200 amp alernator

[ProjectMM]

My alternator has a bad diod, And I'm thinking of getting a bigger one. has anyone used a 200amp alternator? if so any problems? i can get one built for around 225. any thoughts would be grate!

[geoffinbc]

Waste of money. You will never need it. Plus it may not give enough power at idle where it counts. Buy a rebuild and save a hundred or so.

[sharkey]

how big of a stereo do you have??? thats about the only reason to get a bigger alternator

[Loaded05]

I have a 200 amp alternator on my car. It puts out 105 amps at idle, quite a bit more than the stocker (50 amps at idle).

I just needed a 1" shorter belt due to the smaller alternator pulley.

[Azrael]

High amperage units are overkill unless you use a lot of power-hungry things like winches, 1KW+ of audio, exterior lighting, etc. If you want more power at idle, a physically larger alternator will do a better job than a higher amperage stock unit. You can fit a CS-144 in place of your CS-130D alt pretty easily. If you rev your engine to redline a lot I'd avoid using a smaller pulley.

http://www.alternatorparts.com/FAQ.htm

[19Cutlass94]

I know I need a bigger alt for my stereo... and I HATE this ud pulley that I have.. I wanna take it off SOON! It kills me at idle.

Find out what the power curve is for the alternator.. and go from there... idle being one of the most important thins you look at.

[geoffinbc]

I have a 200 amp alternator on my car. It puts out 105 amps at idle, quite a bit more than the stocker (50 amps at idle).

I just needed a 1" shorter belt due to the smaller alternator pulley.

Unless you have a big stereo then no it does not put out 105A at idle. If something did draw that much current it would melt the stock charge wire in seconds. Just so every one is aware the rating for max output is PEAK which is only for a few seconds. It cannot constantly put out that much power.

Theoretically 105A at say 14V is 2100watts. That a hell of a lot of stereo. Also whats even worse is that someone could drive a car with that much power going into their ears. I bet on an average drive a person listens to a descent stereo with a couple subs which in total might consume 75 to 100 watts. That only 5.3A to 7.15A on a 14V output being drawn from the alternator. Add up every accessory on your car and you still wont be at half the peak output of a stock alternator. Remember just because your stereo can consume 5000W does not mean you can listen to it while it is consuming 5000W.

[TazMan]

If you have a couple of small subs the stock alternator and a capacitor might be a better idea. Do you have a system and if so whats the rms wattage per channel of your amp or amps?

[geldartb]

the minivans come with a 145 amp one stock. well the ones that have rear ac.
prob would require using the alt mounting bracket off the van depending on how your car is setup.
DL1433-16-10

[crytical point]

CS-130 should handle 2000 watts with no problem. I converted my SI to a CS and did the "Big Three" ( 4ga/2ga wire from alternator to + on the battery, - on battery to alternator bracket, - battery to body) that should handle alot of stereo and I am running a 1800 and a 1200 watt amp on that set up. With the wiring it charges at 16v with little to no load and 14.7 at full load and on top of all of that my headlights are brighter, windows are faster, my engine is more responsive because everything is grounded properly. I have ran large alternators, yellow top batterys, and capacitors and find that extra batterys with out proper charging will kill your alternator and the same goes for capacitors except the capacitor can expolde and cause fires if they malfunction but they are a good bandaid for a temp fix. But in total if you want to build a good charging system you will have a CS-144 with the "ice berg housing" and adjust is to at most 16v and run "The Big 3" and two deep cell batterys. With that setup you could run 6-7000 watts with little to no dimming and if your amps are rated at 12v and your charging system is charging higher than that your amps will be putting out more watts than rated.

Hope that helps and be safe and solder and heat shrink all connections.

[Loaded05]

Unless you have a big stereo then no it does not put out 105A at idle. If something did draw that much current it would melt the stock charge wire in seconds. Just so every one is aware the rating for max output is PEAK which is only for a few seconds. It cannot constantly put out that much power.

Well, I guess it's a good thing my underhood wiring is not stock.

And, yes, my alternator is rated deliver 105 amps at idle (800 rpm) and 200 amps from 2100 rpms and up.

[geoffinbc]

Well, I guess it's a good thing my underhood wiring is not stock.

And, yes, my alternator is rated deliver 105 amps at idle (800 rpm) and 200 amps from 2100 rpms and up.

Exactly. "Rated," But 105A is not being drawn.

[lampy]

Its been 20+ years since I was in college(holy crap) but to figure out wattage dont you multiply voltage and current? 14 volts X 105 amps= 1470watts. I'll have to check my self and edit if I'm wrong.
Checked myself. To calculate wattage the formula is P=V X I , P is wattage, V is volts, I is current or amps. Thats your electronics lesson for the day.

[bszopi]

P=IE

Yes, you are correct.

[geoffinbc]

Its been 20+ years since I was in college(holy crap) but to figure out wattage dont you multiply voltage and current? 14 volts X 105 amps= 1470watts. I'll have to check my self and edit if I'm wrong.
Checked myself. To calculate wattage the formula is P=V X I , P is wattage, V is volts, I is current or amps. Thats your electronics lesson for the day.

Yes that is exactly how I cam up with my numbers.

V=IR
P=IV

Oh and another factoid 750Watts (Well 746 to be exact) equals 1 HP and an alternator is usually 50 to 60% efficient, after bearing, cooling fan, regulator heat loss and voltage drop. So keep all that in mind next time someone tries to convince you Electric Superchargers are a good idea LOL.

Thats the basic laws of electronics.