Hello there.

With these new amps coming out in the market, supposed to be more efficient than the average a/b class amps.

I was just wondering with regards to the high current draw, could a large amount of stress put on the alternator to provide power during competitions?

Any advise is appreciated in this matter.

In most classes the cars engine is not allowed to run anyway, so the alternator doesn't come into play.

The amplifiers you are referring to are Class D, they are not Digital!

As Db said, in all Street Classes the engine has to be turned off, therefore taking the alternator out of the equation. That leaves it down to your battery and the cabling as the major items that supply the current to drive the amplifier(s).

Hey guys and gals.

Thank you for your valuable input into the matter.

Now I understand as far as SPL competition goes, I am safe, but if my alternator's output is not rated as the amplifier and I keep "cranking" my system, could I have a problem in future.

Reason being is that I did have to replace my alternator in my first car which only had a 200 watt amp so I just trying to play it safe here before I go doing something stupid and it will cost me dearly down the track.






Sorry, I forgot to mention I am thinking of purchasing a Crossfire BMF1000D amp and it has current rating of 100 - 120amp (max)

you will be fine, the reason your alternator died last time was probably unrelated, sometimes things go wrong with car.

Sorry for being a bit offtopic but,

I have a friend who had an alternator die on him, and on replacement they told him not to use his stereo+amp without the car running as it will damage it, I have friends that insist this to be true, yet I fail to understand their logic.

Any truth in that ?

Dr Boom. If you want to keep CRANKING your system without worrying about voltage issues, just make sure your power/ground wiring (from the alternator to battery, from the chassis to battery negative, from the battery to standard fuse box etc) is ugpraded to something beefy, and get a deep cycle battery.

A deep cycle battery can be run nearly flat time and time again, and still provided a great deal of "Starting amps" even when low on voltage. A standard car battery will die very rapidly if you run it flat even once, which is easy to do if your, say, playing the stereo with the car off.

If you run consistently beyond your alternators rated output, you will start flattening your battery. It is possible, if your alternator is very small (say, less than 50 amps) and you dont stop cranking your music for a fair while (say, half an hour) to run your battery flat while driving. You'll find your car simply wont start next time. Another reason to get a deep cycle battery.

Find out what your stock alternator's rated at, and keep in mind that for general listening, you wont be drawing even 10% of the amps maximum rated current draw.

In other words, you'll be fine.

Darkr.
Possibly. You'd be draining a standard car battery with the stereo running non stop and the engine off.
Once you start the car again, your alternator will be working "harder" to restore that lost charge...but i dont think it'd increase physical wear too much. Look up how a alternator works and you'll find that physical effort doesnt change too much as the current draw goes up.

Perhaps if you kept exceeding total draw of the alternator (ie, nearly flat battery + cranking your system) you'd start having drama's..but you'd also be noticing headlight dimming etc, and would hopefully use that as an indicator that theres a problem occuring, and you should address it (ie, turn it down, upgrade wiring/battery).

Should be fine.

I daily drove with 8kw and a stock 60A alternator, 85W highbeams and 100W spot lamps.. upgrade the cables and use a damned good battery and you should never have a problem.

^ what he said

sometimes autoelectricians dont understand car audio

Thank you for all your advice on the matter champs.

Even thought I have read books to gain knowledge on how things works, it is a good idea to share thoughts and see what you all have to say.

Keep our hobby alive.!

Thanks all for your input in this matter.

Wishing you all the best with your systems as well.

Unfortunately MOST autoelectricans dont understand car audio. There are some good Auto Elec's out there but the majority should stick to fitting driving lights and replacing alternators cause thats about all they are good for. And yes I've tried many many auto elecs...