my question is, can you take an alternator that is internally regulated and bypass the regulator so you can run an external regulator? let's say my alternator will only put out 14.4 volts, if I use an external regulator and bypass the internal one, will the alternator be able to put 15-16 volts?

this might be a dumb question but if you don't ask you'll never know.

Thanks everyone,

Bill

It can be done, but that does not mean you should do it. Bypassing the internal regulator also bypasses important safety features built into that regulator. You lose the thermal sensing that protects the alternator under severe loads. You may lose things like load dump too.

The biggest drawback to external regulation is fixed voltage charging. Many add-on units simply charge at a set voltage, which will damage a battery eventually - sometimes very quickly if the voltage is set too high.

Internal regulators typically switch at 200hz to 400hz, and monitor the field decay for load sensing. They charge on a voltage curve that is related to both load and temperature. That is why your voltage goes down to 13.x in the summer, and up to 15.x on a cold winter morning.

It depends on the vehicle, and your system specifications what the best answer would be for your application. There is a product that can adjust the charging curve for a higher midpoint voltage available for some vehicles. What is the year / make / model / engine of the vehicle? How many batteries? How many RMS watts?

'Link

[violent b]

--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(violent b @ Jun 24 2008, 06:26 AM) 358666[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->First off, hello all. I have been reading the forums for some time now and just registered.

so my question is, can you take an alternator that is internally regulated and bypass the regulator so you can run an external regulator? let's say my alternator will only put out 14.4 volts, if I use an external regulator and bypass the internal one, will the alternator be able to put 15-16 volts?

this might be a dumb question but if you don't ask you'll never know.

Thanks everyone,

Bill

It can be done, but that does not mean you should do it. Bypassing the internal regulator also bypasses important safety features built into that regulator. You lose the thermal sensing that protects the alternator under severe loads. You may lose things like load dump too.

The biggest drawback to external regulation is fixed voltage charging. Many add-on units simply charge at a set voltage, which will damage a battery eventually - sometimes very quickly if the voltage is set too high.

Internal regulators typically switch at 200hz to 400hz, and monitor the field decay for load sensing. They charge on a voltage curve that is related to both load and temperature. That is why your voltage goes down to 13.x in the summer, and up to 15.x on a cold winter morning.

It depends on the vehicle, and your system specifications what the best answer would be for your application. There is a product that can adjust the charging curve for a higher midpoint voltage available for some vehicles. What is the year / make / model / engine of the vehicle? How many batteries? How many RMS watts?

'Link

I'm in the early stages of building. I have a 95 Astro with the 4.3L Vortec. I have 2 alternators in the van from HO. one is a CS130 that replaced the stock alternator and the other is a CS144 that is where the a/c compressor used to be. the CS130 is rated at 200 amps and the CS144 is rated at 220 amps.

as for batteries I'm not sure yet how many or what kind. the amps are 1500 watts at 2 ohm (which is how I will be running them) and I'll have 8 of those. I'll have (3) 4 channel amps (110 x 4) for the mids and highs.

[missinglink]

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QUOTE(violent b @ Jun 24 2008, 06:57 AM) 358680[/snapback]

I'm in the early stages of building. I have a 95 Astro with the 4.3L Vortec. I have 2 alternators in the van from HO. one is a CS130 that replaced the stock alternator and the other is a CS144 that is where the a/c compressor used to be. the CS130 is rated at 200 amps and the CS144 is rated at 220 amps.

as for batteries I'm not sure yet how many or what kind. the amps are 1500 watts at 2 ohm (which is how I will be running them) and I'll have 8 of those. I'll have (3) 4 channel amps (110 x 4) for the mids and highs.

Ok, so you have a 12kw load. You have about 5kw available from the alternators when cold. You will need a lot of batteries if you plan to play very long.

Is this a pure competition vehicle? If so, what are the voltage rules within your class? We can push the voltage up on those alternators, but some classes have limits.

'Link

[Applejack]

lol MLA i like your sig (sorry off topic) but....All your base are belong to us.

[violent b]

--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(violent b @ Jun 24 2008, 06:57 AM) 358680[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I'm in the early stages of building. I have a 95 Astro with the 4.3L Vortec. I have 2 alternators in the van from HO. one is a CS130 that replaced the stock alternator and the other is a CS144 that is where the a/c compressor used to be. the CS130 is rated at 200 amps and the CS144 is rated at 220 amps.

as for batteries I'm not sure yet how many or what kind. the amps are 1500 watts at 2 ohm (which is how I will be running them) and I'll have 8 of those. I'll have (3) 4 channel amps (110 x 4) for the mids and highs.

Ok, so you have a 12kw load. You have about 5kw available from the alternators when cold. You will need a lot of batteries if you plan to play very long.

Is this a pure competition vehicle? If so, what are the voltage rules within your class? We can push the voltage up on those alternators, but some classes have limits.

'Link

this is purely a vehicle for me to enjoy. I have no plans to compete with it, just take it to shows. I work for a manufacturer of car audio parts and accessories, so I would imagine I would be in a pro or extreme class anyway. Plus nowadays there are sooooooo many classes and many different organizations I wouldn't even know where to begin.

[superduper]

so who sells external regulated alts? cuase i have a regulator with a broken alt

[MECHMAN]

Yes, you can convert them to external regulator, but it usually requires dis-assymbly of the alternator. We do it all the time.