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Higest Amp Alternator


96DeVille

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I was looking into buying a high amp alternator for my car, but I wanted to know the highest amperage I could go because I need alot of power. If anyone knows the highest available, please let me know, thanks.

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If I am not mistaken, cars that came with heated windshields came with higher output alternators but I don't know if it was interchangable with a none heated windshield unit. Mike

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That is a very interesting question as I have thought about that recently. I being a licensed Amateur Radio opperator and a memeber of NOAA Weathers Sky Warn Net run different types of radio equipment in my 93 seville. It is my duty to be on call during different types of weather events passing emergency information via high powered radio equipment. Some of this equipment pulls much power and I thought about a very high out put alternator but have not followed up on it due to other recent problems. Much bigger problems right Mike??? LOL I will keep an eye on this post and make a few calls if I can get some time.

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I had some time to rsearch for the both of us. I found out that 140Amps is the largest for your car. A GM part # of 10464079. This is what two sources told me.

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The 200 Amp is very interesting. I wonder if it would fit my 93 Seville. I wonder is it a GM part or someone elses part? I only asked about a GM part.

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the alternator for the heated windhseild cares had an extra wires coming off it for the windsheild heater, I dont think it has any higher output thab the 140amp standard, just dedicated wires for the heater.

Thanks

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I have a 300amp Alt on my 94 SLS.i got it from Dominick Iraggi.His Email is dominick@tds.net . I have alot of gear in my car and the alt stays at 14.5 with it all on plus AC in the summer.Its the most realiable thing in my car.Also,i have a adjustable Regularator.Could do 18v DC if i wanted lol but anything higher then 15v will fry the PCM i think.Anyways Take care~Sal

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What size of alternator do you think you need? If you go undersize and incure significant voltage drops across across the other systems in the car, I suspect you could cause a great deal of problems. That's why you really need to think about how you minimize transient power loads in a car loaded with diagnostic sensors and a processor(s).

I saw your post the other day and you stated 3000 watts of power, is that RMS or PEAK rating (this should be listed in the amplifier specifications)?

Just talking round numbers, if you are speaking of 3000 watts RMS (or continuous power), you will be looking at 3000 watts/12 volts = 250 amps plus the car's other systems requirements, or whatever the the OEM alternator is rated at (say 100 amps), thus a minimum of 350 amps.

Again, just talking round numbers, if you are speaking of 3000 watts PEAK power rating, convert PEAK power to RMS power (rule-of-thumb, divide by two, both peak and RMS power should be in amplifier spec.s), you will be looking at 1500 watts/12 volts = 125 amps plus the car's other systems requirements, or whatever the the OEM alternator is rated at (say 100 amps), thus a minimum of 225 amps.

Do not construe a capacitor as a "source" of power, only a "holding tank" of energy, much like an accumulator in a hydraulic system. Power swings up and down in conjunction with sound frequencies, and the capacitor will store any unused capacity during low power intervals and deliver the same with peak power requirements, mostly an overflow for subwoofer demand.

That's why I like installing high power stereo systems in older cars, the only worry is the dimming of the instrument panel lights and headlights .....(to the beat of the music)

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A while back ago I went on a hunt for a dual alt setup, the farthest I got was the dealer telling me to talk to the people that make limos.

Thinking of which... Looking @ the supercharger setup (RIP) & the way it's set up with the shaft going to the other side of the engine pushing the blower...I wonder if that would work with a dual alternator setup, just replace the blower with the alt. (I'm just making it sound easy, I'm sure it'll involve some work)

P.S. Can I buy left over parts from that project :))

This may work on a '96

EBay

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I just bought a Hifonics 2200W x 1 ohm, monoblock amp. I plan to get a yellow top Optima and that 200A alternator. Will the 200A be enough to prevent it from dimming the lights?

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Should be plenty - you will unlikely be using 2200W constantly anyway.

I am running 120A alternator on a 1000W set-up in my other vehicle with no dimming issues.

You can do better than Optima - I'm seriously disappointed in mine. I would go with Odyssey (Stinger is same) or SVR

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So you would recommend an Odyssey battery versus Optima? Has anyone else experienced problems with the Optima? I have only heard good things...

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You might also consider a secondary battery - something like This baby and have an isolator between the two that is only enabled when charging i.e. ignition on, motor running.

Hook the secondary battery to your audio amps & connect the positives between your two batteries using the relay isolator; connect the coil of the isolator relay to ignition supply.

This way you won't get stranded when you run down your secondary battery while playing in teh parking lot with the motor off - your primary battery will remain fully charged and able to crank your motor.

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You might also consider a secondary battery - something like This baby and have an isolator between the two that is only enabled when charging i.e. ignition on, motor running.

Hook the secondary battery to your audio amps & connect the positives between your two batteries using the relay isolator; connect the coil of the isolator relay to ignition supply.

This way you won't get stranded when you run down your secondary battery while playing in teh parking lot with the motor off - your primary battery will remain fully charged and able to crank your motor.

Great idea!!!

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I just bought a Hifonics 2200W x 1 ohm, monoblock amp. I plan to get a yellow top Optima and that 200A alternator. Will the 200A be enough to prevent it from dimming the lights?

Well, not to complicate things, but that will be dependant on the speaker impedance or load you put on the amplifier. Obviously, you are planning on driving several subwoofers.

If your amplifier is rated at 2200 watts at 1 ohm, it must be awfully stable to run at such a low impedance (again, is this PEAK or RMS). I'm sure the amplfier is rated at different impedances. Usually, the higher the impedance, the lower the power output and usually lower distortion levels. So you should first determine what power level and impedance you will be running the amp at RMS, that is 2200 watts @ 1ohm, 1100 watts @ 2 ohm, 550 watts @ 4 ohm (I'm just picking numbers). Then you should size you alternator requirements based on this and the previous discussion of considering other system requirements.

I'm not sure you can wire a network of 4 ohm subwoofers and get less than a 4 ohm network load, so you might consider what the amplifiers power output is at the subwoofer impedance level to determine the wattage you will be driving your amplifier. My guess is you will be somewhat less that 2200 watts...

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Monoblocks are designed to be one ohm stable Willie, specifically to run the highest available power into subwoofer applications. Even single subs are typically dual voice-coil configurations and can be hooked up at one ohm for max power. It is more typical to have multiples, again connected up to get the lowest impedance & hence max power.

Even at max rating, regardless of the impedance and number of speakers - which can't exceed maximum of one ohm load anyway - that is unlikely in continuous mode and the 200A alternator should be fine even in the worst case.

Now with the motor off, battery isn't going to last long, hence my suggestion for an auxiliary for high power demand.

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Monoblocks are designed to be one ohm stable Willie, specifically to run the highest available power into subwoofer applications. Even single subs are typically dual voice-coil configurations and can be hooked up at one ohm for max power. It is more typical to have multiples, again connected up to get the lowest impedance & hence max power.

Even at max rating, regardless of the impedance and number of speakers - which can't exceed maximum of one ohm load anyway - that is unlikely in continuous mode and the 200A alternator should be fine even in the worst case.

Now with the motor off, battery isn't going to last long, hence my suggestion for an auxiliary for high power demand.

So 1 ohm subwooofers are available?

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