E-man007

I found this alternator on ebay for 125.Im thinking of upgrading and wanted your opinions on this item. My lights are dimming with the bass in sound system and wanted to see if this is a good deal.I've heard that a high amp isn't necessarily better.Is this true?
Heres the info on the Alternator:
"you are looking at a 100% Brand NEW CS130 Series IR/EF Alternator for Delco , 12 Volt, Alternator that has been wound for 180 Ampsthis alternator is a direct bolt on for 1987-1992 Camaros and Firebirds Most engines ,,Comes with 6-Groove Pulley...This Alternator will also fit1993-91) Buick 5.0L, 5.7L (1992-91) Cadillac 5.0L, 5.7L (1993-87) Chevrolet, GMC 4.3L, 5.0L, 5.7L (1992-91) Oldsmobile 5.0L, 5.7L (1992-90) Pontiac 5.0L, NOTE: Output Wire must be Upgraded to 4 guage cable for these to work right .if you dont have a source for a good 4 guage, We can supply you with a 6' piece that has a soldered, Crimped & heat shrunk eyelet on each end, and enclosed in plastic wire loom for protection against Chaffing. ..cost of the Cable is $18.00 Winning bidder pays $15.00 Insures S&H Continental US only.. other areas Higher."

CamaroRS91x

Yeah anyone have any suggestions about it? Because I'm looking into it also. Thanks

Aviator857

Your lights will still dim with the base, you need to put in a battery Isolator and a seprate battery for the system, then you can run the higher amp Alt. without dimming, of corse the standard 105 Amp Alt will work also with this set up but will be under more stress say output of 85 -95 amps wich will wear it out faster the 180 w amp alt will be able to produce the amprage with more ease up to about 120 amps and at lower RPM's. Just rember unless you drive you car around at 3-4k rpms all the time you alt will never reach its max output. The light diming problem is normaly a limitation in the wiring as well as the draw on the battery, thats why an isolator and separate battery is used in big systems.

nedry

I've been thinking along similar lines due to all the electronics I intend to add into the car I'm planning, and I was wondering about this:

http://www.alternatorparts.com/Doubl...fier_cs144.htm

A 250-amp max-output version of a CS-144. I'm planning on having at least one, quite possibly two, full "desktop" PC's built in to run various accessories, plus the scanner, plus I'm gonna need standby power for my laptop, personal scanner, and the GPS unit.

At highway speed, the engine/drivetrain that Vader recommended over @ Tech/General Engine would be doing about 1600-1700rpm on the highway, and he also recommnded going with a 140-amp alternator. What do you folks think would be the better way to go, given the electrical load in question?

Later.
nedry OUT

Aviator857

I had a PC in my car for a while running on a 300 watt power supply k6-500 system to play MP3's etc. and A 4.5 Inch LCD where My radio would of been(the PC had a tuner card in it). I ran it with a seprate battery alone side my 350 watt power amp, I had a noise filter on each line, you need a relatively clean power signal for the computer, I recomend using a UPS on the PC, unless you are building/buying a DC power supply, although the computer runs on 12V DC current it also has to have +5V and -5V (not just ground a -5VDC source) current power supply, and the 12V needs to be real clean, which a straight alternator cant do. Look to pay about 400 or more for a good DC power supply for a PC, or you can run a $50 inverter and a standard 115 VAC pc ATX or AT ps with a UPS. With this set up I was running A 140 Amp alternator, but have lone since changed it out with a 105 amp running just a 350 watt amp, so I have taken out the seprate battery.

And really you souldn't need two PC's just use a decent motherboard with two serial ports and a video card with A/V or S-video out to run the LCD. If you are planning on making the system voice activated you need to run no less than 1.5 GHZ and 512mb ram (rambus or DDR).