I don't know if I need a high output alternator or not

[Jacob P]

To start off I'm new to this and can't pinpoint what is going on, so I have a 2007 Honda Accord EX-L i4. I recently had a shop install my skar 12" sub with an 800w skar amp (I will also be adding front door speakers and rear deck speakers soon). I'm having an issue where when I play my radio up to a certain volume the two interior dome lights start to ever so slightly dim with the music when there's a lot of bass. I'm trying to figure out if it's because I didn't install a big 3 kit, if my stock alt is not enough, or both. I cannot seem to find a big 3 kit that is 100% OFC with ring terminals small enough to fit on the stock alternator power wire connection because of this plastic piece that goes around where the power wire for the alternator goes, the only real kit I could find I don't know if the 4 gauge wire is enough or not compared to using the 1/0 wire. If it's the alternator I have no idea what brand to get and exactly how to know what amp rating i need for my system. Any help with this is greatly appreciated, I've been more than stumped with this and can't figure out what to do.

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[Jimi77 5,000+ posts]

Also could be the way Honda's alternators work. There is a circuit (can't remember the name) that detects electrical power consumption at the fuse block. So when your headlights or HVAC are running, the car knows and increases alternator output. Since you amp is wired directly to the battery and isn't part of the fuse block, the reduces alternator output to improve mileage - I know it's weird.

I'd definitely do the big 3 to eliminate that as a cause. I'm not sure how guys work around this issue when running higher powered systems, but I do know there are some work arounds. Good luck.

 

[Jacob P]

The part that is confusing me is that it's only those 2 lights, I haven't noticed headlights dimming, the gauge cluster hasn't dimmed at all, and the car doesn't seem to run any different. I just found and ordered a big 3 kit through skar that should hopefully fit, but I want to know if I should be adding a fuse to the power cable for the alternator to the battery and what fuse holder would be good.

 

[Jimi77 5,000+ posts]

The part that is confusing me is that it's only those 2 lights, I haven't noticed headlights dimming, the gauge cluster hasn't dimmed at all, and the car doesn't seem to run any different. I just found and ordered a big 3 kit through skar that should hopefully fit, but I want to know if I should be adding a fuse to the power cable for the alternator to the battery and what fuse holder would be good.

I've never fused the alt to battery run, but that doesn't mean it can't short out and catch fire.

When you turn on the headlights, Honda's load sensing circuit would kick up alternator output. If it's just a couple interior lights, the HU might be pulling current from the interior light circuit.

 

[HondaCRV03]

Also could be the way Honda's alternators work. There is a circuit (can't remember the name) that detects electrical power consumption at the fuse block. So when your headlights or HVAC are running, the car knows and increases alternator output. Since you amp is wired directly to the battery and isn't part of the fuse block, the reduces alternator output to improve mileage - I know it's weird.

I'd definitely do the big 3 to eliminate that as a cause. I'm not sure how guys work around this issue when running higher powered systems, but I do know there are some work arounds. Good luck.

You're speaking about the ELD (electronic load detector). I don't think it was as bad as it used to be for older Hondas. It would idle at low 13s and you had to do wizardry to make it idle at a higher voltage. I have a CR-V and that hasn't been an issue for me.

OP, to see if it is an ELD issue, check your idle voltage. When the engine is warmed up it should be something close to 14v

Edit: also adding another alternator is the expensive route for that much power. Adding another battery would do just fine

 

[mastershake575]

To start off I'm new to this and can't pinpoint what is going on, so I have a 2007 Honda Accord EX-L i4. I recently had a shop install my skar 12" sub with an 800w skar amp (I will also be adding front door speakers and rear deck speakers soon). I'm having an issue where when I play my radio up to a certain volume the two interior dome lights start to ever so slightly dim with the music when there's a lot of bass. I'm trying to figure out if it's because I didn't install a big 3 kit, if my stock alt is not enough, or both. I cannot seem to find a big 3 kit that is 100% OFC with ring terminals small enough to fit on the stock alternator power wire connection because of this plastic piece that goes around where the power wire for the alternator goes, the only real kit I could find I don't know if the 4 gauge wire is enough or not compared to using the 1/0 wire. If it's the alternator I have no idea what brand to get and exactly how to know what amp rating i need for my system. Any help with this is greatly appreciated, I've been more than stumped with this and can't figure out what to do.

If you want to max your amplifiers and do true power then yes you will need an alternator.

Most stock alts barely charge at idle and have alternators that are designed to be pretty close to what it needs to physically run the car + accessories (especially sedans). For example, it wouldn't shock me if your accords OEM alternator was designed to only have a buffer of 25 or 30 available amps of power once you factor efficiency rating, the power needed to run the car and its accessories. Amplifiers (especially in a music setting) don't max out the rated power but at the same time you can see where adding over 100 amps of power from both amplifiers would be an issue

Big 3 won't do anything, the stock OEM wires far exceed the current needed for the stock alternator.

Batteries are band-aids which I'm not a fan of. They act as a buffer when you pull more current than what you can produce but once you start pulling substantially more than what it can handle then your voltage will drop.

I'd rather drop $350-400 on an alternator and just be done with it (max your amplifiers, never have to worry about voltage, have room for possible future upgrades) then do what a lot of people mistakenly do which is spend $250-300 on some band aid AGM battery + capacitor combo.

Also could be the way Honda's alternators work. There is a circuit (can't remember the name) that detects electrical power consumption at the fuse block. So when your headlights or HVAC are running, the car knows and increases alternator output. Since you amp is wired directly to the battery and isn't part of the fuse block, the reduces alternator output to improve mileage - I know it's weird.

I'd definitely do the big 3 to eliminate that as a cause. I'm not sure how guys work around this issue when running higher powered systems, but I do know there are some work arounds. Good luck.

The ELD. My previous car (Honda) was only 2 years older than the topic creators and it was a huge issue.

I would have to drive with the headlights on during the day because that was the only way for my cars voltage regulator to kick on enough to get the full 14 volts. I eventually got an alternator through singer alternators, and it came with a bypass (he basically added a resistor to the sense wire so it tricked the ELD into always thinking the car needed a full load).

 

[Jacob P]

So what I'm experiencing in would be

You're speaking about the ELD (electronic load detector). I don't think it was as bad as it used to be for older Hondas. It would idle at low 13s and you had to do wizardry to make it idle at a higher voltage. I have a CR-V and that hasn't been an issue for me.

OP, to see if it is an ELD issue, check your idle voltage. When the engine is warmed up it should be something close to 14v

Edit: also adding another alternator is the expensive route for that much power. Adding another battery would do just fine

See while a battery may be less expensive I feel like it might entail more work because my amp does happen to be mounted under my passenger seat so having to move all the wiring be able to go to a battery in the trunk would be a hassle plus figuring out how to mount the battery when I'm already having issues trying to figuring out what I want to do to mount the sub completely because the wood or whatever it is under the carpet of the panel that covers the spare tire is kind of split right in front of the sub with the carpet still intact so in the mean time it is held in by 2 bungee cables that are hooked onto the chassis via some holes I found when letting down the rear 2 seats. Also I still do not have the big 3 kit installed yet so I'm still working with the small factory wiring that is probably 8 gauge I'm assuming.

 

[Jacob P]

Now how would I determine what brand for alternator is good and how much power I'll need. I'm really new to this so I have no idea of knowing how much I'll need to power this system I have. I'm also kind of confused as to how my cars electrical is not enough for what I have.

 

[mastershake575]

Now how would I determine what brand for alternator is good and how much power I'll need. I'm really new to this so I have no idea of knowing how much I'll need to power this system I have.

I would go through Singer Alternators because he was the only one of the major companies that offers an option to bypass the ELD

Singer Alternators

I would do either his 200A or 220A option with ELD bypass. That would give you some headroom if you later down the road wanted to upgrade your sub and amp to something closer to the 1500w range.

 

[Bass Addict 10+ year member]

I am running a crescendo s1v2 on a xcon 10 1750w rms 10 AND a small alpine 2 channel amp for my door speakers with a extra small batt in the back and i dont need a high output alt.and my alt is only 110 amps.depe ds on how u set it up.

 

[Jacob P]

Also how do I find the total wattage rating on my amp, I have a skar 800w RP-800.1D.

 

[Jacob P]

This is what I'm confused about I don't understand how I'm running into an issue. I have this kit https://www.skaraudio.com/products/...o093FG0fZbVBgAHmMl-XYzlsy-MS08qhoCFVQQAvD_BwE

The shop did not use the CCA that was provided with the kit we did use OFC instead, not too sure if it's the same gauge or not.

 

[mastershake575]

I am running a crescendo s1v2 on a xcon 10 1750w rms 10 AND a small alpine 2 channel amp for my door speakers with a extra small batt in the back and i dont need a high output alt.and my alt is only 110 amps.depe ds on how u set it up.

True. Alot of it just depends on how aggressive you are with the volume and how loud is loud enough for the drivers liking

I remember back in 2016 me and my local shop owner tested a 750 watt Soundqubed monoblock on 4 different sedans all with the same sub setup and the 1 car that had an aftermarket alternator was substantially louder.

Most stock cars even with an aftermarket battery can't physically run more then 30-40 amps of current to all of the car audio components so it would make sense that even on only 750 watts those 3 other cars were way underpowering the amp.

Technically speaking if the setup is loud enough without the alt then like you said it might not be needed.

The shop did not use the CCA that was provided with the kit we did use OFC instead, not too sure if it's the same gauge or not.

More times then not the company name and gauge will be displayed on the wire itself. Assuming they put the amplifier in your truck you could just check with a flashlight or fold your back seats down and see if you can find the wire.

If they were being cheap, they might have used 8-gauge OFC instead which is annoying because it limits your future upgrade options

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

Not a chance I would bother with an HO alternator for a 600 watt subwoofer.

Hook a multimeter/volt meter to your battery and see what your voltage is actually dropping to before even thinking about shelling out $500 for an HO alternator...

Halogen lights are very sensitive to voltage drop. As small as .2 volts can make a bulb dim.

 

[mastershake575]

Not a chance I would bother with an HO alternator for a 600 watt subwoofer.

Yeah good point, I didn't realize his sub was so cheap. That sub would actually probably blow on rated power (at that price bracket they just assume people buying those bundles won't ever run true power to the amplifer)