Not impressed with current alternator technology :-(

[Guest DC Power Kyle]

No you can't mister price, you didn't package that girl up to 90620.

[CaptainzPlanetz]

heard about that http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/public/style_emoticons/default/01nocomment8so.gif

Please Elaborate......

[98HOEONSIXEZ]

No you can't mister price, you didn't package that girl up to 90620.

heyyy!! JOO stay out of this lol i was talkin to rob!not you haha...matter of fact ima call him now..and i tried to package her up but i couldnt get her dang legs to stay over her head. ..for over an hour anyways so i just decided to leave her at the post office

[2loud4uboyz]

I hope your day gets better fish . I get where you coming from. peace to the haters.

[creyc]

After working in the consumer electronics side of things (think amplifiers, head decks) I disagree with your comment about complexity and seeing where your money is going.

To me an alternator is MUCH more complex than an amplifier. Amps are pretty simple when you understand what's actually going on, especially class-D sub amps in which who gives a damn about anything over 100 Hz anyways. Any technician with a little experience in electronics can open an amp up and identify pretty accurately how it works.

Alternators are chocked full of moving parts, which instantly makes them more prone to failure, and much less forgiving to manufacture. And not only this, but they represent the transition from mechanical to electrical energy, any time you have multiple energy sources coming together you have double the complexity, double the potential problems.

Alternators may seem simple on the surface, but perhaps you're not aware of everything that goes into designing and building a good alternator.

[jmitch]

hehe this guy is funny (OP)

[Boon]

To me an alternator is MUCH more complex than an amplifier. Amps are pretty simple when you understand what's actually going on, especially class-D sub amps in which who gives a damn about anything over 100 Hz anyways. Any technician with a little experience in electronics can open an amp up and identify pretty accurately how it works.

Are you serious? Do you know how complex and sensitive the circuitry that modulates the analog signal in a class D amplifier is? There's a reason they deface all the ICs, they want to protect their designs because they took a shiteload of work to develop.

If I put a modern Class D amp in front of you, could you really identify what each part of it does and how they all work together? What signal should be present at each point of the amp and what it does?

Try repairing one that's well and truly blown up and you'll see that they are absolutely complex bastards.

Take 1 look inside an Alpine PDX and try and tell me you know what's going on.

[mxman38]

i have my own take on alts... maybe its my truck and the computer, but ive tried several H/O alts from EA to Loadboss and my stock alt almost seems to be just as effective. I may try DC in the future but im almost skeptical on spending another 500 or so dollars on an alt that just doesnt seem any different than my stocker. 3 kinetiks, 200a alt, big 3... 3 - 4kwrms and dipping to low 12's doesn't make sense to me.

[littleitaly1990]

I'm "definately" not going to to mention any names.... But I just don't think these 250 to 300 amp alternators are so freaking special, or worth as much as what's being charged for them.

All the pretty powder coating is nice, but I'd sooner have an ugly, factory looking alt..... in fact, with the same, run of the mill factory technology > but just bigger, and putting out more power !

Here's another thought; The alternator in my F150 is not too bad. I think it's like 140 amps, and they are pretty dirt cheap too. So, if I get "two" of these > lowly < factory alternators, and run a dual setup, now I'm making 280 amps !

In fact, I could probably get another one at a wrecking yard for $50, have my buddy rewrap it, and Bam !

Of course these aftermarket alternator places charge a ton for dual setup kits too. Maybe my alternator specialist friend could build a dual bracket as well.

Anyway, when I look at how complicated a car audio amplifier, or head unit is, I can totally see where my money is going.

Not so with these aftermarket alts :-(

Your thoughts ?

Fish

PS, I think SM's quad alt setup looks REALLY cool, and obviously gets the job done....... But on the other hand, I don't see why a company couldn't easily make a single, large alt that puts out 1200 (or more) amps.

Your reasoning contradicts itself. Just to start, do you have any idea how much copper and shipping are nowadays? They alone contribute a huge amount to alt prices. Secondly, most of us on here don't buy alts with the powder coating, we buy high output alts, and those of us who demo a lot or go to shows get nicer looking ones since they are showing the looks of their vehicles off as much as the sound and power. Also, your ford has a factory alt with a lot of output power (at max, very little at idle, check it out). Most vehicles don't have 140, or even 100 amps max, and very very little power is outputted at idle. We buy high output alts to give us good 2-300 amps at max, and 1-200 at idle, which is far more than your factory alt can manage, even two of them. Also, not every vehicle is as common as the F150, but even that wouldn't be easy to find a recent model with the same alt at a junkyard. And even if you did find another match, are you trying to say that you expect everyone to have a friend who is an "alternator specialist" who could just build them a dual bracket. Most people don't have that kind of friend, time, money, and/or know-how. And as everyone else said, they are made with high quality parts (depends on who you get it from of course, but we all know which companies are legit) and there is obviously a lot more technology related to them than you understand. Not trying to call you out, but you called out an entire industry without really thinking about what you were saying. Would you tell people to boycott slightly more expensive restaurants and go find a friend who happens to be a 5 star chef? I mean really...

[creyc]

Are you serious? Do you know how complex and sensitive the circuitry that modulates the analog signal in a class D amplifier is? There's a reason they deface all the ICs, they want to protect their designs because they took a shiteload of work to develop.

If I put a modern Class D amp in front of you, could you really identify what each part of it does and how they all work together? What signal should be present at each point of the amp and what it does?

Try repairing one that's well and truly blown up and you'll see that they are absolutely complex bastards.

Take 1 look inside an Alpine PDX and try and tell me you know what's going on.

Yes, I am serious.

I understand this is also my area of expertise, but it's a very common area of expertise for many many many electronic engineers all around the world. Yes there is SOME proprietary stuff going on but nothing you can't buy off the shelf if you're willing to pay the licensing for these ICs. Point is high output 12v alternators are much more of a niche product.