I'm thinking about getting a high output alternator

Fraimr8 · Nov 15, 2005

new main battery?or what?

Sup all. I recently got a 2002 P5,for the simple fact i love the way car stereo sounds in hatch form as opposed to a sedans trunk. I have read many posts about caps, batterys,etc. I have had a cap in each of my last 3 systems(Im 37 so Ive had about 10). And to me the cap seems to make a difference in suring up the low end sound. So in my opinion the caps are a nice plus. My main question is that with say just under 1000 watts of power what is the best way to ensure Im getting most power outta the p5 charging system? I read a second battery is bad idea but if not an alt or second bat then what?how much improvement whould i see outta a red or yellow top?

InFeXIoN · Nov 15, 2005

Theres actually a place that will take your alternator and re wrap it to get the most out of it.

Poseur · Nov 15, 2005

We've all been brainwashed about 12v audio... There are SOOMant misconceptions and myths that are more commonplace than not.

HONESTLY Caps are not worth much. They are an additional DRAIN on your system.

Making the most of what you've got means running good wire, Grounding the hell outta your car to make what you've got flow as efficiently as possible. And mostly trying before buying. What makes a cap SOOO good? is it because you spend alot of money on it and it's got gold connectors and sometimes digital readouts?

Many of us have been running well over the KW range for a LONG time now. (wake used to run upto 3kw I believe) I've been over the 1.5KW mark daily driven for over 2years.

open the mind.

Poseur · Nov 15, 2005

InFeXIoN said:
Theres actually a place that will take your alternator and re wrap it to get the most out of it.

I think I give up. Everyone go get high output alternaters and a pile of caps and like 5 batteries. It'll make your car WAY more better. You can get speakers with lots of watts to get the most out of your deck. Oh, and blue lighy uppy thingys with flames, that makes for the best sound. It's likely the best if you put some 6x9's in your rear hatchcover but get an amp for thsoe because they've got toomany watts for just your deck.

Goldtaz1 · Nov 15, 2005

P5 2 ENVY said:
i want to run 3 500/1's to my 3 10w6's and a 300/4 for mids and highs. nathan at excessive amperage has told me he can do it? but you say it will kill my ecu? my only option that I heard is to charge my batteries every night?

so competing IDBL i can only run 1 extra battery and a 1f cap per amp? is this possible with out killing my car?

Sorry to tell you this, but excessive amperage is the first place I tried that failed miserably. You can give it a whirl if you like, but I'm not sure that one is gonna happen.

Goldtaz1 · Nov 15, 2005

keleko said:
what's wrong with optima?

last i knew they were king in the field...

There is really nothing optima makes that is anywhere close to the Odyssey 1700. I went from 1 optima red and 1 optima yellow to (2) PC1700's and the difference was overwhelming (gained right at 1 full Db).

Goldtaz1 · Nov 15, 2005

Poseur said:
Dude, honestly, it's been done... If you get someone who says yes, then cool, but it's really not gonna happen. I hate to be mr party pooper, but you've got a group of serious 12v junkies around here who are intimately familiar with these cars... We've been there, and tried that.

I guess my main question is why is it so hard to make a high output alternator for these cars?? It seems like every other car in the world has a WORKING high output alternator except the Protege' 5 or any other mazda.

got wake? · Nov 15, 2005

keleko said:
what's wrong with optima?

last i knew they were king in the field...

last time they where really popular was years ago. the pc2150 from odyssey has been tested by many competitors to be the best SPL battery on the market, even better than the overpriced kinetic monster. the problem with optima is they aren't consitant. some work well, others don't. then there are the yellow tops that need special charging, if you drain it below a certain voltage.

Captain KRM P5 · Nov 15, 2005

i thought 1sty was using a different alternator...

Poseur · Nov 15, 2005

yep, partially. he was bypassing the ECU connection wiht limited success, I'm pretty sure. perhaps he'll chime in.

keleko · Nov 15, 2005

Poseur said:
[.....I think I give up. Everyone go get high output alternaters and a pile of caps and like 5 batteries.......

lolololol

i've actualy never used more than 1 battery and one 1-farad cap

worked great for me

FrigginGLI · Nov 15, 2005

Poseur said:
I think I give up. Everyone go get high output alternaters and a pile of caps and like 5 batteries. It'll make your car WAY more better. You can get speakers with lots of watts to get the most out of your deck. Oh, and blue lighy uppy thingys with flames, that makes for the best sound. It's likely the best if you put some 6x9's in your rear hatchcover but get an amp for thsoe because they've got toomany watts for just your deck.

Best post ever.

Goldtaz1 · Nov 18, 2005

Welp guys, I think I may have found out today why the high output alternators that I tried to have built did not work. I took my car in to the local mazda dealership for servicing and I was able to speak to the mechanic and service manager at length about the problem in having a higher output alternator and they told me that on top of the 2 part voltage regulator obstacle there is an obstacle that no one would have ever gotten past and it has to do with the ECU. Apparently the ECU is hard-coded with the amperage rating for an OEM alternator (75-80 amps whatever it is). This basically does not allow for anything higher than the stock alternator to be put on the car and in effect the ECU literally rejects the high output alternator giving a meager 12.1-12.2 volts on the DMM. I asked the mechanic if we could re-program the ECU to recognize a higher output alternator and he stated that "he had never done that before and that he wasn't going to be the first one to do so". Let me know if you have some suggestions or if this explanation was waaaaaaaayyyyyyy off?

got wake? · Nov 20, 2005

nope, that explanation is perfectly correct. the ECU measures the current output, but i was told that if the alt was replaced with a high output one, and run through the stock harness, then the over current would cause first cause the alt to put out low voltage, then once the current gets too high, it will fry the ECU.

CX92ENVY · Nov 21, 2005

I've been told that Joker_Fl has one running on his car. maybe he can chime in!

Joker_Fl · Nov 21, 2005

I don't get it...unless your runnin massive amounts of power, you should be fine with the stock alternator and battcaps, or dry cell stingers or whatever.(just not capacitors, more bad than good come from these) Use a good power wire, IXOS, Stinger, and wire correctly you should be fine. If you are running so much power that you need a higher output alternator im sure a bracket could be engineered to hold another one. The stock for the car and a seperate alternator for the stereo.

And no...im running a stock alternator, pulling 400amps with high current and tube USAmplifiers. With one battcap 800 and a red top....my lights don't dim even hitting a 144spl.

SP33D · Nov 21, 2005

u mean 144db

threadjack* are there any good digital sound processors coming out that any of you know of?

Goldtaz1 · Nov 22, 2005

Joker_Fl said:
I don't get it...unless your runnin massive amounts of power, you should be fine with the stock alternator and battcaps, or dry cell stingers or whatever.(just not capacitors, more bad than good come from these) Use a good power wire, IXOS, Stinger, and wire correctly you should be fine. If you are running so much power that you need a higher output alternator im sure a bracket could be engineered to hold another one. The stock for the car and a seperate alternator for the stereo.

And no...im running a stock alternator, pulling 400amps with high current and tube USAmplifiers. With one battcap 800 and a red top....my lights don't dim even hitting a 144spl.

Ok, here's what I'm going to be running as far as electrical and stereo goes: 1) I have (2) Odyssey PC 1700 batteries (one under the hood and the other in the back) and a stock alternator 2) I will be running (1) Hifonics XX-Goliath amplifier capable of pulling in excess of 500 amps of current and I will be running (1) Hifonics Zeus 6000 for the highs and mids. 3) I have (1) 3/0 gauge run of power and ground, I also have an existing run of 1/0 gauge power and ground, so I think I am well covered on the potential to deliver the current. In all total, I will have a system that is well capable of demanding upwards of 550 amps of current. I know that it will not pull this constantly, but this is going to be a street beater so it needs to have the ability to sustain at least one full song at a fairly high volume.

Joker_Fl · Nov 22, 2005

I would think you would be fine. With the second battery in the back doing 90% of the work and with the 3/0 cable run you i wouldn't see any problems. the only thing i would do is get an xstatic battcap 400 or 800 for that zues to let that monster run off that second battery by itself. Id do your install then measure your current draw from your main battery. See how bad it draws first, before dumping a ton of money of an alternator. I think you'll find that big of a second battery will solve most issues.

144db spl...whatever...i dont' do bass, so whatever you call it...sound quality is key (thumb) . But i wont knock the bass heads....they get the people to the shows, and usually throw the best afterparties. (friday)

There are a couple goodies coming out. But id honestly for now stick with an alpine H-701, or a UCS pro from Alto Mobile. Two bad ash units. Unless you got the money for a F1 Status from alpine. Ive heard of a couple of monsters coming out, but can't put names on the units yet or manufactures. Just heard there are some fellow competitors testing some seriouse processors. (Ive heard of one that has 4 optical inputs, 8 optical outputs and remote D/A converters for each channel.) This thing I wanna see...
But if I hear of anything new ill let ya know.

Goldtaz1 · Nov 23, 2005

Joker_Fl said:
I would think you would be fine. With the second battery in the back doing 90% of the work and with the 3/0 cable run you i wouldn't see any problems. the only thing i would do is get an xstatic battcap 400 or 800 for that zues to let that monster run off that second battery by itself. Id do your install then measure your current draw from your main battery. See how bad it draws first, before dumping a ton of money of an alternator. I think you'll find that big of a second battery will solve most issues.

Thanks man, I'll let you know how everything turns out.

I'm thinking about getting a high output alternator

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