220a Alt... STILL getting voltage drops! WTF?!

[OoMesKoO 10+ year member]

Well its not the alt. because the alt gives me perfect voltage all around. Idle speed, crusing, full throttle even... no problems. Its when I turn it up full tilt is when i drop to like 11v. Ive come to realize my grounds ****... and im using a 200a circuit breaker. Figure thats a helluva bottleneck.

 

[ProgMtl 10+ year member]

get rid of the circuit breaker and use a fuse...you did state that you've done the big 3 with 0/1 gauge, right? More than likely the grounds then....where do you have all the different grounds attached to?

 

[profundus-sanus 10+ year member]

what amp are you using?

 

[OoMesKoO 10+ year member]

Im using an Audiopipe AP30001D. But I think ive narrowed my problem down...

Ive got one run of 0/1 awg, into a distro, splitting a 4awg run to the AP and an 8awg run to my Kicker KX350.2. Then a 4 awg ground on the AP, and an 8awg ground on the KX. As well as the 200a circuit breaker on the power wire. Do you see this as a problem?

 

[audioarsonal 10+ year member]

Check the voltage right at the alt.Then check it at the amp.If it drops more then a couple tenths of a volt then your wiring is causeing to much resistance.Maybe clen up the grounds or run a whole ground wire.

And yeah with 1500 watts you won't see any dimming try 3-4000 then tell me if you don't get dimming.

Mesk try adding a second battery.You will see a big differance.

 

[iamamp3pimp 5,000+ posts]

i been sayingall along that H.O. alt isnt where its at......that they arent as necessary as people think.

im still running my stock and get no voltage drops past 12.4 in my setup....

 

[iamamp3pimp 5,000+ posts]

mesk, agreed about adding a battery.

get a deep cycle from walmart and see if it makes a difference.

if it does (it will) then you can return to the store, and spend too much on a kinetik, or just keep it......lol

 

[profundus-sanus 10+ year member]

Im using an Audiopipe AP30001D. But I think ive narrowed my problem down...
Ive got one run of 0/1 awg, into a distro, splitting a 4awg run to the AP and an 8awg run to my Kicker KX350.2. Then a 4 awg ground on the AP, and an 8awg ground on the KX. As well as the 200a circuit breaker on the power wire. Do you see this as a problem?

i definately can see that as being a problem. circuit breakers **** and i wouldn't run over 1500 watts on a baby run of 4 gauge. I would replace the distro w/ a battery... even if its a little one.

i been sayingall along that H.O. alt isnt where its at......that they arent as necessary as people think.
im still running my stock and get no voltage drops past 12.4 in my setup....

Indeed, people don't realize that alts can't react near as fast to fluctuation in current draw as batteries can, hell thats what batteries are built for, alts are just there to charge the batteries.

 

[OoMesKoO 10+ year member]

Heres a question... I bought a 200a battery isolator. Now will that allow only 200 amps to be transferred from my main battery to my secondary one? Do you see that as sufficent?

http://www.sfxaudio.com/products/dispItem.asp?ProdId=63375

Thats it right there.

 

[profundus-sanus 10+ year member]

Heres a question... I bought a 200a battery isolator. Now will that allow only 200 amps to be transferred from my main battery to my secondary one? Do you see that as sufficent?
http://www.sfxaudio.com/products/dispItem.asp?ProdId=63375

Thats it right there.

that should be fine as long as your secondary battery is the bigger(better) one.

 

[OoMesKoO 10+ year member]

alright. Sounds good.

 

[audioarsonal 10+ year member]

i definately can see that as being a problem. circuit breakers **** and i wouldn't run over 1500 watts on a baby run of 4 gauge. I would replace the distro w/ a battery... even if its a little one.


Indeed, people don't realize that alts can't react near as fast to fluctuation in current draw as batteries can, hell thats what batteries are built for, alts are just there to charge the batteries.

I kinda dis-agree they are overrated and not the cure all for voltage drop.Batteries are the main power supply for stereo I think.Especially when you get into big watts.However for bass race and DD an alt is nice to have to keep those batteries supplied with power more then a stock 130a.

 

[profundus-sanus 10+ year member]

I kinda dis-agree they are overrated and not the cure all for voltage drop.Batteries are the main power supply for stereo I think.Especially when you get into big watts.However for bass race and DD an alt is nice to have to keep those batteries supplied with power more then a stock 130a.

you disagree with what? there are 3 or 4 points in there to potentially disagree with.

Indeed a big alt is nice for daily usage and sometimes bassrace, although in bassrace you still need to have a large bank of batteries, as you need to be capable of doing several runs w/ your vehicle turned off.

 

[iamamp3pimp 5,000+ posts]

I bassrace with my stock 90ish amp alt

 

[MikeyB 5,000+ posts]

Yeah you can get smaller then the 2" that comes standard on all HO alts.Its probably not an issue at driving speeds with the alt at 2000 engine RPM.If so then the alt is plenty its the low idle that is causeing trouble.Smaller pulley will solve that.

My Iraggi 220 has a 2" pulley on it, but at idle I see voltage drops below 12. This only happens at a stop light or when the car is sitting and is in gear. In park or neutral the rpm's jump up about 200 or so and the alt kicks in the power and I dont have any issues.

Do you have a link to somewhere that sells smaller pulleys that 2"?

I bumped the idle on my car up a tad but it wasnt enough.