amp cutting out ho alt problem?

I have an orion xtrpro 2400 amp. I have done the big 3 and then some. I have run 2 12" type r's and 2 12" treos (at different times). The amp cuts out. I noticed it mostly does it wehn i take off from a stop. I have a 5 speed 95 ranger, 3.0 v6. I got my high output alternator from ebay. I also notice when i play songs, i still get dimming lights, adn the usual. The 12 farad cap i have says im pulling only like 150 amps at the msot, occasional jumps to 180. Any suggestions or troubleshooting steps i could take to see if its my alternator? I've checked voltages, and at any given moment, during songs, it can jump from 13.2 to 15 volts.

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Disturbin' Tha Peace

Yes - measure at the alternator.


I presume your HO is rated for 200A or more - not that it will put that out at idle....

And alternators take time to react, hence the need for caps or batteries at the amp.


How is the cap measuring current - a shunt resistor or a loop? The resistor add a bigger voltage drop to the amp.

I measured the alt. It is pulling 180 amps at the most at idle. It is also dropping to 12.02 volts at idle with the system fully up. Am I looking at getting a second battery? Also my power wire going into my cap (0 ought guage) is getting hot. I know resistance equals heat so should I remove the cap and try second battery? The alt is a 250 amp ho from ebay.

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Disturbin' Tha Peace

It the cable is getting hot, it is too small. Double up with another, or go larger.

Usually a 2nd battery is used for independence (isolated when not charging so you still have cranking amps in the main/original battery) or to minimise voltage drops during burps (ie, not as much IR drop from the alternator/main-battery to the rear battery & amp).

The latter is what caps are supposed to do, but they only endure short burps, and they have no where near the same capacity below ~12.6V.


The 12.0V at idle sounds typical.
A second battery of same type etc with the same distribution (cable) should reduce that drop to ~12.3V. (Less if near the amp - as measured at the amp!)

The cable is a 0 gauge and gets split on the caps distribution block into 2 4gauge for amp. Its only the power getting hot and it only does it at the cap terminal. Nowhere else does it get even warm.

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Disturbin' Tha Peace

Then clean up that terminal/connection (it's a bad connection), or get rid of the cap if that is getting hot at the connection - maybe it has a resistive current sensor (if the connection goes "thru" the cap).

Heat is too much current through too much resistance.
If localised heat over the same cable, then it is a local resistance - broken/fractuRED / annealed/corroded strands, loose/bad/oxidized connections.
That heat precedes fire.