what if not enough current to amp?

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Aruman

Silver - Posts: 363

Joined: July 27, 2005

Location: Aruba

Posted: April 29, 2006 at 3:10 PM / IP Logged

guys, what happen if your amplifiers doent get the right current? i was in a discuss last night about this topic. i have two amplifers one that is 160A and one that is 50A and i have a Iraggi Alternator that supose to give me 120 amperes at idle and 160 Max, but when they measured it, the result was that it's only putting like 54 amperes, now my sound system is very loud even with that 54 amperes Alt. and i said to my friends that it can be louder if it get the right current, and there was when the discuss begin, they told me that it wont be that much louder, it would sound better but not that i will hear a big difference. and my dealer told me that he think that now i'm loosing like 1 to 2 dB( 2 dB at high volume is much, right?) because of the current that i'm missing, my HU is set that at volume 40 is the max volumen, but at like volume 30 to 35 the subs doesn't sound good anymore at that level, they sound like they are loosing power, so guys what's true all about this, will my sound system be louder thus a big difference if it get the right current or no, or are my friends right? thanks.

Shaking The Neighborhood

xinstallerx

Member - Posts: 7

Joined: January 05, 2006

Location: United States

Posted: April 29, 2006 at 5:02 PM / IP Logged

tell your friends to try eating half their food all the time and see if they are still as energetic as when they ate everything.

less food =less enegry

less energy in = less energy out

Installers will put it anywhere!

DYohn

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Joined: April 22, 2003

Location: Arizona, United States

Posted: April 29, 2006 at 5:36 PM / IP Logged

Actually, an amplifier (or any other electrical load) will try to draw whatever current it needs at any time no matter if the supply can provide it or not. If the supply (your alternator) cannot give it all it needs, the system will heat up trying to supply the current (and potentially fry trying to do so) and the voltage will drop as the current load goes up. Same if your cables are too small: the amp will draw whatever it needs through whatever size cable you use. The cables will heat up and can fry if they are not large enough to support the demanded current flow. If you have a sound system that can demand 200 amps and an alternator that can only supply 54 amps, what will happen if you turn it up is the alt and/or cables will simply be overloaded, your voltage output will drop, your sound system and/or all other electrical loads in your vehicle will shut down, and potentially you can fry your alternator and/or your power cables and unless your system is properly protected you can burn the whole car down. It will have NOTHING to do with how "loud" the system can get. It will get as loud as it can - that is, right up to the point where the alt is overloaded, then everything will begin to drop off the table and you can even end up with a molten hunk of metal instead of a car. :) Not a good situation.

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stevdart

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Joined: January 24, 2004

Location: Pennsylvania, United States

Posted: April 29, 2006 at 5:55 PM / IP Logged

...and I suspect that the amp-to-deck matching isn't quite on target. That is to say, the highest clean volume from the deck - do you know for sure what that is? And the amp gain matched to that highest level. It could be that it is a perception of the subs "losing power" once you have that deck turned to that particular volume level, whereas it is likely that it is the end of increasing volume along with the onset of head unit clipping.

Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

MrSuperStar

Member - Posts: 33

Joined: November 04, 2002

Location: United States

Posted: April 29, 2006 at 7:59 PM / IP Logged

First of all Current is not something that you can add to your system. Current is the flow of electricity which is determined by your input voltage through what ever resistance your components have. I won't get into the math or definitions as I'm sure some one else will do so (and this post will be longer than it has to be)

Therefore, when your alt got measured at 54 amps, that because of the system demands at that time. Your alt is "rated" at 120 & 160amps, meaning thats what its capable of, it wont magically put out that flow. Kinda like a 1000watt sub wont put out any type of power, it can just handle it. Have them test the alternator again with all your lights accesories and system on with the loudest bass heavy song you have, and you'll find that you'll have a higher current draw.

Secondly, I don't recomend you put your radio at max volume, you're just asking for trouble. The distartion/clipping may blow your subs and most definitly your speakers.

Lastly, if you want to conrtrol the performance of your system, all you can do is make sure the you have the proper guage wires, if the wires are too small or your ground wire too long, or bad crimps then you will have unneccesary resistance. That will cause a voltage drop and thus less power from your amps.

Hope that helps

Aruman

Silver - Posts: 363

Joined: July 27, 2005

Location: Aruba

Posted: April 30, 2006 at 7:55 AM / IP Logged

thanks guys for the replies.

i understand grand part of what you guys told me, but i'm not so very well in English that whhy i don't undterstand everything.

so DYohn, in some words my friends are right, right? because lets say that if i have a super big alternator that can give the amps the power they require, the loudness doesn't be as much as it looks like. let me explain myself a bit more. my friends did hear my system and they told me that it is very loud, and i told them yes, and with only 54 amperes, and then i told them imagine if can give them like 200 amperes it will be much louder. That's because of the big difference in number from 54 to 200 it let you think like it can be also a big difference in loudnes, but in the reality that's not the case, and that's what can confuse you a bit. it let you think that if with 54 amperes it is so loud what will it be if the amps are getting the right current ? i know that if it get the right current it doesn't be like doubling the power or doubling the loudnes, but at least at the high volume you will hear the difference, right?

about the cables i have one 0awg for the big amp and one 4 awg for the small amp. so each amps are geting it's own power calbe and fuse so cables are not the problem.

about the alternator, yes when i crank my system at full volume my Alt. drop in the 10 volts, i know that's not good, that's why i don't crank it at full volume. a good HO Alt. doen't drop so low right? that's because my Iraggi did come with a deffect. becuase also, when i start my engine, the alternator doesn't give me 14.4 volt direct, sometimes when i start my car,( engine running) my alt give 12.7 volt the slowly it goes up to 14.4- 14.5 volt, thus there's something wrong with my Alt. voltage regulator, right?

i did hear another car with an 80-90 ampere Alt. with almost the same setup that i have, but that car at high volume is louder than me, his subs doesn't look like their loosing power that's why i thought that if my amps are getting the right power my car will be also louder at high volume.

Stevdart, my HU max volume is 60, but i know that it's no recommended use the max volume of your HU, you have to use like 2/3 of the max volume so in my case it will be volume 40. and my gain isn't even at half (or only if my HU have a high pre-out voltage wich i doubt). So i know i can drive my system into clipping because my amps are not getting the right current, forcing them to go into clipping, that's why i don't crank my system at full volume. and that's why i'm thinking that my problem is, not enought current.

my system,

Iraggi Amputator Series 120A idle 160A Max

Optima yellow top battery

200A fuse braker (phoenix gold), 300A Hi- Amp ANL Fuse and 60A AFS fuse. (streetwires)

0awg Big 3.

0 awg and 4 awg Streetwires

1 farad streetwires cap.

HU, Pioneer Deh- p5650mp

Amps: 1 MTX TA 3404 and 1 MTX TA 81001

Speakers: 4 MTX thunder T 6000 convirtible 6.5" 50 wrms each

Subwoofers: 4 MTX Thunder 7512-04 400wrms each (sealed enclosure)

Car: Toyota Corolla 2001.

anyways guys, thank you for the the replies, have a nice day, Aruman.

Shaking The Neighborhood

MrSuperStar

Member - Posts: 33

Joined: November 04, 2002

Location: United States

Posted: April 30, 2006 at 9:28 AM / IP Logged

if your voltage drops that low (below 12) then your alternator is not doing anything. At that point your battery is doing all the work which is why your system isn't as loud as it need be. If you didn't have a yellow top, you'd have a dead dead battery within days.

Get a new HO alt

stevdart

Platinum - Posts: 5,816

Joined: January 24, 2004

Location: Pennsylvania, United States

Posted: April 30, 2006 at 12:16 PM / IP Logged

Aruman, your phrase "and my gain isn't even at half " is a dead give-away that you did not use the recommended procedures this forum preaches on a daily basis. Learn to set your gain and you will never again say anything about the relative position of the gain.

Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

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what if not enough current to amp?

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