Too Much Alt?

[BJD3]

I'm pretty sure I don't need the extra power, I'm only going to be putting out 525wrms, but just figured if I ever decided to upgrade my system to something bigger in the future, that was one thing that would already be done, ya know?

[loganberry]

I'm pretty sure I don't need the extra power, I'm only going to be putting out 525wrms, but just figured if I ever decided to upgrade my system to something bigger in the future, that was one thing that would already be done, ya know?

great way to think, go big once so u dont have to replace it later..you got it down!!

[MECHMAN]

ou can't have too much amperage. The voltage that the alternator produces it's current at will be controlled by the regulator. Sometimes the regulator will change the charge voltage based on it "sense" input.

The bottom line it, as long as the voltage setpoint in not set too high for the batteries you are running, or any of the equipment on the vehicle, you will be fine. Most vehicles can handle low 15 volt charging voltages without any problems. Amperage is not an issue, as the alternator will only produce as much current is as needed to keep the battery at the voltage setpoint.

[Beckett]

ou can't have too much amperage. The voltage that the alternator produces it's current at will be controlled by the regulator. Sometimes the regulator will change the charge voltage based on it "sense" input.

The bottom line it, as long as the voltage setpoint in not set too high for the batteries you are running, or any of the equipment on the vehicle, you will be fine. Most vehicles can handle low 15 volt charging voltages without any problems. Amperage is not an issue, as the alternator will only produce as much current is as needed to keep the battery at the voltage setpoint.

I have a question, this is an extreme example but say if you had 1300 amps worth of alternators and you only had one 100 AH battery in a normal car with no system or nothing then that would be fine? Because the alt's would just give out enough to keep that battery at the correct level?

lol i've always wondered that.

[MECHMAN]

I have a question, this is an extreme example but say if you had 1300 amps worth of alternators and you only had one 100 AH battery in a normal car with no system or nothing then that would be fine? Because the alt's would just give out enough to keep that battery at the correct level?

lol i've always wondered that.

It would work fine. The only possible limiting factor would be size/surface area of the terminals on the battery. The battery terminals would have to act as a connecting point to whatever was using the 1300 watts, and they could melt/burn over a period of time carrying that much current.

[audiofanaticz]

I have a question, this is an extreme example but say if you had 1300 amps worth of alternators and you only had one 100 AH battery in a normal car with no system or nothing then that would be fine? Because the alt's would just give out enough to keep that battery at the correct level?

lol i've always wondered that.

It would work fine. The only possible limiting factor would be size/surface area of the terminals on the battery. The battery terminals would have to act as a connecting point to whatever was using the 1300 watts, and they could melt/burn over a period of time carrying that much current.

To the best of my knowledge you could have up to 5000 amps of current from your alternators going to a cheap battery, and it wont harm it. Your alternator is only going to produce the power it needs and the voltage the regulater is excited at. If your car has no system like Beckett says, and just normal vehicle operating current draws 150 and less amps, your alternator(s) will not put out more then the 150 amps needed to keep your battery charged or your electrical components running correctly. So even tho you have 5000 amps of current on tap, your alternators will not work to produce that 5000 amps if your not needing it.

So saying that your battery terminals will melt or burn is false, because there is no draw on the electrical system to draw that much current. Beckett you are correct that your alternator(s) will only work as much as they need to, too keep your battery charged.

Now maybe if you had a stereo that was 40,000+ rms and you where giving your alternator(s) a reason to work that hard you could risk having your battery terminals melt, but before your solid metal battery terminals would melt or burn, your power wire would fail being that it is made of a weaker material with a much lower melting point. And if you where that guy to have that kind of wattage in your ride, you would have more then 1 battery, and many runs of power wire distributing the the huge current flow through out your vehicle so that you had an acceptable amp load per power wire for the maximum efficientcy or your electrical and stereo system.

The reason why wires melt and or burn is because you are drawing too much current from the wire.

With the proper amount of power wiring, your battery terminal will never melt or burn, and if anything your power wire would be the weakest point.