I need a new alternator. Should I take my car to the dealership or a mechanic shop?
There is literally no reason to go to the dealership (unless you want to). It’s not ‘wrong’ to go to the dealership if you like your dealership… but there is no benefit that they will give you vs. a good local shop.An alternator replacement does not involve any special, deal/manufacturer specific equipment. A mechanic will spend 30–90 minutes (depending on your car) unbolting a softball-sized generator-looking thing from the side of your engine and replacing it with a new one. They should also replace the serpentine belt that drives it with a new one, while they’re at it.There are no adjustments or diagnostics or variables to be adjusted. (yes, some vehicles require adjustment of the belt tension with a bolt, but that is rare nowadays, because most cars have automatic belt tensioners, and even that is extremely simple and not specific to any particular model).Your best bet is to develop a relationship with a local shop that you can trust. It will save you a lot of money over the long run.
Will a car run with a bad alternator?
Yes. But it will be only running for a short time as it is running strictly off of the energy stored in the battery. Depending on what you are driving is how long it will run like that. Older vehicles will run for quite a while, if you don’t use your brakes much (because the brake lights use power), and keep the headlights off, as well as any other accys that use power. Newer vehicles will not run as long because the computer (ECU) and all of the other things that take power to monitor and regulate your engine.This isn’t recommended in any case because running a vehicle on diminishing electrical power can cause many components necessary for it to run to fail. Even in an older vehicle the coil, or condenser can be ruined. However, sometimes we have to do what we have to do in order to get out of a situation. If there is any possible way to not operate your vehicle when the alternator is bad, go that route.Good luck.
What size alternator do i need for a 1000 watt amp?
If it's a BS $100 "1000 watt" amp most any stock electrical system will cover it w/o any problems. If it's a legitimate 1000w rms amp, and that's the only amp in the system MOST stock electrical systems will power it sufficiently unless you're blasting it non-stop. In general, I would say you don't have much to worry about as long as the alt is 100A or close to it. The thing is - there are cases where an electrical system SEEMS like it should be adequate and isn't, but others that it seems like it needs upgraded and doesn't. So the usual procedure is to just install the equipment and make adjustments as needed. Unless you have an unusually small electrical system I would expect it to work ok. I run 1500w rms in a contour with a 110A alt and my old system was around 1000w rms with a 75A. Both ran/run w/o any problems. One thing is for certain. A power capacitor has never been and never will be the difference between an adequate and inadequate electrical system.
Do you absolutely need an alternator to drive your car or can you just recharge it everytime you need to drive
Your battery is the middle man. Its there to "keep" a power source. After the engine starts, the alternator takes over and delivers the juice to power your cars needs. If the alternator doesn't have enough amp output to power all of your accessories it can't maintain a charge on the battery. If your battery is bad, change it and your alternator may not have a problem. I would upgrade to a high amp alternator and a new battery. Your car will run on just the power from the battery, but it was not designed to be jumped all of the time. It was designed to have a steady charge from the alternator and draining and jumping the battery will put a premature death in its future.
What size alternator would I need to power 1500 watts?
Your alternator charges your battery through a voltage regulator, and the rest of your car while the engine is running. 75 amp is an average amp output, and you don't need to do anything. Upgrading to a more powerful output alternator is not a good idea in today's newer vehicles, whose computer's control engine and charging function. Many newer cars have no stronger alternators available for this reason, and your stereo may make you want a bigger output CCA battery for when you're listening with the engine off, but the alternator is fine. It will power your car and stereo, but a stronger battery really may be something to look into...save your money for the hearing aid in a few years!LOL
How many amps does my alternator need for a 2000 watt amp?
you could probably 'get away' with a 150-160 amp alternator but if i was going to buy an h.o. alt. i would get at least a 200 amp model. that way if i ever upgraded to a even bigger amplifier i wouldn't have to get another alt.
Will 150 amps alternator do for my system or do i need bigger?
Well lets see... 2500w RMS output / 0.8 (80% efficient amp (class D)) = 3125w input That means you need 3125 watts of input power to produce the full 2500w RMS output. 3125w / 14.4V (running voltage of car) = 217A So to fully power your amp you would need 217 amperes. Already you can see that you will not be getting enough to fully power your amp. Not to mention you are not even including the amount of power your car needs for it's regular functions. You would need a larger alternator to run the amp to its full potential. Considering the fact that the 200A is rated at it's peak power you will have less output from the alternator when idling as well. But you can also take away a little bit as your amp is not going to be running the full 2500w RMS much with regular music. Considering all of this I would recommend an alternator that is around 300A or more. Kinetik will recommend more batteries because they sell batteries. The fact is that you do not NEED a second battery. A battery just acts as a storage device and it has two primary functions. The first is to start your car and the second is to power the accessories when the car is not on. That is not to say it doesn't play a role in a large system. They are needed for when you have a big bass hit and the alternator cannot supply enough current quickly enough. But you only need one battery to be able to do this. A second battery will add time for you to listen to your system with the car off. When the car is on it won't be needed as much. It won't hurt to add but you will need to get a larger alternator to keep both batteries completely charged. One upgrade you HAVE to do if you upgrade your alternator (it is helpful even if you don't) is the "big 3" upgrade. http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/foru... This link will calculate what size alternator you need as well... http://www.highoutputalternator.com/Tech... Good Luck!!!
How does an alternator charge my car battery? How much charge can it give, and what other functions does an alternator do?
Alternator or Generator :Alternator is directly connected with engine power through a drive belt. When you start a engine, at the same time Alternator rotates with the help of engine power.There are 4 important parts are used in Alternator. 1. STATOR 2. ROTOR 3. RECTIFIER 4. IC REGULATOR. This 4 parts are very necessary to develop electric power (AC current) and converts the power from AC to DC current then charging the battery while engine at running condition.STATOR : Permanent Winding Coil. There are 3 winding coils joined together.ROTOR: Electro magnet. Rotate with the help of engine power. Creates magnetic force at engine running condition. This EMF (electro magnetic force) push the free electrons in the stator coils. This flow of electrons is called Current.RECTIFIER : Made by diodes. Simply used for convert the AC current to DC current.IC REGULATOR : it's used for control the current. For ex. When the battery is fully charged the Alternator management Sensor give signal to IC REGULATOR. IC REGULATOR stop the current supply to the slip rings (carbon brush) ie rotor. ROTOR rotates normally neither or nor Electro magnetic. It's also reduce the engine load & increase the engine performance.FUNCTION : Alternator is a device it's only work with input current. Get 12v DC current from vehicle battery passed to IC REGULATOR. IC REGULATOR carry the current from battery and passed to slip ring. Through the slip ring , current passed to rotor. Now the rotor develop EMF Force. This magnetic waves attracts the stator coil and pushes the free electrons in the coil. This flow of free electrons (AC current ) converted to DC current by rectifier. DC current are directly charge the battery and run other electrical components while engine at running condition. This is the function alternator in car engine.Hope you can get what you expect. Please ignore and correct me by your valuable comments for mistakes of my English vocabulary.Thanks……