Altenator Upgrade

[lerroy]

Well after the stereo upgrade and boot install neons etc, i can hear a noise when my headlights are on

and have put it down to altenator struggling to cope with the stress the more stuff i turn on the louder it gets ( in the engine bay its not whineing interferance noise)

What can i do

New altenator ?
Upgrade wiring to altenator ?
service altenator ?

anyone have any ideas thanks guys

[Fhrx]

and have put it down to altenator struggling to cope with the stress the more stuff i turn on the louder it gets ( in the engine bay its not whineing interferance noise)

Well put it back up again because it has nothing to do with the alternator struggling. You have an electrical wave mixed in with your stereo signal. Amplifiers are not bias - they amplify whatever signals you feed them. They cannot tell what is music and what is not. The more electrical devices you have on the louder it gets yeah?

Where are the signal cables (inc the amp) in relation to the power cables around the car (not just your stereo positive cable either, all major electrical system cables). Has your battery got a serious earth too?

[lerroy]

Well put it back up again because it has nothing to do with the alternator struggling. You have an electrical wave mixed in with your stereo signal. Amplifiers are not bias - they amplify whatever signals you feed them. They cannot tell what is music and what is not. The more electrical devices you have on the louder it gets yeah?

Where are the signal cables (inc the amp) in relation to the power cables around the car (not just your stereo positive cable either, all major electrical system cables). Has your battery got a serious earth too?

Sorry marty i didnt explain that well

it is the altenator its not a interferance noise. you can here the altenator ticking over and then it pulls harder when more power is drawn like head lights etc.. i have had the interferance noise like whistles and hums and stuff

Rca are on passenger side going up
Speaker cables and power up drivers side

doesnt matter my question is

in your installs do you ever need to upgrade the altenator, wiring to altenator etc.. ??? thanks mate

[Fhrx]

doesnt matter my question is

in your installs do you ever need to upgrade the altenator, wiring to altenator etc.. ??? thanks mate

I have installed literally thousands of systems over the last twenty years and to be honest less than five times I have had to upgrade the alternator. Out of those times, most of the cars were dedicated SPL vehicles.

Even in my car I use dual batteries and the standard S15 alternator and with my five amps I have the ability to pull nearly 271 amperes of current at full power.

However this rarely, if ever, happens. Music is dynamic and is contantly changing levels. Your amplifiers will hardly ever hit maximum power output and if they do, it will be for a short time only and a quality battery will more than handle that.

Sounds like a cable issue to me rather than an alternator issue. However, if you're not sure get an Auto Electrician to fully test and perhaps overhaul your alternator because unless you have a boot full of amplifiers, your factory alternator should be more than capable of coping with the load demands.

[lerroy]

cool understand thats what i wanted to know
casue i read somewhere else that over 1000w you need upgraded altenator or some crap

but you have pointed me in the right direction

thanks marty ill have alot at all the wiring then

thanks again

[micka]

if it helps at all i looked into what performance alternators were available for eg civic should the need ever arise; the only real option was a chrome bling-to-the-max show car alternator for around $2500 (i think, pretty close to that any way). It seems there is little available the looks crap but puts out great amounts of power.

The need has yet to arise for anything to be done about my electrical system (aside from battery change), and if i were you i'd look into wiring integrity and battery upgrade before looking at alternators, as has been suggested.

[lerroy]

if it helps at all i looked into what performance alternators were available for eg civic should the need ever arise; the only real option was a chrome bling-to-the-max show car alternator for around $2500 (i think, pretty close to that any way). It seems there is little available the looks crap but puts out great amounts of power.

The need has yet to arise for anything to be done about my electrical system (aside from battery change), and if i were you i'd look into wiring integrity and battery upgrade before looking at alternators, as has been suggested.

hahahahah Guess what, started the car this morning nothing battery was flat, just got a Oddesy Battery now the noise has gone, Seems like the Altenator was working overtime to charge the battery

ah well all fixed sorry for the trouble

[Fhrx]

I think you'll find your factory battery had probably dropped and cell and was only feeding the car 10volts or something similar.

Your alternator is fine.

[lerroy]

I think you'll find your factory battery had probably dropped and cell and was only feeding the car 10volts or something similar.

Your alternator is fine.

Yeah thats what they said it had got all gunky the acid dropped a few cells wasnt holding charge and altenator was struggling to charge it especially when im driving full beams stereo going and air con on eheheh

thanks marty