HyperZ

So, yesterday I spent a good amount of time driving back home with a alternator that is spitting out about 9.5v and wants to die everytime I spin it above 2k RPMs. The fact that this car and thus battery is so new is probably what kept the car running. I had to charge up the battery a couple of times before I got home though.

The thing is this, I don't have a terribly huge setup. I have one eDesign amp that pushes 150x2 and an Alpine class D amp that pushes 600w. I also have a car computer setup with a power supply that can pull up to 220w. I am drawing about 160w from it, at full power.

Recently I added a capacitor to the mix because my amps were clipping like crazy. So, I'm confused now what to do. This all doesn't seem like a sure-fire recipe for a dead alternator. The computer has been in for a couple of weeks, but I only used it on occasion since I hadn't completed it yet. The cap was in there for a couple of days.

I can imagine the cap may have caused more strain on the alternator, but could the cap itself have caused the alternator to fry? I thought at first, maybe my wiring is bad and I either shorted something out. This is possible and may have led to the dead alt. I suppose if my grounding was just weak, I would lose output from the amps, but it wouldn't cause the alternator to just die on me right?

So, basically Toyota wants $380 for a new alternator and I'm thinking why pay that much for an alternator that will die if I push all my equipment on? I can buy a cheap Duralast and then see if I can have someone make a higher output alternator for my car.

Do you think I should go that route or should I seriously be fine with the stock alternator and look for a faulty ground somewhere in my wiring?

Thanks.

P.S. - I also wanted to note that the problems really only started appearing after the cap. My computer's power supply will not run unless it is seeing 12v from the remote wire. I didn't realize it at first (thinking the power supply was at fault) but the computer kept shutting off because it was only seeing 9.8v after it started up. I don't know if that makes sense... it saw 12v until it started and then saw 9.8. In any case, it should have been seeing 13.3v since that is what was normal for my car's alternator.

Neothin

you can get an iraggi alt for that price. iraggi's start at 200 amps and go up from there.

you really need to find the cause though. Alternators shouldnt just die on you.

people on here have been pounding far more power with their systems for a while and this is like the only time i've heard of hte alt pooping out on them.

HyperZ

Exactly. I just don't see how so little (relatively) power can cause an alternator to die. I have under 18k miles on the car, and sure I crank my music, but so does everyone else.

At this moment I have a limping car, so I'm thinking "Go get the cheap Duralast alternator and see if I can get a HO alternator from Iraggi' would probably be the best bet. I can't just be without a car for long though while a custom application is built for me.

But yeah, Toyota dealers are serious, man. $720 they want for a new alt, battery and labor. I guess I will see if Iraggi can build an alternator for this car. Thanks.

Neothin

he can. he was running a GB on scikotics a little while ago for them.

steedums

1100 watts @ 12v = 92amps...
having a cap prevents the sub from drawing too much from the alternator, but I'm guessing the alternator was toast before you got the cap
whats the stock alternator rated at? perhaps you should look into a heavier duty model

nebster

sttedums caps are completely pointless. here read this if you think a cap works.

http://forum.sounddomain.com/forum/u...=5;t=010990;p=

HyperZ

I believe the stock is rated at 90A. I did the math, using the amplifiers' efficiency ratings-- 80% for the Alpine and 68% for the eDesign. The power supply for the computer I am not sure about, but I just assumed to take the top figure.

I guess however I go, I will have to look at ripping all my wiring out and carefully going over it to make sure nothing is causing a short. It seems a lot more likely that a short caused this problem than too much current draw.

And to the post about caps... OK, let's not start a riot in here, but the cap stopped my amps from clipping all the time, the amps sounded smoother and it got rid of the ground loop that was always present from my crossover. Or maybe it was just that my alternator was beyond dying at that point and just stopped whining...?

Anyway, thanks for all the comments. I should be picking up my car this morning to take it home. Hopefully this cheap ___ Duralast alternator won't be worthless. If it can give me a few months, I'll be content.

nodsetse

^Caps are a good thing, I've used one for ~16 years. The cap shouldn't have anything to do with your issues, the timing of it's installation and your alternator problem is just coincidental.