Factory Alternator Not Good Enough

[boominaspire]

I have a 1997 Aspire two door manual transmission. Factory alternator is only 60amps. I am installing a very large audio and video system. Only problem is I cant find an alternator that puts out 125 amps plus. Does anyone have any ideas other than capacitors or dual batteries? I am installing All Sony XPLOD equipment. Headunit, 2 GTX2200 1200watt amps for the subs, 1 SD46x 600watt 4 channel amp, 2 12" Subs, Indash DVD Player, 9" Visor Monitors, Interion Neon accent lights, cooling fans, caps, alarm system, battery tender, optima battery, and adding on power door locks and power windows. Building fiberglass kick panels and rear panels to house the speakers and amps. As you can see I have invested a lot of money, but am short on power to supply everything. I need some help on this one. I have exhausted all my local options. I cant find someone to rebuilt its alternator to HO. Any suggestions?

[sickroachman]

Look in the phone book and find a shop that builds them. There are some limitations as the little festiva/aspire engine can only drive so much, but` I would talk with them and see what they have to say at least.

I found an alternator/radiator place near where I live that can do anything with an alternator.

[Guest]

www.mralternator.com has HO's. I got a quote awhile back for a Festiva, so they will do special orders. But even a 1.6 is really only able to use a 120-130a.

[studdyhalllooser]

i was told that high output GM alternators are relatively cheep...may be more economicly cheep to make a bracket for one of these instead...just my 2 cents tho

[Guest]

I have built a few large systems in my Festiva. At first, I had my 50a Festiva alt rebuilt to 100a and it only lasted a year and died with a poof. Later when I was customizing my dash, I could see where the fuse panel wires had heated up from the high amp draw. (Red and white wires were black and brittle at the connections)

The wiring harness in a Festiva\Aspire really isn't capable of handling the high amp draw. (the wires are too small for that amperage) and I was lucky I didn't have a fire.

I am redoing my a/v system in the black car. I am going with a completely separate circuit for the a/v.(alt+wires+battery)

I will continue to use a stock 50a for the car circuit. And build a bracket and install a 120a where the a/c compressor usually sits and have it charging my optima dry cell for my a/v circuit. My B6 should be able to handle it.

I will also be able to run my system without my buddies having to push start my car when I leave

[mattswabb]

What about an alternator from a bigger mazda like a 626 or milenia or B series truck? Maybe they have the same mounting flanges and I'm sure they have more amps.

[FB71]

I've got a 90A from an SHO, and the ND alts from Toyotas are damn close. Some are 125A.

[Guest]

The problems I have found is the shaft length and the single groove pulley.

Every damn single groove pulley I've found has a shaft size that is too small to fit on the higher amp Mazda alts w/ serpentine pulleys. :evil:

And all the 100a+ single groove pulley alts I've found have too short of a shaft length (older gm) to align right, forget that they won't bolt up.

I'm sure there's one out there that would work, but I haven't found it yet. Until then I'll concentrate on making a bracket to support the gm 120a in the a/c spot.

[Anonymous]

His would be the serpentine belt. I guess that wouldn't matter only switch out the pulleys. Might want to figure out exactly or roughly what your pulling. The company I buy my audio stuff from db Drive says that alternator roughly have 40% reserve so 24 amps since it's 60amps. To calculate what your amps pulls:

By using the fuse value of the amplifier you can get a rough idea of the amount of current draw that will be used under full output power. Although the full output rating is good to determine the total amperage draw in the system, it does not represent the true continuous or averaged amperage draw in the system. Listed below is a simple way to determine the approximate continuous current draw of your amplifier.

1.) Determine fuse value of the amplifier.

2.) Divide the RMS power Rating by the Peak power rating.

Example:

50Watts RMS Divided by 100 Watts Peak Power = .50 (50%)

Once you figure the percentage of RMS vs. Peak power, you multiply the fuse value of the amplifier by the RMS percentage.

Example:

If the amplifiers fuse value was 30A, then 30A multiplied by 50% would be 15A of continuous current draw.

(Copyright by db Drive Research)http://www.dbdrive.net/eng/tech/electrical.html

I don't know how much water it holds. Alot of people just line up the yellow top optima's with serious systems.

[Anonymous]

This might light up your life.

http://www.powermastermotorsports.com/spl_alternators.html

Might take two 1.3's to turn it :laughing8: Crazy stuff out there.

[pazz]

do you not have enough room for another battery?

the system you've got is not that big, but will draw a fair bit from the battery. as the optima is probably one of the best audio batteries around, why not split charge two of them.

that is unless you're always going to have the engine running when you're pumpin' the tunes, then a bigger alt will help.

[Guest]

I agree with pazz. That's what I have now.. Isolator, wire and a nice yellow top optima in the back next to the spare tire. I am using a 1f cap for my sub amp though. Stock alt.

[boominaspire]

Wow This forum is good!

I realize my system is not competition level and does not draw the amperage that the big boys do, but I don't want the lights dimming, alternator dieing, battery draining, wires melting, and who knows what other electrical problems associated with too much pull on an electrical system that the aspire cant handle.

So, I like the idea of a separate charging system and battery. I believe I can make a bracket with no problem. I will put optima battery in the back. Man i am going to miss the spare tire...

The question is...does the head unit have to run off the same electrical system as the amps? Will this separate system reduce the possibility of electrical noise? How should I wire this setup? I am guessing that the body of the car is common ground? A one wire alternator the best choice?

[Guest]

Re: Wow This forum is good!

Man i am going to miss the spare tire...

The question is...does the head unit have to run off the same electrical system as the amps? Will this separate system reduce the possibility of electrical noise? How should I wire this setup? I am guessing that the body of the car is common ground? A one wire alternator the best choice?

The battery will fit on the passenger side of the spare. The head unit doesn't have to be on the same circuit. You shouldn't have signal noise problems because you're on a separate circuit than the engine electrics. Yes the body is the common ground. And I am going with a single wire alt.

[boominaspire]

Not that it is going to be a big issue, but will I loose fuel economy running two alternators? It will be a daily driver too. 100 miles daily. Also an isolator was mentioned. Would it be needed with two separate charging systems?