I'm pullin about 3000 watts out of my amp, and my lights start dimming at about 20 on the vol knob. Anyone know of any larger alternators that would work on our cars?

 

I dont know of any off hand, however you can contact a local shop that rebuilds alternators and starters. they can usually rewind yours to make more amps. This route is the cheapest, but the downfall is they usually generate more heat, which leads to shortened lifespan.

Another route to go, (*more expensive*) is to contact a manufacturer that specializes in H.O. Alternators. If they dont have one already for the TL, they can make you one (for a price!)

try contacting some of these guys. I know Iraggi had an ebay store too

http://www.powermastermotorsports.com/
http://www.highoutputalternator.com/
http://www.excessiveamperage.com/
http://powerbastards.com/default.asp
http://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Ver...r/169812256750
http://iraggi-alternator.com/

 

BTW did you do the big three upgrade? do you have extra batteries?

 

https://www.dcpowerinc.com/

 

Haven't done the big three yet. Planning on doin that this week. Went to a guy that rebuild alts. locally, and he said they're a new design that no one'a doing anything with yet.

 

get a new one

Getting one rebuilt is a waste of time

Also, invest in some batteries

 

Had a yellow top. Still dimmed.

 

yellow tops are trash for high powered systems

you'll need the alternator + 2-3 batts

check out xs power, kinetik, deka, and batcap

 

hmm, ok, I'll have to do some research to figure it out. Thanks

 

Save yourself some money and invest in a capacitor....will mount in trunk and look nice. There are alot of options and sizes for these.

Not sure if you have one already but thought i would throw it out there. Cheaper than optima batts and alternator. The sizes varie by farads...etc Like .5 up to 4.0 or 5.0. Thats alot of charge there to help your batt drain

 

caps are just a bandaid. you will end up with the same problem in the end.

 

Kinetik makes a kickass batt. Friend of mine pulled 6000 watts in a Jeep Cherokee running only 2 Kinetiks and stock alternator

 

Im not runnin near as much as you, only round 800 watts or so with rockford amp and a single L7 12 down to one ohm. One i use works for what i have.

Ive never run that many watts, figured i would throw it out there.

 

Caps are worthless. They don't do any good at all. Just a waste of money. Only throw them in for aesthetics if you got a good looking one for free. Like me I got one for free with the digital voltage read out. I only use it for that. Caps are worthless if you're going to buy caps you can buy a good battery for almost the same price. Look at the price for a cap and then look at the price for a yellow top or kinetic batt and see which is a better buy. Most important is the big three. If that does not solve it then get a HO alt which is tough to find for our cars.

 

^+1 for caps being JUNK. waste of money.

 

I got mine free with my install kit so i have no complaints. I would say they serve sum purpose, but the amps u guys are talkin bout I could see them not bein useful

 

Another thing. I highly doubt you're running that system to it's full capacity most of the time. If you do then you'll be deaf soon. Point I'm trying to make is our car oem alt is pretty efficient and does it's job very well. If you do your big 3 using 0awg wire and making sure your contact points are solid (not againts painted surfaces which defeats the entire purpose) and getting another battery in addition to your after maket high voltage batt if you have one then I don't see why you would really have to go to the expnsive HO rare to find alt. Start with these first then decide if you still need the HO alt if you can find one. Doing the expensive route first is not always the best thing to do unless you have alot of money to throw away then send some my way. Then show me a "soundoff" throphy while you're at it.

 

1) Set your gains properly. With an O-scope or multi-meter

1a) Check with Ohio Generator

2) Caps are useless...like painfully useless...like if you want a cap, just paypal me the $$ and I'll help your charging system just as much although I won't look as shiny and nice in your trunk.

3) Extra batteries will only be a band-aid until you do an alternator.

Also, in addition to upgrading all the underhood wiring, I'd run at least a 2 ga ground from your battery/engine block to where you have the amps grounded. The car's frame is only equivalent to at best a 4 ga cable so you may have 4 0 ga running back, but you are only completing the circuit w/ a 4 ga if you are just going to chassis metal.

On a more philosophical point, perhaps this is not the best car to try and get that much power from. If you are looking for that kind of output may I suggest more woofers, more efficient woofers, a ported box. 3,000 watts isn't exactly easy to support. Especially in a Japanese car that is designed w/ the utmost efficiency in mind.