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

[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

Op, you could have a bad connection someplace. A faulty fuse, bad ground, corroded power/ground wires, etc.

Next sunny day on your next day off, it wouldn't hurt to go and check the said things. It's free....

 

[wooferdog]

where is your voltage meter connected at that you monitor the volts ?

 

[Chris McNeeley]

Should i dare ask if you charge your batts with a charger? Becaude if you dont then you need to.

 

[JonM]

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.

I think Mr green is right because it's exactly what happened. Once I did the big three, the voltage started at 14.2-14.3 as opposed to 13.8-13.7 ( then going up to 14.4 while driving when the system is at normal listening levels). Once I did the big three that alt couldn't handle all of the 5000 watts and the voltage dropped like a rock.

 

[JonM]

I'm getting the alt installed today, so I'll see what happens

 

[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

I think Mr green is right because it's exactly what happened. Once I did the big three, the voltage started at 14.2-14.3 as opposed to 13.8-13.7 ( then going up to 14.4 while driving when the system is at normal listening levels). Once I did the big three that alt couldn't handle all of the 5000 watts and the voltage dropped like a rock.

Well let's see...you can believe someone that's hardly on here, some of us whom been into car audio a long time, etc. I can't make you choose sides. However, doing the big 3 SHOULD NOT decrease voltage. It should have increased it a little bit. You may have a faulty alt w/o you realizing it. Unless your instrument lights starting dimming w/o stereo on then yeah I'd say something inside your alt is starting to fail.

Again....I can't make you believe MrGreen. Hopefully other members chime in and maybe they have other ideas of what's going on. Have you checked the things I suggested or just going with a member said with less than 100 posts?

 

[Hertz Mafia]

Big three is a must. You prly had poor connections causing worse voltage drop. If you do it right you will benefit from it.

 

[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

Big three is a must. You prly had poor connections causing worse voltage drop. If you do it right you will benefit from it.

Prolly something stupid/simple fix he's not willing to check.

But hey we can't make him. Why come here asking if your not willing to fix the problem>?

I don't think he understands how electrical works.

 

[JonM]

Should i dare ask if you charge your batts with a charger? Becaude if you dont then you need to.

No, I've had it like this for 2 months and haven't had any problems. I might listen to the stereo at full tilt for maybe 20 minutes total a day. Some days I just listen to talk radio or im not driving the car. I haven't had any electrical issues or voltage going below 11.9 volts on the stock alt with no big three. Jason installed the 300 amp alt today so I'm going to see how this goes. I don't know if I wasted my money buying the $550 alt plus $100 install and $70 for big three up grade and new battery terminals.

 

[JonM]

Well let's see...you can believe someone that's hardly on here, some of us whom been into car audio a long time, etc. I can't make you choose sides. However, doing the big 3 SHOULD NOT decrease voltage. It should have increased it a little bit. You may have a faulty alt w/o you realizing it. Unless your instrument lights starting dimming w/o stereo on then yeah I'd say something inside your alt is starting to fail.

Again....I can't make you believe MrGreen. Hopefully other members chime in and maybe they have other ideas of what's going on. Have you checked the things I suggested or just going with a member said with less than 100 posts?

So you're saying their should be no sharp voltage drop with the big thee done?

 

[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

This Jason guy...did you talk to him about your issue?

 

---------- Post added at 09:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:41 PM ----------

 

So you're saying their should be no sharp voltage drop with the big thee done?

That is absolutely correct. IF you weren't having issues.

But as already stated, your having issues and we're here trying to figure out what's going on.

 

[JonM]

This Jason guy...did you talk to him about your issue? 

---------- Post added at 09:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:41 PM ----------

 

That is absolutely correct. IF you weren't having issues.

But as already stated, your having issues and we're here trying to figure out what's going on.

I apologize, I don't think I was clear. I'm trying to find out if the upgrade was worth it. I didn't have any problems till i did the big three (so I disconnected it). The car was running fine without the H/O alt and big three upgrade. I was hoping the upgrade would keep my voltage at at least 14 volts with stereo all the way up. At 14.5 volts vs 12.5 volts my amp puts out 1670 more watts which is a noticeable difference in sound volume and pressure. My subs are 2 ohm and amp is one ohm so amp is at half power running at 4,000 watts so subs are not getting full wattage. I'm trying to figure out if I made a good choice because I could have sold the 2 Orion's and bought the 4 ohm versions and maxed them out or bought 2 zv5s or anything else around $700 a speaker.

 

[JonM]

I did talk to Jason. He said Ito be ok if I left it like it was without the big three and no H/O alt.

 

[tymoto21 10+ year member]

Where are you measuring your voltage

It should be measure at the amp inputs

If it's at the front you will have drop from front to back

Your alt and front battery will put out as much current as they can regardless of if you did the big 3 or not

If you don't have it you could very easily burn your wireand cause a fire with that high output alt and that much power

If you have 8awg wire it will still draw 400A but the wire will heat up and you will have greater voltage drop at the amp

 

[Hertz Mafia]

Sounds like your listening to whatever your installer is telling you. 1670 watts is a pretty weird number that you keep stateing from 14.5 to 12.5v... and you keep saying yours subs are 2ohm... so u have dual 2ohm woofers and u wired both of them to end up with a final load of 2ohm? Because isn't that Orion 8k able to handle .5ohm load? I'm willing to bet half your problem is being wired at 2ohms you are trying to get all u can out the amp and clipping it and your voltage will go down fast if your clipping... running the amp at .5ohm will be harder on the electrical then 2ohm but if you set your gains for CLEAN POWER your amp should put out cleanpower with good voltage. Just get a voltmeter hooked right at the amp and don't drop below 12v. Idk I guess I wouldn't recommend you running half OHM because clearly your a beginning. Not hating we all start out somewhere.