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extreme wattage

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=98531
Printed Date: April 27, 2024 at 9:14 AM


Topic: extreme wattage

Posted By: mcben789
Subject: extreme wattage
Date Posted: November 01, 2007 at 4:36 PM

i'm wondering about a h.o. alternator. my friend has a 93 buick la sabre. its bad ass. he's going to be pushing one hcca orion 15 and he might add one later. we've looked around but we don't know which one. he's looking at a 250 amp. will that be enough?

also i was wondering for me about the new titanium eclipse pros. i was looking at a 15". anyone know where i can get these besides wooferetc.com? oh and the buick will have 3000 watts rms to it...thanks

oh and any other spl 15" subs around that eclipses price range you want to suggest would be appreciated..

bybye



Replies:

Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: November 01, 2007 at 5:08 PM
First of all... WHAT?

Secondly, do the math. All I can do is help with the ONE actual number you provided. Speakers dont mean anything...

Assuming a digital or Class D amplifier:
3000/.8=3750 watts IN
3750/14.4=260.4166666666666666667 Amps

Class A/B
3000/.5=6000 watts IN
6000/14.4=416.6666666666666666667 Amps

So, no, a 250A alternator won't TECHNICALLY be enough, and won't ACTUALLY be enough if you are planning on running wide open all the time. I have 2200WRMS on tap in my trunk, but I only have a 200A alternator in my car. I also have a current meter in my dash, so I can see exactly how much current I am using at any given time, and I rarely even use 100A, but I never have opened it up all the way - I like my hearing, and my speakers cost me WAY too much.

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."




Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: November 01, 2007 at 5:13 PM
... and woofersetc is NOT a good place to buy gear, period.  Go to your local authorized dealers.

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Support the12volt.com




Posted By: camween
Date Posted: November 01, 2007 at 6:56 PM
if the WHAT is because thats alot of wattage i didn't think it was that bad...i've seen alot of cars with more than that (on the internet)

and i live in an extremely rural town where there are not many shops who sell "good" gear. mostly just shops that will hook it up.

so you are saying a 250 amp alternator will not cut it technically? its a class d 3000 watt rms mtx amp pushing an orion hcca 15. so i would need at least a 260 is what your saying. i'll be buying most of the gear from online and sonicelectrnix.com

do you have any suggested sites for purchasing alternators or audio equipment? and is this thing going to cost over $500? I want to help him hook it up right because our last install didn't go so smooth.

thanks alot and sorry if you guys get this alot.

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i will have 1 cube of tofu.




Posted By: mcben789
Date Posted: November 01, 2007 at 7:00 PM
sorry that was me on my friends account :) (above)(camween)




Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: November 01, 2007 at 7:30 PM
No, the "WHAT" was because I hardly understood what you were typing. Some punctuation, like commas every once in a great while, goes a LONG way to helping us understand your posts.

OK, the 250A alternator is ONLY for the amplifier... Add about 70 to 100A for accessories - like lights, the engine, fans, rear window defroster, A/C compressor...

The alternator alone is going to have to be at least a 300A toy, if you want to have enough, and it'll be 500 bucks for a crappy one..

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."




Posted By: mcben789
Date Posted: November 01, 2007 at 8:38 PM
well balls.

sorry about the misunderstanding i'll read over my posts before i post them.

what about dual alternators? dual batteries? could this be any cheaper?




Posted By: aznboi3644
Date Posted: November 01, 2007 at 8:53 PM
also...if you look at a lot of specs....most 1 ohm stable class d amps' efficiency drops down to 60%-70% at 1 ohm. But are rated for around 80% efficiency at 4 ohms.




Posted By: mcben789
Date Posted: November 01, 2007 at 8:54 PM
thats great news.




Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: November 02, 2007 at 12:04 AM
mcben789 wrote:

thats great news.

That's sarcastic, right? Because if it ISN'T, you are going to be surprised, when you are told that you are going to need even MORE current than we've already discussed.

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."




Posted By: aznboi3644
Date Posted: November 02, 2007 at 11:41 AM
hey if you don't wanna upgrade and just add batteries be my guest....im not stopping you.

Go ahead and fry your equipment because of your ignorance.

I was only trying to add some info so YOU could figure out what you need for a high current system




Posted By: splaudio
Date Posted: November 02, 2007 at 7:34 PM

guys i am sorry ur wrong. a 250amp alt with 2 good batterys will be fine for daily driving 3k rms with. our 05/06 comp car had a 200amp powermaster alt with 2 optima group 34s (small batts) and could be driven down the road with music full tilt and stay above 13v. this was with over 5000rms.  at night time it would dip just above 12v (headlights).

music has peak and wont draw max current very often. it is not like he will be playing tones for mins... 





Posted By: mcben789
Date Posted: November 04, 2007 at 1:02 AM
anzboi sorry if you're confused. i wasn't being ignorant in any way that i can see unless you call a sarcastic joke being ignorant. but thanks for the info anyway.

so one of you says its okay to run a 200 amp alternator with 2 batteries and its all good but some of the others say i need a rather large alternator.

who do i listen to?




Posted By: aznboi3644
Date Posted: November 04, 2007 at 1:03 PM
it will work...but head room is your friend




Posted By: willdkartunes
Date Posted: November 04, 2007 at 5:37 PM
I ran into the same problem your having with a truck I had. I was running a couple of 10" Orion HCCA subs with a 2500watt Orion HCCA running each and there is a fine line between what you can get away with and what you should be running. I ran a 200amp alternator with two yellow top Optima batteries and it would work, sure... but when blasting the volume at night time going less than 50mph with the air conditioning on, the lights blink on and off quite nicely. Keep in mind, I had the volume a little higher than it might have needed to be, for more than a couple of minutes... Upgraded to 250amp alternator and didn't have any problems... basically what everyone is trying to say is get the biggest amperage alternator that your wallet and vehicle can take. I've always believed that its best to have more power on tap than not enough.

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Do whatever makes you happy in life without diminishing the happiness of others




Posted By: mcben789
Date Posted: November 04, 2007 at 10:33 PM
so i'm looking at a 350 amp alternator to be within tech specs and to give me some room to deal with.

and would it be necessary to buy two batteries if i had a 350 amp alternator?




Posted By: mcben789
Date Posted: November 05, 2007 at 7:57 PM
I don't see anything about an alternator bigger than 250 amps, and i've been reading around about alternators and what do you guys think of dual alternators? it seems pretty logical.

would it be possible to have my stock alternator powering my stock battery powering all my stock electrical things (headlights, etc.) while the second maybe 250 amp alternator powering a separate batt. just for the amplifiers? or what about dual high output alternators with more batteries?

i'm sure other people have thought about this before me.




Posted By: aznboi3644
Date Posted: November 05, 2007 at 8:37 PM
Dual alts will for sure be a good idea if you can't get a single huge one.

I'd just wire both alts to the front battery then run one, two, or three 0 gauge wires to the back batteries




Posted By: mcben789
Date Posted: November 06, 2007 at 5:09 PM

does anyone know how i should set this up?

i know they have the kit for the dual alternator, but the kit i was looking at came with an 160 amp alternator just to add to your factory alt.  should i buy a h.o. alt to add to my factory or two h.o.'s?

also what would i do about the battery situation?  two red tops / YELLOW tops?  the more the merrier?

i imagine doing this would be less expensive than a 300+ amp alternator.  i don't think they even make alternators that big for my car...anyways what i'm wondering is how to hook up the batteries?  under the hood? in the trunk? daisy chain etc..

thanks.





Posted By: jmelton86
Date Posted: November 06, 2007 at 6:58 PM
If you can get 2 identical 150+amp alternators and 2 Redtops, you'll be good to go. 2 200ampers would be nice, too. posted_imageposted_image

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2013 Kia Rio -90a alternator
DDX470HD GTO14001 GTO1014D (x3)
Big3 in 1/0G
1/0G to GTO14001




Posted By: mcben789
Date Posted: November 07, 2007 at 6:23 PM

nice...

i have been enlightened...thanks everyone.






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