Another F*n Problem
12-22-2009, 12:17 PM
#21
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my battery is dead and i have started looking into a h.o. alternator and a battery.
I think the only reason my optima lasted so long is bc i never used my car. I just started daily driving it and now its TOAST...lol
the reason i put i would run it @ 14.6 was bc i read on the website that it was an option, but i havent even started to look into it.
my system is more than 1000 watts rms already and i still want to get another PDX.
im still going to get another pdx, do you still think it will be overkill. 
so will it do any damage if i go with such a big alternator Kwame?
how many amps would you recomend? also i thought your car would only use as many amps as it needs?
correct me if im wrong please, im asking so i can get it right the first time.
thank you Paul
I think the only reason my optima lasted so long is bc i never used my car. I just started daily driving it and now its TOAST...lol
the reason i put i would run it @ 14.6 was bc i read on the website that it was an option, but i havent even started to look into it.
my system is more than 1000 watts rms already and i still want to get another PDX.
I just want to add. I use to have a yellow top only lasted a year than died. I also have had batteries that would rest at something like 13.2 but would never start a car even after a good charge. My bet is that the battery is going dead. Take it to sears have them check it and if it is bad get a gold series die hard. The battery name brand that he recommended I have never heard of. Also upgrading your alt would probably fix the problem. BUT you would be putting all your load on the alt itself if the battery is bad. Unless your system is pushing over 1000 watts RMS and or your lights dim I would not recommend upgrading your alt.
so will it do any damage if i go with such a big alternator Kwame?
how many amps would you recomend? also i thought your car would only use as many amps as it needs?
correct me if im wrong please, im asking so i can get it right the first time.
My alternator is 240amp.
350amp aye? Yeah you'll be regretting that. The bigger the alternator the more power its going to take for your motor to spin it. Not to mention with your setup you mentioned earlier if your vehicle is properly wired you wouldn't need anywhere close to that.
350amp aye? Yeah you'll be regretting that. The bigger the alternator the more power its going to take for your motor to spin it. Not to mention with your setup you mentioned earlier if your vehicle is properly wired you wouldn't need anywhere close to that.
OK An Alpine PDX 1.1000 will drive a load as low as 2 ohms.
A JL 10W6v2 is a dual 4 ohm woofer.
If you were running one of them you'd parallel the two 4 ohm coils and be done.
If you parallel three dual 4 ohm coils you're going to get 1.3 ohms which isn't enough to keep your 2 ohm amplifier happy. It's going to run hot, into clipping, and thermal on and off to mess with you. Cool amplifiers are happy and clean sounding ones.
If you took each woofer and series connected the two coils you'd end up with eight ohms each. Three eight ohm coils in parallel would be 2.6 ohms and a good match - not perfect but good. In my experience the impedance (ohm) measurements are nominal, the actual measurement drifts up and down from the published spec you still don't deviate without problems.
If I were to error one way or the other - 1.3 or 2.6 ohms it would definitely be to the 2.6 ohm side and not fry that nice Alpine amplifier. There is another factor that most people don't address and that's damping factor - the ability of the amplifier to control - "grab" - the woofer's cone and force it to comply with the demands of the music's signal. Poor damping is sloppy and weak sounding. Good damping is tight hard hitting with needle sharp transients. I like good damping by the way - and to get it the higher the woofer's impedance the easier it is to "grab". Speaker wire also plays a small factor - not enough to be important in car distances.
Wiki to the rescue: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damping_factor
A JL 10W6v2 is a dual 4 ohm woofer.
If you were running one of them you'd parallel the two 4 ohm coils and be done.
If you parallel three dual 4 ohm coils you're going to get 1.3 ohms which isn't enough to keep your 2 ohm amplifier happy. It's going to run hot, into clipping, and thermal on and off to mess with you. Cool amplifiers are happy and clean sounding ones.
If you took each woofer and series connected the two coils you'd end up with eight ohms each. Three eight ohm coils in parallel would be 2.6 ohms and a good match - not perfect but good. In my experience the impedance (ohm) measurements are nominal, the actual measurement drifts up and down from the published spec you still don't deviate without problems.
If I were to error one way or the other - 1.3 or 2.6 ohms it would definitely be to the 2.6 ohm side and not fry that nice Alpine amplifier. There is another factor that most people don't address and that's damping factor - the ability of the amplifier to control - "grab" - the woofer's cone and force it to comply with the demands of the music's signal. Poor damping is sloppy and weak sounding. Good damping is tight hard hitting with needle sharp transients. I like good damping by the way - and to get it the higher the woofer's impedance the easier it is to "grab". Speaker wire also plays a small factor - not enough to be important in car distances.
Wiki to the rescue: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damping_factor
12-22-2009, 07:30 PM
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ok guys i just got a txt msg from a buddy that is selling his system. Honestly it never crossed my mind to buy it bc he wanted too much.
this is his setup:
2- 13w7
2- 1000/1 old model not v2
1- interior amp i dont remember wich one but i think its 4/300 old model not v2
The subs come in a custom ported box and some caps
ALL THIS FOR $1,000
what do u guys think? should i do it? danm its tempting.
p.s. Im %90 sure the box wont fit my z....but should i try? =) lol
this is his setup:
2- 13w7
2- 1000/1 old model not v2
1- interior amp i dont remember wich one but i think its 4/300 old model not v2
The subs come in a custom ported box and some caps
ALL THIS FOR $1,000
what do u guys think? should i do it? danm its tempting.
p.s. Im %90 sure the box wont fit my z....but should i try? =) lol
01-21-2010, 11:23 PM
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i dont want to start a new thread so here is my Question
My alternator is 240amp.
350amp aye? Yeah you'll be regretting that. The bigger the alternator the more power its going to take for your motor to spin it. Not to mention with your setup you mentioned earlier if your vehicle is properly wired you wouldn't need anywhere close to that.
350amp aye? Yeah you'll be regretting that. The bigger the alternator the more power its going to take for your motor to spin it. Not to mention with your setup you mentioned earlier if your vehicle is properly wired you wouldn't need anywhere close to that.
so will i do any damage to my car if i go with such a big alternator? Kwame? ANYONE?
how many amps would you recomend?
also i thought your car would only use as many amps as it needs, is this true?
correct me if im wrong please, im asking so i can get it right the first time.
01-22-2010, 03:50 AM
#24
A big alternator will only hurt your horse power - it might take an extra couple to run the thing.
More amplifiers or amperes?
The load will draw direct current power from your battery. The amount of power in watts is equal to the voltage (potential difference/pressure) times the current in amperes (the number of electrons flowing pass a given point/flow). As the amplifier attempts to make the music louder it needs to draw more current as the amount of voltage is fixed.
Since amplifiers peak output is normally the big selling point they're telling you how much current you need. A 1200 watt amplifier needs 1200 watts/12 volts for 100 amps worth of current.
Power in Watts = Volts * Amps
More amplifiers or amperes?
The load will draw direct current power from your battery. The amount of power in watts is equal to the voltage (potential difference/pressure) times the current in amperes (the number of electrons flowing pass a given point/flow). As the amplifier attempts to make the music louder it needs to draw more current as the amount of voltage is fixed.
Since amplifiers peak output is normally the big selling point they're telling you how much current you need. A 1200 watt amplifier needs 1200 watts/12 volts for 100 amps worth of current.
Power in Watts = Volts * Amps
01-22-2010, 10:19 AM
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thanks paul ur ALWAYS helpfull
ok so i need a current draw of minimum 217 amps (2600/12)
but as you know the pdx is a little under rated.
so 217 amps + X amount of amps that my car needs to run properly + ive read that when you turbo ur car your car uses more amps. IS THIS TRUE?
does anyone know how many amps the z uses on a regular basis? whats the most amps it would use, like if i have the ac on and what not?
thanks guys
ok so i need a current draw of minimum 217 amps (2600/12)
but as you know the pdx is a little under rated.
so 217 amps + X amount of amps that my car needs to run properly + ive read that when you turbo ur car your car uses more amps. IS THIS TRUE?
does anyone know how many amps the z uses on a regular basis? whats the most amps it would use, like if i have the ac on and what not?
thanks guys
01-22-2010, 06:06 PM
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Does ANYONE know how many amps the 350z uses on a daily bases just to run?
how much current does it actually use out of the stock 110 amp alternator?
i cant believe no one knows
,
i guess ill have to wait till tomorrow so i can search bc im on my phone right now, and it sucks!...lol
thanks guys if you know please post and save me time
how much current does it actually use out of the stock 110 amp alternator?
i cant believe no one knows
, i guess ill have to wait till tomorrow so i can search bc im on my phone right now, and it sucks!...lol thanks guys if you know please post and save me time
01-23-2010, 12:33 AM
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i found the answer
well i couldnt wait till tomorrow to search so i did it right now and i found my answer lol
ok so i read on another forume for g35/g37 and someone said that the car only uses around 40 amps from the stock 110 amp alternator, so that means we should use around 70 amps for our systems before we have to upgrade to a h.o. alternator which is 840 watts rms.
for my build it would be 217 amps + 40 amps = 257 amps
My NEW question is
if i get a H.O. alternator over 257 amps like a 300 amp or 350 amp,
WOULD I HAVE ANY PROBLEMS OTHER THAN LOSS OF HP/RWHP?
WILL MY CAR ONLY USE WHAT IT NEEDS FROM THE ALTERNATOR AND LEAVE THE REST FOR "JUST IN CASE I WANT MORE"?
hey you never know
WOULD EVERYTHING WORK FINE IF I JUST USE WHAT I NEED OUT OF THE ALTERNATOR?
OR DO I HAVE TO GO LOWER AMPS?
I NEED AN ANSWER
...LOL
Kwame@z1auto can you give me a honest opinion on excessive amperage, and how the amps treated you, i also read on another site that you got that upgraded pully, did you get it? what do you think? how many amps are you getting @ idle?
oh and paul, how much hp would i loose? im not building a track car or anything, i just want my car to pleezzz my neeedzzz
lolok so i read on another forume for g35/g37 and someone said that the car only uses around 40 amps from the stock 110 amp alternator, so that means we should use around 70 amps for our systems before we have to upgrade to a h.o. alternator which is 840 watts rms.
for my build it would be 217 amps + 40 amps = 257 amps
My NEW question is
if i get a H.O. alternator over 257 amps like a 300 amp or 350 amp,
WOULD I HAVE ANY PROBLEMS OTHER THAN LOSS OF HP/RWHP?
WILL MY CAR ONLY USE WHAT IT NEEDS FROM THE ALTERNATOR AND LEAVE THE REST FOR "JUST IN CASE I WANT MORE"?
hey you never know WOULD EVERYTHING WORK FINE IF I JUST USE WHAT I NEED OUT OF THE ALTERNATOR?
OR DO I HAVE TO GO LOWER AMPS?
I NEED AN ANSWER
...LOL Kwame@z1auto can you give me a honest opinion on excessive amperage, and how the amps treated you, i also read on another site that you got that upgraded pully, did you get it? what do you think? how many amps are you getting @ idle?
oh and paul, how much hp would i loose? im not building a track car or anything, i just want my car to pleezzz my neeedzzz
01-23-2010, 01:03 AM
#28
My alternator is fine and I've had no issues with it although it barely gets much use. I haven't purchased the pulley yet because they didn't have an exact replacement pulley available when they first released it. I'm not sure if things have changed since then. I have never taken my idle amp readings.
01-23-2010, 08:13 AM
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My alternator is fine and I've had no issues with it although it barely gets much use. I haven't purchased the pulley yet because they didn't have an exact replacement pulley available when they first released it. I'm not sure if things have changed since then. I have never taken my idle amp readings.
and if anyone can answer my questions above, please and thank you
01-25-2010, 04:10 AM
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A h.o. alternator will not damage the electrical system if that is what you are asking.
Take the amperage usage with a grain of salt. There are SOOOOOO many variables that can skew the numbers quite a bit. Was that 40amps with or without headlights on? were the headlights halogen or HID? What other amenities were operating?
Also, it is a very rare occasion when an amplifier is using its full rated amperage in daily listening (when properly tuned of course). Also are you taking into account that the amplifiers you are planning on running are class D?
Here is what I would do for your situation......
1-Install your planned system and tune it.
2-Do the Big3 ground wiring upgrade, and you can ad the BIG4th wire from alternator+ to battery+ as well if you want.
3-Change battery to a spiral wound gel cell battery (exide orbital xtreme, optima yellow top, etc).
See how that treats you. If you experience the famous light dimming, then look into a h.o. alternator.
Looking at the power you want to run, chances are you might need a h.o. alternator, but since none of us knows your true listening habits, it might be a fruitless journey to suggest. Meaning (and I'm not implying this IS you, but for example) you may be wanting to install a 3000watt rms system in the Z, but your daily listening habit is some Barry Manilow at 40% volume. You would only be drawing about 20 amperes, thereby not even breaking the 110amp OE alternator into a sweat.
Take the amperage usage with a grain of salt. There are SOOOOOO many variables that can skew the numbers quite a bit. Was that 40amps with or without headlights on? were the headlights halogen or HID? What other amenities were operating?
Also, it is a very rare occasion when an amplifier is using its full rated amperage in daily listening (when properly tuned of course). Also are you taking into account that the amplifiers you are planning on running are class D?
Here is what I would do for your situation......
1-Install your planned system and tune it.
2-Do the Big3 ground wiring upgrade, and you can ad the BIG4th wire from alternator+ to battery+ as well if you want.
3-Change battery to a spiral wound gel cell battery (exide orbital xtreme, optima yellow top, etc).
See how that treats you. If you experience the famous light dimming, then look into a h.o. alternator.
Looking at the power you want to run, chances are you might need a h.o. alternator, but since none of us knows your true listening habits, it might be a fruitless journey to suggest. Meaning (and I'm not implying this IS you, but for example) you may be wanting to install a 3000watt rms system in the Z, but your daily listening habit is some Barry Manilow at 40% volume. You would only be drawing about 20 amperes, thereby not even breaking the 110amp OE alternator into a sweat.
Last edited by StreetOC192; 01-25-2010 at 04:17 AM.
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