Hey guys, So last year I tried hooking up some bass to the maxi...i Have the stock BOSE speakers...with an aftermarket deck... and tried running a 1400watt amp to 2 tens in the rear... burned out my first alternator...so than i got a 1.2 fared capacitor and rigged everything all up.... and watched the voltage keep dropping on the capacitor....unhooked it all...few days later .. burned out another alternator... so I gave up....but now i Want to try again... one theory onto where i went wrong is that i had a 100amp fuse on my amp cable...a buddy of mine is trying to tell me that it also acts as a sorta voltage regulator...and that if i went with a smaller fuse i would be better off
my other theory is somehow the bose amp for the door speakers, the aftermarket amp, and everything else is just to much for the alternator.
so i have some 5x7's and 6x9's that i would try to mount in my car...(where I do not know) and just wire them up to the head unit myself..i dont know...im at a loss on this one....i just really am tired of spending money on alternators...not to mention if i get stuck out somewhere when they go bad...well you get the idea----Dan
3 alternators burned out due to stereo
Re: 3 alternators burned out due to stereo (Taurus888)
You obviously have issues other than an alternator. I was a professional installer for over 9 years, built several competetion-winning stereo systems, and unless you just hammer on your system all day long, I don't see how you are killing alternators with what you have.
For example, my current Astro van has 8-15's in it with over 2,000 watts on just the subwoofers. I ran it for over a year on the stock alternator, which had over 260,000 miles on it with no problems. I have since upgraded to a bigger alternator with an overdriven pulley, but not due to an alternator failure. My system draws so much current under heavy loads with the stock alternator that my voltage dropped low enough to cause the amps to shut off due to lack of power.
One of the competition trucks I build had 4-15's with two Punch 200's on the subs, and that kid ran that truck hard quite often. At some shows, it would play for over an hour at various levels, get a few minutes of rest, then go hit 155db legal on the dash (this was back in 98). That was a 4 cylinder S10 pickup with strobes, neons, the stereo, and a bubble tank in the back in front of our neon logo.
Yet another vehicle was an old-school 91 Escort with 6-15's. It had two Kicker ZR1000's on the stock alternator and did 160db's all day long. The car hit so hard it would literally roll the odometer back and forth. This guy used to drive from here in Mobile to Gulfport, MS with it blasting the whole way there, lay down a 160, collect his trophy, and drive back home blasting on the stock alternator.
I would be more apt to believe you have a wiring problem, either with the ground or the power leads, which is causing an overload, and that is causing the voltage regulator inside the alternator to max out so much that it overheats and cooks it.
My best suggestion would be to upgrade the grounds from the battery to the body, battery to the engine, and engine to the body. Ground your amplifier through double or triple wall sheetmetal, scraping the metal off on both sides, and using a bolt/nut/lock washer combination. Using a seat belt bolt or running a sheet metal screw through the floorplan is not a sufficient ground. Preferably, you want to run amplifier ground directly to the frame rail.
Your friend is wrong with his assumption. Dropping the fuse rating just makes it more likely for your amplifier to blow the fuse under heavy loads, as the fuse will only allow as much amperage as it's rated for. It won't make the amp draw less power, it will just blow the fuse repeatedly costing you money.
For example, my current Astro van has 8-15's in it with over 2,000 watts on just the subwoofers. I ran it for over a year on the stock alternator, which had over 260,000 miles on it with no problems. I have since upgraded to a bigger alternator with an overdriven pulley, but not due to an alternator failure. My system draws so much current under heavy loads with the stock alternator that my voltage dropped low enough to cause the amps to shut off due to lack of power.
One of the competition trucks I build had 4-15's with two Punch 200's on the subs, and that kid ran that truck hard quite often. At some shows, it would play for over an hour at various levels, get a few minutes of rest, then go hit 155db legal on the dash (this was back in 98). That was a 4 cylinder S10 pickup with strobes, neons, the stereo, and a bubble tank in the back in front of our neon logo.
Yet another vehicle was an old-school 91 Escort with 6-15's. It had two Kicker ZR1000's on the stock alternator and did 160db's all day long. The car hit so hard it would literally roll the odometer back and forth. This guy used to drive from here in Mobile to Gulfport, MS with it blasting the whole way there, lay down a 160, collect his trophy, and drive back home blasting on the stock alternator.
I would be more apt to believe you have a wiring problem, either with the ground or the power leads, which is causing an overload, and that is causing the voltage regulator inside the alternator to max out so much that it overheats and cooks it.
My best suggestion would be to upgrade the grounds from the battery to the body, battery to the engine, and engine to the body. Ground your amplifier through double or triple wall sheetmetal, scraping the metal off on both sides, and using a bolt/nut/lock washer combination. Using a seat belt bolt or running a sheet metal screw through the floorplan is not a sufficient ground. Preferably, you want to run amplifier ground directly to the frame rail.
Your friend is wrong with his assumption. Dropping the fuse rating just makes it more likely for your amplifier to blow the fuse under heavy loads, as the fuse will only allow as much amperage as it's rated for. It won't make the amp draw less power, it will just blow the fuse repeatedly costing you money.
Re: 3 alternators burned out due to stereo (CPS)
when your saying upgrading the grounds from the batt to the body and engine. you mean use fatter cables?....
im trying to remember how i had my power cable hooked up i think it was attatched to a nut on that fuse/terminal thing on the battery post.
than as far a the gound for the amp. i remember using 4ga. or 0ga. to a bold i found in the trunk behind the seat (sanded the paint)....
ill check out my grounds and make sure none of them are corroded after that ill look into better way setups for the power and ground wires for the amp....thanx man.....to cold for this now....but i wanna get all my gear together so once i get a nice day i can bang it all out
im trying to remember how i had my power cable hooked up i think it was attatched to a nut on that fuse/terminal thing on the battery post.
than as far a the gound for the amp. i remember using 4ga. or 0ga. to a bold i found in the trunk behind the seat (sanded the paint)....
ill check out my grounds and make sure none of them are corroded after that ill look into better way setups for the power and ground wires for the amp....thanx man.....to cold for this now....but i wanna get all my gear together so once i get a nice day i can bang it all out
Re: 3 alternators burned out due to stereo (Taurus888)
Yes, larger gauge wiring (or as you call it "fatter") is what I meant by upgrading them. The fact of the matter is that the factory puts grounds in that are designed for the loads the car will experience. When you install a stereo system with amplifiers, you can easily double or triple what the factory components are rated at. The chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, and the factory grounds are just not sufficient for what you want to do.