Voltage drop, does this bother you guys too ???

[Fishchris]

Because it bothers the chit out of me ☹
So my electrical is plenty strong. I'm running a 320 amp Pro Power alternator, a 100 ah AGM and a 500 farad XS Power supercapacitor.
I can play full tilt (just below clipping) and hold 14.5V when driving, and it will only drop to say 14.3'ish at idle > when the truck is cool, or I've just fired the truck up in the last 15 minutes or so, and the ECU is trying to get everything juiced back to full.
But then, it drops to like 13.8 or even 13.6 on a hot day, and doesn't even matter if the system is turned on or not !

In other words, how charged up my battery is, and how hot of a day it is, has everything to do with my voltage. My system has almost zero effect on my voltage...

And the thing is, I can hear a HUGE difference when my amps are getting 14.5 volts, vs. 13.6 !

Your thoughts ?

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[Jonnyswboy]

I have the problem with heat too! For the life of me I cannot figure out the cause of the problem. 14.2 normally. 13.3-6 on hot days.

I am running stock alt and was going to get a singer. I was hoping it would solve the problem.

 

[JakeW]

Just curious if your amp does it rated power at 14.4v or lower?

Because it bothers the chit out of me ☹
So my electrical is plenty strong. I'm running a 320 amp Pro Power alternator, a 100 ah AGM and a 500 farad XS Power supercapacitor. I’m
I can play full tilt (just below clipping) and hold 14.5V when driving, and it will only drop to say 14.3'ish at idle > when the truck is cool, or I've just fired the truck up in the last 15 minutes or so, and the ECU is trying to get everything juiced back to full.
But then, it drops to like 13.8 or even 13.6 on a hot day, and doesn't even matter if the system is turned on or not !

In other words, how charged up my battery is, and how hot of a day it is, has everything to do with my voltage. My system has almost zero effect on my voltage...

And the thing is, I can hear a HUGE difference when my amps are getting 14.5 volts, vs. 13.6 !

Your thoughts ?

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

It may be the car computer doing that. My Explorer generation was notorious for not charging above 13.5-13.8v from factory.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

That's a huge reason why I got an external voltage regulator. I'm choosing my charging voltage, thank you very much.

 

[Fishchris]

Just curious if your amp does it rated power at 14.4v or lower?

It definitely does at 14.4... in fact,Wolfram days it does 2400, while it actually does 1535 bench tested by Williston, but I don't remember the exact volts he gave it to get that... Or if he tested it at lower voltage. I can definitely hear a difference between 14.5 and 13.5 volts though !

 

[Fishchris]

That's a huge reason why I got an external voltage regulator. I'm choosing my charging voltage, thank you very much.

Hey Buck, yes,I'm sure it's the onboard computer changing the voltage regulator....
I know I could add a separate voltage regulator, but I've been told it could significantly reduce the life of my alternator ? Still, I dunno. I don't think I'm stressing my alt that much as it is.... Still considering a separate VR ?

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

Hey Buck, yes,I'm sure it's the onboard computer changing the voltage regulator....
I know I could add a separate voltage regulator, but I've been told it could significantly reduce the life of my alternator ? Still, I dunno. I don't think I'm stressing my alt that much as it is.... Still considering a separate VR ?

Man I had a 300 amp alt on my explorer for 7 years, idk that's a long time for me. The only time I broke was my fault. Don't jump start a fiero on the side of the interstate with your nice alt running, fyi. That's the only time my alt broke.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

I don't get how an external voltage regulator would shorten your life span at all. It really shouldn't have a relevance either way, I would think.

 

[shredder2]

[QUOTE="Fishchris, post: 8746248, member: 683065"
In other words, how charged up my battery is, and how hot of a day it is, has everything to do with my voltage. My system has almost zero effect on my voltage...

Your thoughts ?
[/QUOTE]

In Az we go out of our way to buy what you'd consider "bulletproof" electrical but even then on race day sometimes 12-13V happens. Get a strong amp and feed it... yes. I'd quit worrying about minutiae is my advice. A 320 /w/ agm and a cap bank on a Wolfie 2400 is taxing your electrical?
Even wired .5 and clipping you'll see around 12v I bet. Either fix it or live with it. Heat is hard to account for in a vehicle and without a secondary battery your starting in the hole imo. You got alt, stiffening and almost enough reserve.
Finding those limits is half the fun with this hobby. I'd add Ah and maybe see what happens personally.

 

[LsGuy]

Because it bothers the chit out of me ☹
So my electrical is plenty strong. I'm running a 320 amp Pro Power alternator, a 100 ah AGM and a 500 farad XS Power supercapacitor.
I can play full tilt (just below clipping) and hold 14.5V when driving, and it will only drop to say 14.3'ish at idle > when the truck is cool, or I've just fired the truck up in the last 15 minutes or so, and the ECU is trying to get everything juiced back to full.
But then, it drops to like 13.8 or even 13.6 on a hot day, and doesn't even matter if the system is turned on or not !

In other words, how charged up my battery is, and how hot of a day it is, has everything to do with my voltage. My system has almost zero effect on my voltage...

And the thing is, I can hear a HUGE difference when my amps are getting 14.5 volts, vs. 13.6 !

Your thoughts ?

I didn't see you mention big 3 anywhere? Heat is an efficiency killer, and if your wiring is already not large enough, heat isn't going to help. Not saying it's your problem, but if you haven't done it that would be my next move.

 

[Fishchris]

I didn't see you mention big 3 anywhere? Heat is an efficiency killer, and if your wiring is already not large enough, heat isn't going to help. Not saying it's your problem, but if you haven't done it that would be my next move.

I did all that stuff so long ago (13 years) that I've almost forgot about it Actually my friend / ace mechanic did that for me...

 

[Fishchris]

I don't get how an external voltage regulator would shorten your life span at all. It really shouldn't have a relevance either way, I would think.

Im mostly just going by what I have heard from multiple sources... But also, of course an alternator is going to have to work harder to make 14.5 volts, than it does to make 13.5. So obviously this will shorten the lifespan of the alt by a little, and if its only a little, I wouldn't worry about it. Heck, my stock alt was over 10 years old, and had been beaten to death its entire life, and still never completely died, but was just starting to get really tired

 

[Fishchris]

[QUOTE="Fishchris, post: 8746248, member: 683065"
In other words, how charged up my battery is, and how hot of a day it is, has everything to do with my voltage. My system has almost zero effect on my voltage...

Your thoughts ?

In Az we go out of our way to buy what you'd consider "bulletproof" electrical but even then on race day sometimes 12-13V happens. Get a strong amp and feed it... yes. I'd quit worrying about minutiae is my advice. A 320 /w/ agm and a cap bank on a Wolfie 2400 is taxing your electrical?
Even wired .5 and clipping you'll see around 12v I bet. Either fix it or live with it. Heat is hard to account for in a vehicle and without a secondary battery your starting in the hole imo. You got alt, stiffening and almost enough reserve.
Finding those limits is half the fun with this hobby. I'd add Ah and maybe see what happens personally.
[/QUOTE]
That's just it.... I don't think my stereo system is taxing my electrical at all. It will charge at 14.5 volts, playing my system at full tilt. Then, on a hot day, after I've been driving for a while, I can have the stereo and amps turned completely off, and my charging drops to 13.6. Which again, if I crank my system up at 13.6, I can totally hear the difference in the output, vs. when its charging at 14.5 volts...

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

It may be the car computer doing that.

This

That's a huge reason why I got an external voltage regulator.

And this.

OR if you really feel this is making an audible difference, buy some higher quality amps that use regulated power supply so that you will get the same output power regardless of source voltage (within operating limits).