Wat The Heck With This Readings.

[MmatsDude 10+ year member]

http://www.hifisoundconnection.com/Shop/Control/Product/fp/vpid/1557823/vpcsid/0/SFV/30046

^ So I have one of those stinger volt meter with fuse holder in between my batt and alt(on big 3)

its reading over 13 volts @ idle and when i rev it up it puts out over 15 volts but the amperage is in between 40 and 70 amps //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif the fuses are good too

can it be reading the amps wrong?

then when i was done reving it the amperage came down to like under 10 amps

its a 180 amp EA alt i dont understand //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/verymad.gif.3f39c5c2fd57527b671fad3efdfac756.gif is this normal?

all the connections are good i have 3 grounds on my big 3 etc :[

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[MmatsDude 10+ year member]

up

 

[gotparts90 10+ year member]

if it has a smaller pulley on it see if it is slipping. Check for belt dust around the alternator and inside it. If it slips get a smaller belt or space the alternator away further. Did you have this unit tested before you put it in? If you did not have it tested by a professional. They will tell you what it does. It needs a load to "put out" amps to so put on all accs. while you test it.

 

[MmatsDude 10+ year member]

if it has a smaller pulley on it see if it is slipping. Check for belt dust around the alternator and inside it. If it slips get a smaller belt or space the alternator away further. Did you have this unit tested before you put it in? If you did not have it tested by a professional. They will tell you what it does. It needs a load to "put out" amps to so put on all accs. while you test it.

nah it doesnt have a smaller pulley on it the belt is fine, yeah EA tests them before they ship out i had it tested at pep boys too and its fine

what do you mean by ''It needs a load to put out amps to so put on all accs while you test it''??

dam'nit im kinda worried that the alt might be not workin properly

when i started the car it was giving me over 13 volts and the volt meter read in between 40 and 60 amps after 10 minutes it went down to 12.5 volts and it was reading 0 amps //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

 

[tsupra98 10+ year member]

nah it doesnt have a smaller pulley on it the belt is fine, yeah EA tests them before they ship out i had it tested at pep boys too and its fine
what do you mean by ''It needs a load to put out amps to so put on all accs while you test it''??

dam'nit im kinda worried that the alt might be not workin properly

when i started the car it was giving me over 13 volts and the volt meter read in between 40 and 60 amps after 10 minutes it went down to 12.5 volts and it was reading 0 amps //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

it sounds like it's not reading right. even at idle it should be up around 14 volts and still pulling some amps.

and what the other guy was talking about is in order for your alt to put out the 180 amps it's supposed to you have to be pulling 180 amps or more from somewhere. so say your amp is rated at 100 amps at max. then when you have your system turned up all the way then it should be reading over 100 amps bacause your car itself will draw some amps if it's started.

the reason you might only be reading what you are is because that might be all your car needs at the time. when you're looking at the meter is it with just the car running or is that with like the ac running and your system going? also what size wire do you have running to that meter thing?

 

[MmatsDude 10+ year member]

it sounds like it's not reading right. even at idle it should be up around 14 volts and still pulling some amps.
and what the other guy was talking about is in order for your alt to put out the 180 amps it's supposed to you have to be pulling 180 amps or more from somewhere. so say your amp is rated at 100 amps at max. then when you have your system turned up all the way then it should be reading over 100 amps bacause your car itself will draw some amps if it's started.

the reason you might only be reading what you are is because that might be all your car needs at the time. when you're looking at the meter is it with just the car running or is that with like the ac running and your system going? also what size wire do you have running to that meter thing?

that meter you see there is a fuse holder too, it is intalled between the battery and the alt on my big 3, is being used as a fuse and volt/amp meter, nah i didnt have the ac running

that could be it though i dont have anything hooked up yet and yeah it reads that when i have the car on all my wire size is 1/0 on my big 3 but like you said hopefully is that

 

[TurdFergueson2 5,000+ posts]

Make sure the wiring is right. When I got mine put on, the diagram for the wiring or my stock harness was different. When we wired it like we thought the voltage was similar to yours. Switching it brought it over 14. You may just have it wired up wrong if you had to tap into the stock harness.

Or the meter is not right. My battery reads over 12 on my hc800, but it showed under 12 off of a cap I had that laying around.

 

[MmatsDude 10+ year member]

Make sure the wiring is right. When I got mine put on, the diagram for the wiring or my stock harness was different. When we wired it like we thought the voltage was similar to yours. Switching it brought it over 14. You may just have it wired up wrong if you had to tap into the stock harness.
Or the meter is not right. My battery reads over 12 on my hc800, but it showed under 12 off of a cap I had that laying around.

You may just have it wired up wrong if you had to tap into the stock harness.

^what do you mean by that?

I actually added on to the harness a piece of 4 guage wire so it could reach my battery post and my big 3 1/0 wire that goest to alt from batt is connected too. when i start up the car my voltage is fine its over 13 and 14 it stays on 13.5 then after 10 minutes it goes to the 12's and it reads 0 amps.

what do you mean by switching it?

the volt meter is not reading the battery its reading the current and volts thats passing in between the alt and batt im sure my batt is fine.

Yeah it might be the volt meter.

 

[tsupra98 10+ year member]

that meter you see there is a fuse holder too, it is intalled between the battery and the alt on my big 3, is being used as a fuse and volt/amp meter, nah i didnt have the ac running
that could be it though i dont have anything hooked up yet and yeah it reads that when i have the car on all my wire size is 1/0 on my big 3 but like you said hopefully is that

yea it sounds like it's just the meter. maybe it's what the other guy is saying and you have it hooked up wrong or something. but in order for your alt to put out it's 180 or whatever it is something needs to be asking for 180 amps. so unless you hook something up that is pulling 180 or more amps then you'll never see the alt put out that much.

do you know anyone that has a vat40? if you do have them test it. it just hooks up to your batt and it pulls ALOT or current out it can tell you how much your alt is sending to the batt to try to make up for this drain. i did this to test one of my old alts that was supposed to put out 170 amp but it only ended up putting out 100 amp and that was the second one i had recieved the first one only put out 90 amps.

oh and one more thing. if you are trying to test to see what it puts out make sure you test it at 2000 rpms or whatever the alt is rated to put out it's max power bacause alt don't put out there max at idle

 

[MmatsDude 10+ year member]

yea it sounds like it's just the meter. maybe it's what the other guy is saying and you have it hooked up wrong or something. but in order for your alt to put out it's 180 or whatever it is something needs to be asking for 180 amps. so unless you hook something up that is pulling 180 or more amps then you'll never see the alt put out that much.

do you know anyone that has a vat40? if you do have them test it. it just hooks up to your batt and it pulls ALOT or current out it can tell you how much your alt is sending to the batt to try to make up for this drain. i did this to test one of my old alts that was supposed to put out 170 amp but it only ended up putting out 100 amp and that was the second one i had recieved the first one only put out 90 amps.

oh and one more thing. if you are trying to test to see what it puts out make sure you test it at 2000 rpms or whatever the alt is rated to put out it's max power bacause alt don't put out there max at idle

the stock cables are fine there hooked up to the batt how there supose to be. ill take pics or vid if possible by today so you guys could see whats going on

well i went to try it out for a second time i turned on the car and it was giving me at idle 50 something amps @ 12.5 volts then i steped on the pedal and it read over 100 amps @ 15 volts then i let the pedal go and it gave me like 80 amps @ 13 volts then like 20 seconds passed and it went down too 0 amps @ 12.4 volts LOL oh and i forgot to turn of a little light inside the car the whole night i think the batt re-charged it's self and also b4 turning on the car i turned on the AC for a while and the lights i think it read higher this time cuz batt recharged its self

but the weird thing is is that i have the ac on and lights on @ idle and it still reads in between 0 and 10 amps @ 12.5 volts im like wtf? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

nah idk no one that has a vat40 im ma ask though

 

[tsupra98 10+ year member]

the stock cables are fine there hooked up to the batt how there supose to be. ill take pics or vid if possible by today so you guys could see whats going on

well i went to try it out for a second time i turned on the car and it was giving me at idle 50 something amps @ 12.5 volts then i steped on the pedal and it read over 100 amps @ 15 volts then i let the pedal go and it gave me like 80 amps @ 13 volts then like 20 seconds passed and it went down too 0 amps @ 12.4 volts LOL oh and i forgot to turn of a little light inside the car the whole night i think the batt re-charged it's self and also b4 turning on the car i turned on the AC for a while and the lights i think it read higher this time cuz batt recharged its self

but the weird thing is is that i have the ac on and lights on @ idle and it still reads in between 0 and 10 amps @ 12.5 volts im like wtf? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

nah idk no one that has a vat40 im ma ask though

well it sounds like everything is working fine. as for the 0 amps and 12.5 volts i don't know exactly what thats all about just make sure the batt is still reading 13.7 to 14.7 volts at idle just sitting there with nothing on at idle and if it is then everything is fine. and it also sounds like your alt is working just fine if it was putting out the 100 anps but the 15 volts thing is kinda high it makes me wonder if the volt meter in that isn't to accurate.

 

[Korn4Life 5,000+ posts]

Is the fuse holder grounded ok?

 

[XHiFiX 10+ year member]

You won't see your alt's full amperage output on the meter, until you supply it with more load. To do that, turn on your car's accessories like lights, A/C, and have your stereo playing some bass tones or heavy music. See what readings you get then.