Well now I'm bumin'..
Just blew another alternator. What the f#$^!!!! Any way... I think when i replace it I going to go with a 160 amp alt. With everything I have installed I think its a good Idea. Also thought about adding a cap cause my voltage gauge used to drop way below 13v. I already upgrade the alt wiring.
Suggestions comment?????

 

upgrade battery to a yellow top?

 

You definately need to upgrade the alternator. I'm not a big fan of caps, but it would definately help. I would probably look at getting a second battery. What kind of battery are you using right now? I would check out Optima's Yellow Top Deep Cycle battery. They are about the best for this type of stuff. Hope that helps.

Matt

 

I,m running a sears Die hard batery thats less than a year old!

How do I wire in a second battery? and would that be better than a cap?

I do have a 160 amp alt coming on Monday. I just don't have a car until than.

 

wiring in a second battery will only make your voltage problems worse. THE ONLY thing a second batt does for you is give you an extended time with the motor off. When the motor is running its simply another LOAD.

The alt's that you have blown, what are they? Autozone/Oriely's/NAPA etc replacements? If so that could be your problem, those aren't that great to begin with (i have also gone through one or two of them).

If your having large voltage drops for extended time periods a cap will also NOT HELP. They only help for small short drops in voltage.

 

The alts were from a local discount parts store. So if I still experiance a voltage drop with the 160amp alt you suggest i get a cap?

 

what kind of amps do you have? Unless you have some serious honkin power a 160A alt will be MORE THAN enough and if you have voltage problems then there is something WRONG. But caps could help. If you do have probs try to 'borrow' a cap from a friend and see if it helps. If you don't know anyone I have 2 1F Monster caps I am selling. $50/each. Much better than going and spending $130.....

 

I have three qalpine v12 amps
mrv 1002 , mrv501, mrv501

How long have you had the caps? Ive heard they only last a year

 

I also have underbody neon and neon rings for the subs.


check sig. as well

 

Just a thought. On a car I had in the past with a large system we did the following: Upgraded the alternator, put in two extra batteries (Optima's), and ran a MBR70. The MBR 70 was made by orion and then I think it changed to WIRED which is still an Orion product. I can't remember the excact details but I believe its job was to first charge my main battery then it would monitor my aux batteries. It was a way to keep all the batteries charged without to much load on the alternator. Also had a cap. The guts of the system were three orion 250 HCCA and 8 subs. Never had an electrical problem.

 

How much does sothin like that cost?

 

I can't really remember because it has been awhile. I think it was around $150 but don't quote me. I checked ebay for the fun of it and right now if you type in MBR there is one for sale with a cap. It's item number 1375372113. I don't know where else to get one but I'm sure if you look online you can find it. Orion has been wierd to me lately. You see stuff for sale like the MBR 70 and the 6MB and 8MB's but there is no mention of it on the website. I think someone needs to update the site or something.

 

Where did you hear they only last a year? That is completely wrong. Caps are designed to last for many years. I ran the same cap for 2yrs doing competition, never had a problem. I then sold it to a friend and it has been almost three years and he still has that same cap.

I HIGHLY recommend a cap for any stereo system. They are designed to prevent the drain that is most damaging to your charging system. They store voltage that is drawn off of when your amp peaks instead of pulling the power directly from your alternator. The voltage fluctuation is what causes the alternators to fail.

 

I think I read it in a post on this board that they anly last a year. I'll do a seach and see if i con find it!

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...ight=cap+farad

 

I challenge any one of those who posted on that subject to even try to prove that. I studied Data Systems Technology as well as Advanced Electronic Repair while I served in The US Navy. They are completly and absolutely wrong about not only a "shelf-life" but about the percentage of people who need caps.

If you have an amplifier, you need a cap!

Your cars electrical and charging system is not designed to withstand the strain put onto it by high power audio components. The capacitor keeps your charging system from being drawn upon too heavily...that IS a fact.

I will gladly explain how electronic components work to anyone who does not fully understand them. Someone saying that a Capacitor will only last a year is absolutely not giving you any facts.

If that were true, anything you own that runs off of electricity would quit working after a year. Almost every single thing you buy, T.V.'s, refrigierators, vcr's, cd players, amplifiers, microwaves, etc. all use many capacitors to store the electricity they run off of. Capacitors have many functions. All capacitors work exactly the same. This again IS a fact.

 

Not really, take a look at the math in dealing with caps of this size, the currents being drawn and the very large ESR's involved with these large caps....it helps very little. Now if your competing and every tenth of a decibal counts, then yeah you NEED it.

 

We've had this cap lifespan debate before. In short, as long as it's not misused, it will live alot longer then a year.
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...light=cap+year

 

Thanks for you help guys. I'll probably get a cap next month. My 160 amp alt will be here tomarrow. I'll let you know how it works out.

 

A Optima Yellow Battery would not be a bad idea........

You have any pics of your set-up????

 

I work in a network of 20 computers connecting through a hub. The set up is in a building that repairs and test cell phones. There are 5 computers in the front of the building that work fine. There are 5 more computers on the shipping docks. And the other computers 10 computers are stationed at each work table to track phones and pagers that have been repaired. The computers in the front and the docks all work fine. But the 10 computers at the work station experience frequent disconnects from the network. The computers are still operational but they can not log the repairs. What could be the problem¿

 

I'm acualy looking in to getting one of those too. As for picture of my setup... I'm going to borrow my bro's digital camera one of theese days. I'll let you know when I get them up.

Higher amp alternator seem to help at traveling speeds but at Idle my voltage was still droping below 13v. Sooooo..... Next step is a Cap and a Optima Yellow top.

 

redbird_400, if the network cables cross over or run close to power lines, it can mess up your network signals.. thats the only thing i can think of, just check over where the network cables run and make sure they're not right next to power cables...

 

Damn, you win the prize. Which is jack $hit but its yours. But it was EMI electromagnetic interference. I dont really work in that building but I use to. Right now I'm doing tech support for basic cable modems. They were to cheap to get STP(shielded twisted pair) ethernet cords. That or the IT people were just stupid. Yeah with all that cell phone equitment programing baud rates and testing them. It was impossible to even get a clear radio staion or use a working cell phone in there. The computers dont work half the time because of this. Last I heard they were going out of business.

 

a cap will prevent you from having quick voltage drops that to make it easy will make your headlights dim when a major bass note hits. a good rule of thumb is 1 farad per 1000 watts max i beleive. i have run the same cap since 1999 and it is still in great condition.

when you post you have to take into account the amount of people who dont fully know what they are talking about. alot of people are just dead set against certain things and will not admit they are good or whateva the case may be.

in short. a cap will def help out.