burned up my alternator

[gmendonc]

I installed an upgraded sound system including an Infinity Reference 5350a 5 channel amp, Polk Audio db840DVC sub(wired serially), JVC CS-HX6947X 6x9's up front and Kicker KS600 6x5's in the back. I thought I had done enough research that I had all the bases covered but I guess not. I started having a weird problem a week or so after I installed everything, the presets for the radio kept getting reset. I thought it was something I had wired wrong but it was a sign that my battery was getting weak. So then I started smelling an acid smell and I kept having to jump start my car in the mornings. Finally the battery light started flashing in my dash. Originally I thought it was just a bad battery since I had run the radio without the car running and quickly ran it down not realizing the new setup was consuming much more power then before. So I took it to the dealer and low and behold they told me not only my battery was done but the alternator was burnt up! Well a few hundred dollars later I got a new battery and stock alternator put in and it seems to be running like a champ. I have looked through a lot of posts here but I had not seen a lot of people upgrading the alternator along with a new amplifier install. I did not notice any of the signs that amp is pulling too much power like lights flickering, etc... Has anyone else had similar issue?? If so what alternator did you upgrade to? According to crutchfield website stock solara alternator can put out as much as 140 amps max but by their calculations my new setup could pull as much as 78 amps by itself.

[KingKevin]

Ouch! Im concerned for my alternator... I have two 12" kenwood subs with a 500 watt rms amp. My lights DO flicker whenever the bass hits hard... I hope im not burning up my alternator. I've had them for a couple of weeks tho and so far I haven't had any problems. Knock on wood

[Aotoyota]

how much power is your amp rated for? It seems like something else is going on.

Ive got about 2600watts RMS in my car with a kinetik battery and the factory
alternator still for 120k miles.

I would say consider a capacitor or second battery but that depends on how much juice
you got running through.

[209solara209]

When i first got my system, i had lots of dimming issues where my output voltage of my alternator would be below 11 volts at idle and my stereo would turn off due to low voltage. It got old quick and decided to buy an iraggi alternator. I picked up what they call the "amputator" which i think put out well over 200 amps at idle.
So far, no more electrical issues.

[gmendonc]

How do you measure the voltage of the alternator? I am planning on taking my car to a car audio shop so they can check it out and let me know if I should do any electrical upgrades but I'd like to know for myself how to check the voltage. So far everything seems to be running fine after my expensive trip to the dealer. I've cranked up the tunes several times and no signs of excessive current draw so far.

[Aotoyota]

No actual way to measure, since it really depends on the car's RPM.

at lower the alternator turns less than at 4000RPM, which is why they were
dimming. if you are really concerned maybe just get a capacitor and call it a day.
its a quick fix and good if you just need a little more power.

[crispone]

how much power is your amp rated for? It seems like something else is going on.

Ive got about 2600watts RMS in my car with a kinetik battery and the factory
alternator still for 120k miles.

I would say consider a capacitor or second battery but that depends on how much juice
you got running through.

I'm with Aotoyota on this one all the way! I have ZERO dimming, and my '04 has been running a tri-amp system with OLD-SCHOOL amps drawing all kinds of current with NO PROBLEMS! (I had SOME minor dimming, then I added a cap, and at the same time a small sealed batter in the trunk... however, I ran with ONLY the stock alternator for YEARS without issue.)

Burned UP the alt.??? You've got a low level short or incorrect wiring SOMEWHERE! (IMHO...)






^^^ There's TWO of my three amps... the THIRD one is a 20+ year old Orion SX2125 that also ROCKS! (Even after all these years! It'll bake an EGG when really worked, and draws LOTS of current!)


...as far as my odyssey goes...


viewtopic.php?f=37&t=32084



-crisp

[gmendonc]

Thanks for the replies guys. It's been a week since my bad experience and things seems to be going well. I am still planning on taking the car into a audio shop just to make sure when I get some time. Depending on the outcome of that I will probably add a cap or do the big three upgrade or both. I don't think my wiring is wrong as I only have one amp not two or three like Crispone has. So I have a 4 ga cable from the amp to the battery and a ground cable from the amp to a bare metal spot behind the back seat. I have a theory of what happened based on some other posts that I researched. I had drained my battery a couple three times in the past, a couple times because my lights stayed on when I parked the car even though they are supposed to turn off automatically, that might be another post in another forum on this site, and most recently when I was adjusting the inputs on the amp without the car running. The amp drained the battery in a matter of minutes and I had to jumpstart it to finish the adjustments. I think the battery was weakened because of all the times it was drained and could no longer keep up with the current draw, in turn the alternator couldn't keep up with the current demands either so it burnt up. Here's a post I found that had a good explanation of how the charging system works: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 024AABhIoU

[crispone]

Thanks for the replies guys. It's been a week since my bad experience and things seems to be going well. I am still planning on taking the car into a audio shop just to make sure when I get some time. Depending on the outcome of that I will probably add a cap or do the big three upgrade or both. I don't think my wiring is wrong as I only have one amp not two or three like Crispone has. So I have a 4 ga cable from the amp to the battery and a ground cable from the amp to a bare metal spot behind the back seat. I have a theory of what happened based on some other posts that I researched. I had drained my battery a couple three times in the past, a couple times because my lights stayed on when I parked the car even though they are supposed to turn off automatically, that might be another post in another forum on this site, and most recently when I was adjusting the inputs on the amp without the car running. The amp drained the battery in a matter of minutes and I had to jumpstart it to finish the adjustments. I think the battery was weakened because of all the times it was drained and could no longer keep up with the current draw, in turn the alternator couldn't keep up with the current demands either so it burnt up. Here's a post I found that had a good explanation of how the charging system works: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 024AABhIoU

Based on your description, a good assessment. All indications DO point consistently to a "discharged battery" from the start, coupled with accelerated/high-load on the alternator trying to "recoup" for BATTERY CHARGE AND run the amp and such... you COULD (I'm theorizing) be overloading the charging circuit and alternator, I suspect.

Hope things continue to work great!


-crisp

[Aotoyota]

Im with Crisp... sounds like you were just running from the alterntor.

But how much power are you running? LIke I said, I have 3 amps and gobs of power with no problems.
the infinity amp MIGHT draw about 60 amps when it gets really really loud. Cant see how
the Alt burned up.

You also might consider grounding out the battery with a fat 4 ga wire if you have any left over,