4 altnator questions?

[Spldecendant 10+ year member]

I have a Chevy tahoe with the 5.3l engine I just orderd 2 more mechman 270a alts( currently have 1) and the 4 alt bracket. I plan on using the stock one in the stock location to the stock battrie for just the car. The 3 mechmans I then plan on for the system there all ext reg is there like an incar module I can buy to control the volts and is there a way I can shut or lower the voltage to 12.4( when not playing the system) to save some gas mileage so the altnators are not pulling full at all times. I plan on using the 3 mechman 270a's and 6 deka g31 with 8 runs pos and 8 runs neg knuconceptz ofc wire on 2 optidrive7001d's( there a 5k board) and 4 hifonics brx1200.4's how well do you think the voltage will hold?

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[Spldecendant 10+ year member]

Also forgot to add highs amps will be 2ohm each and the bass Amps will be at .5ohm each

 

[Nutdawg651]

First you probably need one or two more alts to run that many amps, to go that big you should have went with 350s ,two your not gonna lose on gas lol alternators are built with an internal regulator when your foot is not on the gas it automatically goes into idle why bother with an external , if you do you probably wanna mount it somewhere under the hood away from heat ,if someone touches that and turns it up not noing what it is youll have some serious problems

 

[serjr711. 10+ year member]

Add 2 more batts and you'll be fine. Why so many 4 channels?

 

[Spldecendant 10+ year member]

First you probably need one or two more alts to run that many amps, to go that big you should have went with 350s ,two your not gonna lose on gas lol alternators are built with an internal regulator when your foot is not on the gas it automatically goes into idle why bother with an external , if you do you probably wanna mount it somewhere under the hood away from heat ,if someone touches that and turns it up not noing what it is youll have some serious problems

The reason I need ext reg is because when internally reg my alts are either on full tilt or they shut of to save gas and then my voltage drops into the high 11's, low 12's when on no lower then 13.6. So your saying 800+ amps of alts is not going to hurt gas mileage? The truck is a 2007 so the computer system maybe a alittle diffrent they you have previously worked with

 

[Spldecendant 10+ year member]

Add 2 more batts and you'll be fine. Why so many 4 channels?

16 crescendo 10's and 8 crescendo super tweets

 

[Nutdawg651]

Like I said if you do an external in the cab you better make sure noone touches it except you, your engine components will be running off the stock alt , your amps n batts off the h/o's just make sure you have a big enough bank to support the amps and you should be good on the drops but I have heard of the computer tweaking when you do upgrades I mean it is only built for your stock needs , my guy had to switch out his computer all together on one truck if you do go with the external though dont go above 15.1v your good

 

[Nutdawg651]

Also Some cars now disengage the alternator until the engine was warmed up (or the state-of-charge is low). This saves a bit of fuel since the engine is inefficient when cold.

 

[Nutdawg651]

But then again Well it very well could because the alternator would be engaged far more often or even all the time due to the constant requirement from your stereo...

might be some of your sensors . if you don't get enough voltage to them they will give out false readings to different components like fuel injectors/fuel pump

The more power that 's needed, the more load the alternator puts on the engine. The lower accelleration may be from having a weaker spark with less electrical power available for it. That can affect gas mileage adversely.

Making electricity is work. Example:One horsepower is 750 watts and an 85 amp alternator can produce about 1200 watts of power to share with every electrical need of the car and charge the battery. The amplifier is asking for more than half the output of the alternator, but don't forget what the battery has to contribute. What the battery gives up has to come back from the alternator. You can test your actual cost in gasoline by sacrificing using the stereo for a quarter tank of gas, then refill the tank and see how many miles you got, then do that test again using the stereo. Try and do the same kind of driving. This may be a couple of 100 mile tests, depending on your tank size. Maybe you won't get rid of the stereo, but use it more conservatively if your concern about gas consumption is serious. If you get a stronger alternator, it will still ask the same load- watts is watts, no matter where you get them.

Plus if you think about it more weight less fuel efficiency , your runng 16 10s a huge box batteries ,amps and power wires that alone will make fuel a big a$$ problem for your pockets

 

[Spldecendant 10+ year member]

I'm not really worried about gas it's just more like why have 800 amps of alt if I'm not playing 100% of the time maybe on the power line the turn on for the alt threw the ext reg I can put a toggle switch?

 

---------- Post added at 11:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:31 AM ----------

 

I plan on having voltage at 14.8v ext reg

 

[bbeljefe]

The alternators will only provide current when they're asked to provide current. If the amps ask for 800 amps, they will supply it. If the sound system is off, they will only provide enough current to keep a surface charge on the batteries, regardless of whether they're internally or externally regulated.

If you want to be able to turn them off completely, install switches on the fields.