Power-master alternaters????

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mustangman70

Founding Member

Dec 30, 2001

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St pete, Florida

Mar 13, 2004

#1

• Mar 13, 2004

• #1

I am positive that my system is eating up my alternater, now evan with the car at idle (with the subs 0ff) the car struggles to keep the lights lit, i have heard quite a bit about the POWERMASTER one-wire alternater, how big of an alternater should i get? and how hard is it to install? what wires are lost with this? if it helps i have 2 sony xplod 12's, with an 800 watt amp.... and i dont want to hear that its overkill

:flame suit on:

 

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mustangdave

My rearend needs a stud and two nuts.

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Feb 26, 2002

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North Carolina

Mar 13, 2004

#2

• Mar 13, 2004

• #2

The only wire you run is from the alternator to the pos. side of batterry. It has an internal voltage regulator so you unplug the short harness from the old alternator to the solenoid. I'd say you want at least a 100 amp.

 

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eats305sstock

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Jun 21, 2001

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Mar 13, 2004

#3

• Mar 13, 2004

• #3

I just installed a Powermaster 100 amp that I bought from summit for 140 shipped (Got the black finish). My stereo is running around 1000 watts RMS, and I have my power wire fused to 50 amps, it has yet to pop so in real world conditions I doubt that your 800 watt stereo will pull more than 40. Either way the stock alternators suck plain and simple and I would highly recommend swapping to a powermaster.

 

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GaPonyFarm

New Member

Jan 2, 2004

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Columbus, GA

Mar 13, 2004

#4

• Mar 13, 2004

• #4

The 100 amp will be perfect for you. I also recommend you consider a capacitor to take the initial load off the alternator and let the cap do the heavy lifting, for powering up the amp.

 

Route666

Active Member

Aug 16, 2003

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Brisbane, Australia

Mar 13, 2004

#5

• Mar 13, 2004

• #5

mustangman70 said:

I am positive that my system is eating up my alternater, now evan with the car at idle (with the subs 0ff) the car struggles to keep the lights lit, i have heard quite a bit about the POWERMASTER one-wire alternater, how big of an alternater should i get? and how hard is it to install? what wires are lost with this? if it helps i have 2 sony xplod 12's, with an 800 watt amp.... and i dont want to hear that its overkill

:flame suit on:

Click to expand...

Man two 12s with an 800w amp. I've got an 8-inch kicker running off of a 500w amp, and it needs more amp. I'd suggest two 1000w amps for you, plus one for your midranges, and the biggest darned altenator you can find.

 

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eats305sstock

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Jun 21, 2001

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Mar 14, 2004

#6

• Mar 14, 2004

• #6

Route666 said:

Man two 12s with an 800w amp. I've got an 8-inch kicker running off of a 500w amp, and it needs more amp. I'd suggest two 1000w amps for you, plus one for your midranges, and the biggest darned altenator you can find.

Click to expand...

Not all 12's are created equal, I would not want to see Sony's after being subjected to 1000 true rms watts, lol smokeshow.

 

Route666

Active Member

Aug 16, 2003

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Mar 14, 2004

#7

• Mar 14, 2004

• #7

Well, I like to keep amps running below their minimum, so the signal isn't distorted. I was perhaps being a little over-zealous with the amount of amp, but hey is some is good, more is better right?

 

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mustangman70

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Dec 30, 2001

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St pete, Florida

Mar 15, 2004

#8

• Mar 15, 2004

• #8

140?!?!?! well i see some wies from the back of the alternater head somewhere else also...... do i just yank them out????

 

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mustangman70

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Dec 30, 2001

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St pete, Florida

Mar 18, 2004

#9

• Mar 18, 2004

• #9

I think you need more sub lol, lets say 2 12 JL w3's and that 500 watt amp will power those plenty.

Ok now im confused, are you saying i should only run a 50 amp fuse on the main power wire from the amp to the battery? because i run a 100 amp now???

I believe the powermaster website said the alternater produces 80 amps at idle, for mainly stopping at lights, and the ocasional stop to say hey to a friend with the car idling would it be allright? ALSO all those wires from the old regulater, i can just follow them and pull them out?

 

Route666

Active Member

Aug 16, 2003

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Brisbane, Australia

Mar 18, 2004

#10

• Mar 18, 2004

• #10

The fuse is just to make sure that if your stereo goes down due to a short or something it doesn't take the rest of the car with it in the ensuing short-circuit.

The smaller one will blow if you over-power it, obviously, so you should make it match your stereo's power consumption, so if it drags too much current because of a short, it won't blow the amps, just the fuse.

P=IV, so for a 12V, 500W amp, you should put a (I = P/V) 40A fuse on it if you don't run the amp full, 45A to get max power out of it, and aren't too worried with the small over-power necessary to blow the fuse.

Note: This is for the 500W amp only, if you have more amps, factor them in, and the head unit if running off the same power.

 

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mustangman70

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Dec 30, 2001

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St pete, Florida

Mar 24, 2004

#11

• Mar 24, 2004

• #11

I will be getting my POWERMASTER within a couple of weeks WITH another battery just for the system, can i run another wire from the positive of the front battery to the back battery to keep the stereo battery charged?

 

Route666

Active Member

Aug 16, 2003

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Brisbane, Australia

Mar 25, 2004

#12

• Mar 25, 2004

• #12

Yes, the two will be connected, and used by everything, one won't be dedicated to the stereo. In effect you will have created a battery with twice as much storage as a single battery. A battery is just that, a "battery" of cells. (lots of cells all put together). Putting another battery in just gives twice as many cells, which are storage elements.

 

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mustangman70

Founding Member

Dec 30, 2001

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St pete, Florida

Mar 25, 2004

#13

• Mar 25, 2004

• #13

sweet, soon i will be happy again haha

 

Edbert

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Jul 13, 2002

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109

Austin TX

Mar 26, 2004

#14

• Mar 26, 2004

• #14

I just put a 140a PowerMaster in mine. Only problem is I cannot get the pulley off, even with an air powered impact wrench. That nut is TORQUED on there like crazy! So for now I'm going to have to live with the fugly gold colored pulley.

 

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GT2K

Founding Member

Dec 27, 1999

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Mar 26, 2004

#15

• Mar 26, 2004

• #15

One other tip, if you are going with a 1 wire unit then get the GM model since it is quite a bit smaller. You can use it with the really nice Roush Brackets too.

 

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mustangdave

My rearend needs a stud and two nuts.

Founding Member

Feb 26, 2002

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North Carolina

Mar 26, 2004

#16

• Mar 26, 2004

• #16

As far as the stock voltage reg., just unhook it and unbolt it, throw it aside. Don't cut the wires as they are part of the headlight wiring harness. The short harness coming off of the stock alternator can also be discarded. The only problem I haven't figured out is how to get the stock gauge to read.