80 amp alt, how much power can I run?

[Mass Car Audio 10+ year member]

"Good" and "Yellow top" do not belong in the same sentence.

I would like to hear your reason for this comment.

 

[gunz4me 10+ year member]

All you guys with the "get a bigger alternator" recommendations are completely ignoring the fact that his Honda's ELD circuit will work against him. If the ELD circuit detects no load on the electrical system from the vehicle's fusebox, it generally reduces alternator output back to 12.5 or so volts in order to "save energy". Granted, running the AC or Parking lights should get the voltage back up, but I've seen the ELD kick in while sitting at a stop light with the AC and headlights on.

Also, don't go thinking that you can just pull the ELD out of your fusebox because it will throw a CEL and possibly put your car in limp mode.

 

[7ender 10+ year member]

So what are you recommending I do? If I run stock electrical/big 3, will I be able to run my system for short periods of time and be okay? Yeah, I know that's not the way to go about things but I can't afford another battery right now //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[gunz4me 10+ year member]

At a minimum, you are going to need to upgrade your battery and I highly recommend you upgrade your under the hood grounds (do at least 2 of the big 3 ASAP).

I went with a Kinetik HC1400 in my 1997 Civic along with doing the Big 2 first (grounds only) and it worked really well when I was running 750 watts RMS. When I moved up to 1,500 watts RMS, I had to charge the Kinetik every now and again because the stock alternator couldn't keep up. Since then, I have replaced the ECU with a programmable ECU that ignores the ELD and I am running a 170 amp alternator with the final leg of the Big 3 done.

 

[7ender 10+ year member]

Iv'e already done the big 3, and have an aftermarket battery. I'll be honest though and say i'm not sure what it is..it's some kind of interstate and I think it's pretty small. I'm guna go check it out right now (I had bought the car with that battery...)