Considering upgrading to a h/o alternator

[ryya 10+ year member]

So as the title says I'm thinking about upgrading my alt. Mine has gone out literally 3 times in the past 3 weeks and I honed the problem down to a melted down connection within my fuse box. I ordered a whole new fuse box and will replace it before I either 1. replace my alt with oem or 2. buy a h/o and have my installer put it in. You see I have a pretty large audio system in the car and have the xs power d6500 and my alt just can't keep up.

I have a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLI 2.8L VR6 and I need something that will fit and work well with my vehicle. I was looking at this... but don't know very much about alternators. I also emailed mechman for a quote but they haven't gotten back to me. I'm really tired of dumping $300-500 in repairs into my car every week... but i guess thats the price i pay for a good audio system.

Will 180amps (max output) be enough for my 2k watt rms system? Is this a good brand?

https://www.dcpoweri...53-180-spx.html

Click to read more...

 

[jockhater2 10+ year member]

So as the title says I'm thinking about upgrading my alt. Mine has gone out literally 3 times in the past 3 weeks and I honed the problem down to a melted down connection within my fuse box. I ordered a whole new fuse box and will replace it before I either 1. replace my alt with oem or 2. buy a h/o and have my installer put it in. You see I have a pretty large audio system in the car and have the xs power d6500 and my alt just can't keep up.
I have a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLI 2.8L VR6 and I need something that will fit and work well with my vehicle. I was looking at this... but don't know very much about alternators. I also emailed mechman for a quote but they haven't gotten back to me. I'm really tired of dumping $300-500 in repairs into my car every week... but i guess thats the price i pay for a good audio system.

Will 180amps (max output) be enough for my 2k watt rms system? Is this a good brand?

https://www.dcpoweri...53-180-spx.html

What do you mean dumping $300-500 in repairs every week? What is going on?

Yeah if you have the Vr6. That alternator sits in a very very tight spot. I was able to do something unique with my jetta.

DC power makes great alternators. Otherwise check out

And yes. 180Amps will be enough. But if you can afford it. Go with a 270. But it won't be necessary. I just would.

Excessive Amperage

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[ryya 10+ year member]

What do you mean dumping $300-500 in repairs every week? What is going on?
Yeah if you have the Vr6. That alternator sits in a very very tight spot. I was able to do something unique with my jetta.

DC power makes great alternators. Otherwise check out

And yes. 180Amps will be enough. But if you can afford it. Go with a 270. But it won't be necessary. I just would.

Well... I have replaced the alternator twice in about two weeks (he charged only labor the second time), new xs power battery because my kinetik fried and was out of warranty, brand new fuse box since mine melted and now this third alternator. It's just expensive and it makes me want to sell my car for a truck and start over. I'm really hoping this alt will cure all of my problems. I bought a bunch of 0awg and monster cable ring terminals too so I'll be doing the big three again, but this time with the 0.

I think the 220 amp is the next jump up from the 180. I really wasn't planning on doing all of this but I guess when it gets to this point go big or go home right?

 

[kat_black181 10+ year member]

Well... I have replaced the alternator twice in about two weeks (he charged only labor the second time), new xs power battery because my kinetik fried and was out of warranty, brand new fuse box since mine melted and now this third alternator. It's just expensive and it makes me want to sell my car for a truck and start over. I'm really hoping this alt will cure all of my problems. I bought a bunch of 0awg and monster cable ring terminals too so I'll be doing the big three again, but this time with the 0.
I think the 220 amp is the next jump up from the 180. I really wasn't planning on doing all of this but I guess when it gets to this point go big or go home right?

I can't help but think that all this money you have shelled out could have been initially put toward the h/o alt long before you ever fried the other ones....Good luck with getting everything straightened out.

 

[Vertex Audio Pro Seller]

So as the title says I'm thinking about upgrading my alt. Mine has gone out literally 3 times in the past 3 weeks and I honed the problem down to a melted down connection within my fuse box. I ordered a whole new fuse box and will replace it before I either 1. replace my alt with oem or 2. buy a h/o and have my installer put it in. You see I have a pretty large audio system in the car and have the xs power d6500 and my alt just can't keep up.
I have a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLI 2.8L VR6 and I need something that will fit and work well with my vehicle. I was looking at this... but don't know very much about alternators. I also emailed mechman for a quote but they haven't gotten back to me. I'm really tired of dumping $300-500 in repairs into my car every week... but i guess thats the price i pay for a good audio system.

Will 180amps (max output) be enough for my 2k watt rms system? Is this a good brand?

https://www.dcpoweri...53-180-spx.html

I can give ya a quote on a mechman alt, if you are interested pm me

 

[ryya 10+ year member]

I can't help but think that all this money you have shelled out could have been initially put toward the h/o alt long before you ever fried the other ones....Good luck with getting everything straightened out.

Well at least I finally learned a very valuable electrical lesson. Takes power to make power.

Thanks for the encouragement

I can give ya a quote on a mechman alt, if you are interested pm me

I emailed Mechman 2 days ago but they haven't gotten back to me yet. PM sent.

 

[jockhater2 10+ year member]

I don't understand why your alternators were going bad so quickly. It definitely was not due to the system.

I ran 1200-1600 watts on my 90amp alternator with a 2nd battery. and the alternator lasted a year. But 2 weeks?

When the new alternator was put in. Was it checked to see if it was charging properly?

 

[chargdbassbuick 10+ year member]

i would re-do all my wiring with 100% ofc. you will see less voltage drop then with cca junk

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

Have you said what amps you are running? If I didn't miss it, how can anyone recommend an alt without knowing power draw? Also, there's no reason your fuse box should be melting unless you have something wired incorrectly, or there is a different and more important issue to the basic function of your car. It might be a good idea to disconnect all your audio gear and see if the symptom continues. If it does, you need to figure that out first.

 

[ryya 10+ year member]

I think what was happening is there was flat out too much current draw on my alternator. It melted right at the fused alternator to battery connection. So i've got the new fuse box coming in the mail and I'm going to throw that in once it comes in the mail. I've also got a bunch of 0awg power/ground that I will be doing my big 3 upgrade with which will hopefully lower some resistance under the hood.

I am running an NVX JAD800.4 and a Hifonics BRZ1700.1D, and everything is triggered off a relay. Right now I have everything audio related disconnected. I also disconnected the alternator while I wait for a new one in the mail and I have been trickle charging my battery every night. I can get about 30 minutes of driving time off every battery charge haha.

Anyone know of a good volt meter? I don't want something really bright but I NEED to be able to monitor my voltage from inside the car at this point.

 

[cdc351jeferson 10+ year member]

ive run more wattage than that on stock alts without burning my fuse box. maybe recheck and redo your wiring