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<blockquote data-quote="sexy" data-source="post: 8036088" data-attributes="member: 612355"><p>There are some people who would say yes to that and tell you to total up how much power your accessories use by adding up the fusses but that really does not work.</p><p></p><p>There are a bunch of battery salesmen on here that will tell you just to add another battery but that’s not going to fix anything if your using more power than the alternator can make.</p><p></p><p>A 900 watt amp playing music would only draw maximum power for tenths of a second like on big bass hits. Your power usage on that amp playing music will bounce all over the scale but if your voltage does not drop and continue to drop then your producing enough power to keep up. If you were seeing 14.4 with the engine running and amp off then you turn on the amp and your voltage starts dropping and continues to drop the longer you have the amp playing you need a bigger alternator.</p><p></p><p>The only way you would ever use full power from that amp for more than tenths of a second would be if you were playing a test tone for an extended period of time and the only people who do that are competing in spl competitions.</p><p></p><p>I would only consider upgrading an alternator if I could see my voltage dropping on a continues downward path. If your voltage is bouncing around while playing music but always staying near 14 volts I would not worry about it.</p><p></p><p>Pay attention to what your voltage does when the alternator is warm to be sure because alternators do about 20% less work when they are hot.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="sexy, post: 8036088, member: 612355"] There are some people who would say yes to that and tell you to total up how much power your accessories use by adding up the fusses but that really does not work. There are a bunch of battery salesmen on here that will tell you just to add another battery but that’s not going to fix anything if your using more power than the alternator can make. A 900 watt amp playing music would only draw maximum power for tenths of a second like on big bass hits. Your power usage on that amp playing music will bounce all over the scale but if your voltage does not drop and continue to drop then your producing enough power to keep up. If you were seeing 14.4 with the engine running and amp off then you turn on the amp and your voltage starts dropping and continues to drop the longer you have the amp playing you need a bigger alternator. The only way you would ever use full power from that amp for more than tenths of a second would be if you were playing a test tone for an extended period of time and the only people who do that are competing in spl competitions. I would only consider upgrading an alternator if I could see my voltage dropping on a continues downward path. If your voltage is bouncing around while playing music but always staying near 14 volts I would not worry about it. Pay attention to what your voltage does when the alternator is warm to be sure because alternators do about 20% less work when they are hot. [/QUOTE]
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