AQ2200D --Will I need a new alt?

[PSturmer 10+ year member]

I want the aq2200D and it has an external fuse rating of 200amps. Right now i have a stock alternator and im wondering if i will need to upgrade mine. If so how much will a new one cost?

big 3 and a new battery and the correct size and amount of wire is sufficient

 

[crunch5868 10+ year member]

ill do the big 3 thats no big deal but do you think i could make out if i just put a huge battery under the hood and no battery in the back? if not ill just put one in the back, what kind should i get?

 

[crunch5868 10+ year member]

do i need a battery isolator for when i put a battery in the back? Im looking at yellowtops and powermasters, leaning toward the pm 5100. any other brands?

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Use a isolation solenoid. Cheaper than a solid state isolator and without the voltage drop.

 

[BassAddictJ 5,000+ posts]

get yourself anice helfty battery for the trunk and make sure your 1/0 all around and big 3

 

[Jeremiah25 10+ year member]

anyone??

It will be fine.

 

[DBDRAGGUY 10+ year member]

Wrong. Your battery is used as reserve power. Your alternator is what makes your car run and if the demand for the alternator becomes too great then the reserve current stored in the battery is discharged. This is why your car will be at battery float voltage whenever your alternator is struggling to keep up with a load.

A constant draw over the alternators output capacity will smoke the alternator, therefore your alternator is charging your battery bank, and is replacing the charge as your system consumes it.

So you think that the current draw from the system is constant? You also think that the alt can increase output instantaeously in response to a change in demand? You think that the battery only provides current when the voltage drops below 12.6V? You think that they make an alt big enough to supply the current demands of a large system play dynamic music at very high volume?
Man it must be nice in your little dream world.

AVERAGE current draw. That's all the alt needs to provide. Transients will be handled by the battery(ies) every time regardless of how big the alt is because the regulator simply cannot react fast enough to up the current supply. If you use a bank of batteries, none of them ever gets deeply discharged and you're really just replacing the skin charge instead of the core charge. The bigger the battery bank the more current you can draw before the voltage begins to sag.

For that amp, two good batteries should be plenty. Your wiring is going to be very important also. Upgrading the alt isn't going to really do anything and you'll still need the batteries. The place for an upgraded alt is playing long tones. that actully creates a large average current draw where the alt can get caught up and actually directly provied current to the equation. Otherwise the alt is only refilling the reserve between periods of transient demand.

Thank You.