mjw614

To anyone that added aftermarket stereo equipment:

Did you need to put a new alternator in to handle all the stereo equip.? If so what kind and where did you purchase it?

Thanks,
Mike

Elchulo

I haven't put a new alternator in yet but I've considered it.

I really depends on how far you are going to go with your system. What kinda stuff are you looking into?

mazdaspeedwest

very true. for a modest system (500watts or so) there shouldn't be much need for a new alt, but if you push it higher, it may be necessary. Also depends on the equipment used, some amps draw more than others, what wiring has been used, battery type, capacitors, etc....

mjw614

Thanks for the info. I probly won't be running more than 500 watts. Though, today I noticed when I rolled my windows down all my lights dimmed. Is that normal?

mazdaspeedwest

i highly doubt thats normal. what year is your Pro?

Maz94Protege

yes its pretty normal, im runnin a 300-600watt system. my lights dim. but my lights dont dim when i put the window down. (o i have manual windows ) but anyways u could go with a higher ampreged alt.

protegeboy78

Just curious but I installed a new cd player in my car and ocassionally i can hear a whine as i accelerate in the rear speakers. I was wondering if that might be my alternator cause for a while i've noticed a slightly similar whine coming from my engine as I accelerate and my mechanic said it might be the alternator (the engine whine he listened to not the speaker one)but it was still good for a while. Any ideas?

DanMan

I have bearly begun to bump my car, I running or one small kicker amp to a dual 12'' box not only do I not get enough power when I turn my system all the way up the revs teter toder, when I driving or just idling, i found that getting a exspensive battery and a cap(i'm only running 75 watts) it helped but in the next month or so depending on weither I get a Job I'm gonna be installing two more amps, of much greater power.
Heres a good test if you sitting in your car at night with you radio or what ever tunes you got on at a resenoble level, and we all know there is no reasonable level, roll the windows up both front seat windows if your headlights or display or headlamp flicker or waver, you need a better altinator

DanMan

[ocassionally i can hear a whine as i accelerate in the rear speakers.

you have a shitty ground some where in there, or some wires are crossed, if you did it yourself (installation i mean) do it over and be carefull, I know a kid who fried his ECU with bad wires froma amp( not to mention his amp and head unit), and if you paided some one to do, well your out 60 bucks man that sucks, no just joking just take it back to them, or just get it inspected anyway

Sweedenhouse

Do you have an amp, or just a CD player running deck power to the speakers?

protegeboy78

Just a cd player right now. I was told part of my problem might be that i ran too long of a ground wire, so i'm gonna try and shorten it, but i can't find a good place to ground it anywhere near the head unit to see if that is really the problem

Dave Cameron

Before you go purchasing a new alternator, try a meter first. I have a simple little one that plugs into the lighter. It shows how many volts of output I have. On my car I am using a JL 4/300 and a basslink, and I have no problems- rock solid 14.4 volts.
On the soundcar of the house, I have 3 McIntosh MCC602 amps pushing roughly 1800 watts, and I do not need a higher output alternator. ( the stock alternator is larger than the protege, but still it is not huge!). Solid 14-14.4 volts.
The other place to check with a meter is at the amp power in connections. The resistence of the wire run to the amp will drop the power no matter how big am alternator you have, sorry.
Dimming can happen if you have the headlights, defogger and rear window defogger on all at the same time!
Batteries can help, there seems to be large amounts of dicussion about the usefulness of caps, but I do have them. They look cool in the system for competition purposes.
Alternators do not produce there rated output at idle, even high output ones, they need to be spinning at least 1500 rpm, and are better at 2000 rpm.
I can't say there is any harm in getting a larger alternator, but it may not really be needed, or give any imagined benefits.

Whine in the speakers is a noise injection problem, not a alternator normally. The noise can be coming into the system anywhere, the power lead for the deck, the amp, any other powered devices like an EQ, or via the RCA lines or speaker cables. It is pretty time consuming, but it can be fixed by playing with all the above.
While people have argued the point, gounding is simple, the car is a one big ground. Bolt to the chassis anywhere you can. I used to do star grounds ten years ago, but I came to realize that long wire runs to get to one spot was silly when the whole car is a ground, and a more powerful one at that! Use a decent piece of wire, and you are fine.
We all have a natural desire to overengineer, a lot of things in a car teach us this. Stereo is at heart electro mechnical, and subject to the laws of physics, and overbuilding the structure of a car stereo has very deminishing returns. Just enough will do fine

DanMan

I have a Clarion Head Unit and a Kicker amp, at one Time I had two Kicker Amps and Sony amp, i couldn't run the system my car wouldn't start after I had turned it off, and being poor and 16 i opted to light the load a little

protegeboy78

I have made three additions to my car that are drawing more power and wanted to know if it is enough to warrent a higher output alternator. I added fog lamps, a 160 watt head unit (might upgrade to 180-200), and 180 watt speakers. Should i worry about it pulling too much and buy a better alternator? or will these not affect it? Also how many amps does mine produce? its for a 1.5 L 95 DX