What's a stock alternator put out anyway? Is it 100 amps, 105 amps?

And who can recommend a really great alternator for use in a car with a rather large audio system. Mine isn't overbearing, but it does have a 1000watt amp and two subs. As it sits right now, the head lights will dim for a split second when I tap the brakes and when I turn the subs up.

 

Bluezee,
I was oddly about to ask what vehicles had a CS144 alternator (approx 125 amp) that would interchange with my CS130 alternator... If anyone could recommend a good donor car/truck with a CS144 type alternator, that would definitely be a step in the right direction for us both. I would also recommend a battery that has a slightly higher discharge rate than what you currently have...

Another suggestion would be to upgrade that little 10 guage charge wire to a 4 cuage cable from the alternator to the battery. That is a KNOWN bottle neck. Also remember to upgrade the GROUNDS (all of them) to 4 guage. You can simply add the 4 gauge wiring to the car. No need to remove ANY of the existing stock wiring. Besides, the more current capacity the better... Just add 4 gauge charge wiring from the alt to the batt., and add 4 gauge from the batt negative to the chassis, block, and body...

In case you didn't know:
Higher gauge wire is smaller... 10 gauge is smaller than 8 gauge, and 8 is smaller than 4, etc. *just in case*

Hope I helped...
Scott AKA YL

 

So you think a 145 would be big enough?

I did not know that you're supposed to get bigger grounds when upgrading alternators. That's new to me! Thanks!

And yes I knew about the size differences in wiring. And I plan on getting an Optima yellow top shortly after a new alternator.

 

yellow top or red really won't matter for what your doing save the money. you need to find out how much power your really drawing. i have a 145 amp in my car, i've seen 200 but it isn't so much your alternator as your setup. a simple fix for you may be a power distribution piece such as a cap or similar item. i've also heard of issues of going to large with your alternator. i would do an online search on what you need mechanically/electrically and then ask for what part numbers you need to fit the car.

i'm running just under 3,000 at max and my system has a harder time running the power off of my air ride for a long duration then my stereo. there are plenty of good hints and sites to help you if you just search a little. if you end up having that much trouble drop me a line and i'll see what i can dig up.

my setup is currently a 145 amp, 2 yellow tops, battery isolator with 0 guage wiring on the batteries and 4 on the amps (which was overkill).

 

In my +/- 20 years experience with car audio installation I have yet to hear of complications due to a too large alternator. I'm not being a smarty pants, but I would like to learn more about what you've heard. Over charging wouldn't be an issue, since the regulator handles voltage. Over current would ONLY be an issue at the battery, provided that the distribution is adequate for the amplifiers. You can never really have too much current IMO.
Current is gewd. One other thing. Try looking into the 10 year ongoing debate about capacitors vs. batteries. BOTH are storage devices, and require alternator power to replenish. Adding caps is the same as adding batteries. Once depleted, they still need recharging. If the alternator can't keep up, then what else is left to say? Again, please don't read into this that I'm being a smart alek. I'm honestly just trying to make a small point, in a kindly manner...
/YL

 

I strongly agree since I have a 3000 watt system I was killing the little 105 cs130 but I did the "Big 3" upgrade it was a little better and the engine ran better with hyper grounding. I use all 4g wire and nothing but rockford fosgate because of the strand count. My car now has a boat battery with 800cca and a lovely CS130 230amp alternator and my car has never been better, everything is brighter and the amps hit harder and my lights don't even dim at 500rpms thanks to a overdrive pully. I bought my alternator for about 237$ at springhillauto on ebay and the guy was absolutly awsome and helpfull and custom builds and test everything to suite your needs.

 

I just have a rewound CS130 alternator to output 140 amps for my 1400 watt system and it suits me just fine, but I'm also running a second battery through an isolator. You could also try Excessive Amperage, I've heard lots of good things about their alternators but haven't the need to upgrade to one.

http://www.excessiveamperage.com/

 

Dude, is Excessive Amperage reasonable? I need mo' current mehself.

 

Oh thankgod!!! Someone who knows what they are talking about!!!!

 

thank you, thank you... I'll be here all week, LOL.

Bluezee how goes it with your charging system thus far? Any recent progress?