Stereo & Electronics - High Output Alternator

I think i need a higher amp alternator...any recommendations? i have no clue where to look, and my stereo is going to want atleast 120-150 amps alone...

I think i need a higher amp alternator...any recommendations? i have no clue where to look, and my stereo is going to want atleast 120-150 amps alone...


I use a Powermaster 150 amp. It has warranty also. Paid less than 200.00 from one of the big racing mail order companies

i dont know if that one is gonna give enough juice...it most likely would last longer than another stocker but my system draws a decent amount of juice over long periods of time (road trips)...i'll keep it in mind though since the price isnt bad...

All I have to say is don't go with a company who's motto is something amperage up yours. (Don't believe I can post the company due to them not being a sponser)

Horrible customer service, every alternator shipped to me was thrashed in shipping, and in the end he ripped me off of a core charge.

All I have to say is don't go with a company who's motto is something amperage up yours. (Don't believe I can post the company due to them not being a sponser)

Horrible customer service, every alternator shipped to me was thrashed in shipping, and in the end he ripped me off of a core charge.

well that helps alot thanks, i'll steer clear of them...lol

what kind of stereo set-up you going to install.

All I have to say is don't go with a company who's motto is something amperage up yours. (Don't believe I can post the company due to them not being a sponser)

Horrible customer service, every alternator shipped to me was thrashed in shipping, and in the end he ripped me off of a core charge.

I guess your talking about Nathan from excessive amperage. To hear that is quite suprising since i've dealt with him twice and he always bent over backwards to help me, and shipped the alternator in a week (time to build it and ship). Everyone that bought an alt. from him that i know of from this board and from fbodyaudio.com have nothing but good things to say about their experiences. i'm not saying you didn't have one, just that it is quite unusual. I also didn't know he did core charges. I have never heard of anyone sending him their stock alt. For me it was just buying the alternator. To the original poster, I recommend excessive amperage, as their product was quite superior to other alt's i've seen- and the service was good as well.

I guess your talking about Nathan from excessive amperage. To hear that is quite suprising since i've dealt with him twice and he always bent over backwards to help me, and shipped the alternator in a week (time to build it and ship). Everyone that bought an alt. from him that i know of from this board and from fbodyaudio.com have nothing but good things to say about their experiences. i'm not saying you didn't have one, just that it is quite unusual. I also didn't know he did core charges. I have never heard of anyone sending him their stock alt. For me it was just buying the alternator. To the original poster, I recommend excessive amperage, as their product was quite superior to other alt's i've seen- and the service was good as well.

The core charge was due to the fact "his" alternator was faulty. He told me he'd ship me a new one which was better than the first and refund me $70 after recieving the old one back. I told him about the alternator being damaged when I recieved the new one and that I was going to swap the plastic cases and send the damged ones back. All 3 alternators I recieved from Nate were damaged and the packaging was horrible. I shipped the old core back in the same type of packaging he used. I get an email back saying it was damaged, blah blah blah. I explained to him again what the deal was and he said he was going to refund me anyways. Never saw it. Emailed him numerous times after that. No reply or refund. Alternator is still working fine except for my check guages light comes on every once in awhile when getting on it BUT he sent me 3 alternators that were damaged due to horrible packaging, accused me of packaging the core return poorly and stated parts were broken on it (remember this is a core return which I told him already had 1 broken part on it), then stated he'd refund me the $70, never did so, and then never returned any of my emails. He seemed to want to help but in the end blew me off. Hope he doesn't rely too much on the internet for business. I don't care too much about being ripped off.

what kind of stereo set-up you going to install.

i got atleast 120A of stereo equipment in my car...two 400rms amps that are fused at 60A each...i'd like a little room to grow as well...so i was hoping for something more like a 240A alternator or higher...

Go to a local place that rebuilds alternators. I had my alternator rebuilt to put out in excess of 190amps for about $135.00. He basically added 3 times the windings and upgraded the diodes and rectifiers.

-B

i got atleast 120A of stereo equipment in my car...two 400rms amps that are fused at 60A each...i'd like a little room to grow as well...so i was hoping for something more like a 240A alternator or higher...

unless you are playing sinewaves at full tilt all day, you will not need that much alternator. If you go by fuse ratings, I have 350A of gear running off the stock alternator with no issues.

unless you are playing sinewaves at full tilt all day, you will not need that much alternator.
Assuming the idle output is good, it doesn't hurt anything. Plus it helps keep the voltage from dipping on those big bass notes.

Mike, your not the average guy. That may be why your fine on the stock alternator.

no, it only hurts the wallet. It's like buying a stage 3 race clutch to handle the extra power from your headers and cat-back.

What kind of poor example is that?

How about buying a Trans AM just to go to Church on Sundays. It may not be economical, but it gets the job done. :D

Now that I think about it, a stage 3 doesn't sound too bad for my stock engine. The Z06 clutch is way too soft for me plus it will help with getting the car sideways (drifting).

I don't think that the powermater alternators are very good for car audio I've heard they don't make much amps at low rpms. Might want to check on that before you buy one.

Assuming the idle output is good, it doesn't hurt anything. Plus it helps keep the voltage from dipping on those big bass notes.

isnt the general rule that the higher you go on amps the less the alt will make at say, 900rpm?

i got a 200amp from nathan. i have to admit it was shipped like crap. a single layer box with just loose packing peanuts which let it end up breaking a chunk out of the little plastic vent on the back. but other than that i've had no problems with it, lol.
(well, i did end up having to pick out some packing peanuts from inside the alt....)

i didnt want to go thru the hassle of sending it back so i went ahead and put it in. nathan did offer to swap it, but i really wanted to get the stereo done. its been good for around 2 years now with about 30k miles on it.

anyway back to idle output. at idle (900ish) at night with the lights on and playing real low stuff i cant max it without dimming, but right off idle it pops right up. stays rock solid at idle during the daytime unless i have 36mafia playin or something... (btw, i'm not a boomhead, i listen to ac/dc, rush, or sound of urchin 95% of the time, and it doesnt dim near as bad at night playin rock)

wait, whats this post about again?... :) :judge:

i got a 150amp powermaster and at idle (around 500ish rpms...seems really low) my volts are around 13, as soon as start going forward the volts jup back up to 14 and stay their, also if cars in park or neutral the volts do not drop...when i first put the powermaster on i upgraded the alt to battery cable to 2gauge, and i was at around 12volts at idle, i wired the alt to the chassis with 6gauge cable and im now at 13 volts at idle, im wondering what will happen if i upgrade the negative battery cable to chassis with 4gauge?? hopefully a lil more increase in volts, however in my experience, even with the volts dropping to 12, i had no problems what so ever with lights dimming, def a huge improvement over the stock alt.

*edit* bought a new belt, a gatorback, and now even with the stereo up and heat on full, and headlights, im back up to 14volts at idle, would the belt really help out at all? strange to think that replacing the belt would give me +1volt at idle???? weird how something small seems to have a huge impact sometimes

so what are the recommendations then? i tested my charging system at work, sure enough its at 12.5v running with no accessories on. no high current drain, battery surprisingly is still fine even though i had to jump the car a week ago...

isnt the general rule that the higher you go on amps the less the alt will make at say, 900rpm?
No, that's not necessarily the case with modern alternators. Back in the day the typical rewould alternator would sacrifice low rpm amperage for more above idle amperage. Things are different now. Alternators can be made to put out big power at low RPMs while still putting out even more at higher RPMs. That's why you need to know both specs. They can also be set to run at a certain voltage, say 14.6 or so. Some even have remote mount voltage regulator adjustors to control the voltage from the drivers seat.

On the other hand, others can put out big power at higher rpms and be less than stock at idle. I think the factory alternators on the LS1's put out around 35amps at idle if I remember correctly. The Alterstarts 235A unit puts out 120 amps at 800rpm. That's a huge improvement.

I think Nathans alternators kick in at 900rpm if I remember right.

I have a 6 spd car but I don't remember what the idle speed is, but I know that it can be increased simply through the computer. So if I need to set it at 800 or 900, I could. I could probably set it on the butterfly as well as I remember a set screw there.

Here's a thread with some different options.
http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/posts/car-audio/353772-need-find-high-voltage/2805713-post10.html

i tested my charging system at work, sure enough its at 12.5v running with no accessories on. no high current drain, battery surprisingly is still fine even though i had to jump the car a week ago...
12.5 running isn't that good. A fully charged battery should be 12.6v, but 12.5 would be fine as well. When the car is running it should start out at 14.6 or so to start recharging the battery and then drop down to say 13.6 or so. So it doesn't sound as if your alt is putting out the right voltage.

For testing batteries, the dealer uses a computerized load tester. You program the battery size and it will apply a small load, measure how far the voltage drops, then what the voltage goes back up to over a set time (1 minute maybe?) then it does a second, bigger load test for a longer time plus the rest I mentioned. Then it will determine if the battery is bad, almost bad or fine.

It also has a clamp on ammeter to see what amperage the alt. is putting out. My stock LS1 alt. is a 102A unit and it was puting out 91 or so amps under load and high rpms.

try 4alterstart.com

2 year warranty and their packaging is great.

personally, spec wise, slightly better than the competition and a much better warranty.

I have a 6 spd car but I don't remember what the idle speed is, but I know that it can be increased simply through the computer. So if I need to set it at 800 or 900, I could. I could probably set it on the butterfly as well as I remember a set screw there.



my cars idling around 500rpms, i remember hearing somewhere that if you drill the hold in the TB blade to a larger diameter that your idle rpms will increase as well? if it is true, i think the set screw would be better cuz its not permanent, can always go back and readjust it, however on my 01 TA i never noticed a screw on it, not trying to jack the thread

I checked mine and it idles at about 800rpm. I could also add a device to create a high idle, of say 1500-2000rpm for those occasions I need it.

i got mine from ohio generators im pretty happy with it no problems at all

12.5 running isn't that good. A fully charged battery should be 12.6v, but 12.5 would be fine as well. When the car is running it should start out at 14.6 or so to start recharging the battery and then drop down to say 13.6 or so. So it doesn't sound as if your alt is putting out the right voltage.

For testing batteries, the dealer uses a computerized load tester. You program the battery size and it will apply a small load, measure how far the voltage drops, then what the voltage goes back up to over a set time (1 minute maybe?) then it does a second, bigger load test for a longer time plus the rest I mentioned. Then it will determine if the battery is bad, almost bad or fine.

It also has a clamp on ammeter to see what amperage the alt. is putting out. My stock LS1 alt. is a 102A unit and it was puting out 91 or so amps under load and high rpms.

i pretty much figured all that out, thats how i determined my alt was done...we do have the same tester at sears afterall...

so will the 235A truck alt at 4alterstart.com work?

so will the 235A truck alt at 4alterstart.com work?
They have a 235 for the LS1. These cars use the CS-130D case. I don't know what the trucks use.

for some reason i cant find an ls1 alternator other than the stock one on their site, i figured the truck ones being genIII/IV would be the same alt. can anybody clarify or link me to the ls1 alt.?

Look under the Pontiac listing on the left.

i dont know what the hell is wrong with me but i just cant find it...

http://stores.ebay.com/Alterstart_Pontiac_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ12QQftid Z2QQtZkm

oh the ebay store, it all makes sense now, thanks...

ok got the new alternator in, its a 235A from alterstart. i noticed on the old alternator the wire was pretty burnt up and the plastic part of the alternator looked like was melting at some point. i'm surprised any current managed to pass through the wire, it was all 4ga already though...

That's the one I'm favoring getting. Give us a review if you can.

well when the car starts up cold it sits at around 15.5 volts, i checked it at work with our tester, and believe me the headlights and shit seem real bright. eventually it rests at ~14.3. but no dimming or anything now, the voltage still jumps around according to the capacitor, not too accurate, and the gauge in the cluster doesnt move at all now, not so accurate either, i'd say this thing is doing its job.

and at 15 volts the system is extremely loud, makes me wonder if this 400w RMS amp i have is only putting out that much since it is using a 60A fuse and gets louder the more volts i give it, with no distortion that i can hear i might add...

oh and the papers with all the test data that came with the alt state that it hits 250A @ 14.4 volts at 7000 rotor rpms, or ~2333 engine rpms if you have stock pullies...max wattage is 3382, and at idle it should really be putting out around 140-150A

try 4alterstart.com

2 year warranty and their packaging is great.

personally, spec wise, slightly better than the competition and a much better warranty.

Screw those guys.

Cliff notes of long story :
- called to get advise on HA alt for ATI procharged TransAm
- was assured the $299 200a would fit, 'sold hundreds of em'
- several installs/reinstalls, I discover B4C alt housing is too big and causes interference with ATI blower pully
- call and argue with them, they finally say they will exchange it for a stock housing 160a and are reluctant even though I point out the stock size 160a it's being exchanged for is much cheaper
-I ship it back to exchange the one that they assured me would fit for a cheaper 160a stock housing alt
- they charge me $60 because the returned unit was supposedly "damaged in shipping", and they charge me shipping costs for both returning the old alt and sending out the new one (which I expected)
- the new one arrives with a note that says "warranty void" with their ironically useless printed test results - I find out this one fits great but is a piece of shit and chronically drops voltage at idle/caused check gauges lights on the dash/dimming lights, ironic since good idle charge is the reason I bought the f*&king thing in the first place.
- bought $99 new 102amp GM alt and install, problem solved.

I still have their $400+ POS sitting in the floor of my garage.

Buyer beware, if you go there hopefully you have better luck than I did.

Rob (Bad30th)

wow that sucks, mine is holding up good though...

- several installs/reinstalls, I discover B4C alt housing is too big and causes interference with ATI blower pully
I thought they used the stock sized CS-130D housing.
The B4C was the LT1 alternator which is totally different.

I thought they used the stock sized CS-130D housing.
The B4C was the LT1 alternator which is totally different.

I must have my terminology wrong, but the first one they sent had a bigger sized housing compared to my '99 stocker (which BTW lasted 8 years and ~60k miles). I installed/uninstalled the bigger one and scratched my head a little before thinking to compare one next to the other (obviously the old one used to fit). There isn't much clearance there for me, it would probably be fine for someone without a blower pully running so close to it with such small clearance to start with.

The new one they sent, although it didn't hold voltage after 5 min of driving, was the stock size housing and fit fine.

Rob (Bad30th)

I thought they used the stock sized CS-130D housing.
The B4C was the LT1 alternator which is totally different.

i forgot to mention the housing is bigger, i'm pretty sure its a truck housing because the plug is oriented in the same way, bolt pattern is the same however, but it is a 2 bolt housing (like the trucks) as opposed to the factory 3-bolt f-body setup (there is no rear bolt, only the two that attach to the alt/idler bracket). hopefully there will be no pulley alignment issues down the road. also, the size of the housing makes for a tight fit against the power steering lines, it took some effort to get it in but nothing really to write home about...

OK, it looks like the Alterstart, and maybe other HO alternators, uses the AD-244 housing.
http://www.alternatorparts.com/ad_alternator_order_page.htm

OK, it looks like the Alterstart, and maybe other HO alternators, uses the AD-244 housing.
http://www.alternatorparts.com/ad_alternator_order_page.htm

yes, the 200 and larger alts use the larger casing. He specifies that.

Did he say which housing because I'm just guessing on the AD-244.

Screw those guys.

Cliff notes of long story :
- called to get advise on HA alt for ATI procharged TransAm
- was assured the $299 200a would fit, 'sold hundreds of em'
- several installs/reinstalls, I discover B4C alt housing is too big and causes interference with ATI blower pully
- call and argue with them, they finally say they will exchange it for a stock housing 160a and are reluctant even though I point out the stock size 160a it's being exchanged for is much cheaper
-I ship it back to exchange the one that they assured me would fit for a cheaper 160a stock housing alt
- they charge me $60 because the returned unit was supposedly "damaged in shipping", and they charge me shipping costs for both returning the old alt and sending out the new one (which I expected)
- the new one arrives with a note that says "warranty void" with their ironically useless printed test results - I find out this one fits great but is a piece of shit and chronically drops voltage at idle/caused check gauges lights on the dash/dimming lights, ironic since good idle charge is the reason I bought the f*&king thing in the first place.
- bought $99 new 102amp GM alt and install, problem solved.

I still have their $400+ POS sitting in the floor of my garage.

Buyer beware, if you go there hopefully you have better luck than I did.

Rob (Bad30th)

Damn, you have gotten seriously bad luck. Who did you talk to over there? They really helped me out, I even over tightened the damn thing the first day I put it on, broke the damn nut off, sent it back and they replaced it no problem. I know the housing is larger on the 200+. But even their 160amp is better than the stocker. If the alternator was damaged due to shipping than you should of filed a claim on the shipper. I certainly would of got my money back. As for the company in general. I did some research on about 12 companies, none matched their output power and they give you a 2 year warranty. Any alternator from any company larger than 200amps uses a larger case. I can list several on my research that said the same thing.