Do I really need an H/O alternator for 2 12" Orion hcca 2500 watt rms speakers?

[JonM]

Long story short: I'm running 2 Orion HCCAs 12" black coil on Orion hcca 8k amp at 2 ohms (half power) built into a custom made box for my trunk of a 99 camery. I'm running 2 XS power 3100d batteries with 4 OTT power wire and 4OTT grounded to trunk. No big three upgrade. I had a 300 amp alt put in which went up to 19 volts and blew the starter fuse about 3 minutes after I got the car back from the shop. They took it out and reinstalled the original alt. I returned the alt for another from Ohio Genarator and they said the alt was fine but put in a new regulator anyway. Tom recommended the big three upgrade and also the ground from the rear batteries should be up front with at least a 2 Ott ground wire because when grounded to the rear chassis, it's like a 4 gauge wire going up to the front when a 2 ott is needed. Do I really need this? I've been driving around for the past 2 months with no big three upgrade and a stock alt and my voltage hasn't gone below 11.9. I did the big three upgrade and in about 2-4 minutes the voltage went from 14.4 to 11.5 so I disconnected it.

My 3 questions:

Do I really need the big three upgrade and a H/O alt?

If I get the 300 amp alt re installed will my voltage stay at 14.4 with the subs at full tilt?

And do I really need a ground going from the rear up to the front?

This is a daily driver car. Thanks guys

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[Chris McNeeley]

Yup

Maybe

Yup

I drive mine daily. You shop at afflication audio in columbus?

 

[JonM]

Yeah, how'd you know?

 

[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

Big 3 a must.

A HO alt? Not necessarily but would help later on down the road.

 

[Austin175 10+ year member]

Yes do the the big 3

The H/O alt will help so yes

An I would it can't really hurt anything

Even running your 8k at half power I would switch all your wire to 1/0 car audio wire or 2/0 welding wire, think of it like this:

Your electrical is pumping water on a pipe you have a steady flow but not a lot of water by upgrading the size of your alt & wire your electrical could pump more water faster with the same steady flow bc to me dropping to that low of voltage is not good that's under resting voltage.

 

[Austin175 10+ year member]

Also on that H/O alt was it external or internally regulated? If external you would need to set it to the voltage you want it to charge at

 

[ChaseinBass]

Also on that H/O alt was it external or internally regulated? If external you would need to set it to the voltage you want it to charge at

So you did big three upgrade and voltage went from 14 volts to 11 volts ?? I dont even know how that could be possible ? Big three upgrade is just reinforcing your existing grounds ?

answers to questions

yes

no ( could be possible but highly doubtful but I would guestimate high 12v at full tilt )

yes

 

[Chris McNeeley]

Yeah, how'd you know?

Because i know jason the owner and theyre the only authorized dealer for them around there and your car sounds like their install style.

 

[JonM]

Because i know jason the owner and theyre the only authorized dealer for them around there and your car sounds like their install style.

He's a good guy, he was able to work with me on what I wanted when a couple of other shops wouldn't.

 

[JonM]

So you did big three upgrade and voltage went from 14 volts to 11 volts ?? I dont even know how that could be possible ? Big three upgrade is just reinforcing your existing grounds ?
answers to questions

yes

no ( could be possible but highly doubtful but I would guestimate high 12v at full tilt )

yes

The voltage drop is much faster with the big three upgrade. With out the upgrade the drop was much more gradual, from work to home the drive is around 15 minutes and the voltage is still around 12.3 when I get home. with the stereo turned up all he way the entire time. With the upgrade I'll be just getting on the freeway and it'll be at 11.5 and I'll have to turn it down. It's worse when I'm driving on side streets. With out the upgrade it stays above 12 volts and has only once went to 11.9 volts. With the upgrade and the alt installed I'm hoping to keep it at 14.4 volts. I lose 1670 watts when it hits 12.5 volts and that's a noticeable difference in sound and pressure. That's why I'm trying to keep it at 14.4 volts.

 

[BOOMINGRANDPA 5,000+ posts]

sure u sanded the paint off the grounding points well? i don't understand how volts got worse in anyway..

 

[MrGreen83]

Doing a Big 3 upgrade on an existing alternator isn't helping anything. The Big 3 allows more current to flow....so all u did was allow ur equipment to pull more current from ur existing factory alternator. Hence why the voltage is dropping lower now.

U FIRST need an alternator that can keep up with the power demands......then the Big 3 is beneficial. They work together as a team.

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[JonM]

Doing a Big 3 upgrade on an existing alternator isn't helping anything. The Big 3 allows more current to flow....so all u did was allow ur equipment to pull more current from ur existing factory alternator. Hence why the voltage is dropping lower now.
U FIRST need an alternator that can keep up with the power demands......then the Big 3 is beneficial. They work together as a team.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! That's what I was wondering.

 

[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

Doing a Big 3 upgrade on an existing alternator isn't helping anything. The Big 3 allows more current to flow....so all u did was allow ur equipment to pull more current from ur existing factory alternator. Hence why the voltage is dropping lower now.
U FIRST need an alternator that can keep up with the power demands......then the Big 3 is beneficial. They work together as a team.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I disagree. Upgrading the big 3 is so much cheaper than buy an alt...which can be upwords of 700 bucks new for a 270-300 amperage one, and depending upon who(DC Audio, Singer, etc).

He did mention he has extra batteries to be able to keep up with the electrical demand.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with replacing the charging wires 1st. Then at a later time, when money allows, then I would say get a HO alt.

 

[MrGreen83]

I missed the 2 batteries part. But obviously they aren't helping

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