Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Do I need a 200 amp alternator, amps consime 75+75+47=197 amps?


I have two subwoofer amps that consume 75 amps a piece and another 4 channel amp consuming 47 amps for a total of 197 amps.

1. Should I get a 200 amp alternator or go a little bigger for the rest of the cars accessoires?

2. Does the brand of the vehicle and alternator matter, can they be mixed?

If this matters, the engine is a four cylinder, 1991 cc, desiel.

Vehicle brand is a GM/Daewoo Captiva -or- Winstorm,they call them different names depending on where you are. I live in South Korea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Captiva

Thanks alot people!~


Google "car stereo big 3 upgrade"; OEM electrical isn't geared for amplifiers, it's just a fact of life. The big three involves upgrading connections between: battery and alternator, battery and chassis, engine to chassis. These are the high current paths that are typically overlooked on stereo installs. Then upgrade your battery to something like an Optima yellow top, these batteries offer better discharge rates over OEM equipment, and they won't suffer permanent damage if you drain them fully.

If you feel like you're still suffering from light dimming, a capacitor may assist. Only after these upgrades, would I consider throwing down on an alternator if I still had problems. Besides, you're not constantly drawing 197 amps; that's what you'll be pulling right as your fuses blow. You'll never push it that hard unless you enjoy listening to distortion / clipped signals.

toygasm is right on everything, i myself have tried to get a bigger alternator and found it is extremely costly if you have the money go for it any alternator may work only custom brackets and pulley swaps are needed but room in the engine compartment may be a factor and bigger alts may put a strain on a 4 cylinder esp a diesel resulting in power loss.

a second deep-cycle battery with low Resistance and a isolator or regulator should work.

i have 6 amps on a 60 amp i think alternator and an optima deep cycle has not let me down i could get better performance w a 120 or larger alternator but i just do occasional maintenance charges on my 2nd.battery in my garage and everything is fine. if you have the money go for it bet a second Battery would save you a few hundred american dollars at least. and don't ever buy a cheap high output you will only get power when driving and may lose power when at idle

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