When I fried my old alt I had to drive on it for maybe 1/2 hour or more.

then i payed my backyard mechanic $25 to put it on. question is was i supposed to get the battery charged afterward? because my amp(600+rms) drops my voltage all the way down to 12.8 volts (amp has digital readout) then the lcd on the amp flashes, then returns to normal. And continuously does it thru rockin bass songs (rap)

I really didnt think this amp would drain so much

bye the way its a new 105 amp alt and a new ac delco battery (its around 700cca)
all wiring is lightning audio 4awg and im sure the big 3 is done, well at least i told the shop to do it. when i said "big 3" he didnt really know what i was talking about, i kinda had to explain it.[:-]

 

I think your question is should the battery be charged after replacing the alternator because you knowingly drove with a bad alternator. I'd say as a matter of principle yes, the mechanic should have recharged the battery. If your charging system is functioning properly you shouldn't need to have the battery recharged though, the alternator should put out enough power to recharge the battery and run the engine as well as all auxiliary electronics with some power to spare.

If you think your system is draining your battery try driving for a few hours with your stereo turned off (I know that might be painful,) or at least turn off the amp to your sub so that you can be sure that there is plenty of headroom for charging the battery. After a few hours turn your amps back on and see if the voltage is still dropping. Most electronics rated for 12v DC will still funciton just fine with a voltage as high as 13v or as low as about 9v. If you've got closer to 9v than 13v your starter won't crank as hard, your headlights may not be as bright and your stereo may sound a little distorted on hard hits, if this is the case you may need a new battery.

If the shop didn't know what you were talking about when you asked them to do the BIG 3 you should have either done it yourself or taken it to a different shop. Why would you support a shop that doesn't know what they are doing?

 

You are fine with 12.8 volts. Your battery by itself is 12v.

 

Driving on your batt for 30 minutes with a failing alt can cause permanent damage to your battery. Even charging it again with a slow trickle charger probably wont completely revamp the battery. As for your amp, if its 600w rms and your running it at loud levels, and its affecting your voltage, you might want to think about a capacitor. this will give your batt and alternator longer life, as well as taking stress off of your amp. A good working alt will run your car at a voltage of around 14-14.5 volts. 12v doesnt hurt though, but you might find more surging in your dashlights and such when your amp draws lots of power.

 

cap FTL

 

hillbilly, what do you recomend? I find after about the first 5 mins of driving and pumpin the toons, my batt. gauge starts to fluctuate a bit more than the 1st 5 mins.
prolly normal, but damn!, its only 600 watts.......

 

the things that I recommend are better battery, big three upgrade, then alt a such.

 

A bigger batt. will help settle the fluctuating? I thought you wanted a bigger batt. solely to play longer with the ignition off? Would i notice a difference with 1/0awg wireing? I'd like to try a cap, just to see for myself.......anyone have any testamonials with switching from 4 to 1/0 or from installing a decent cap?

 

you will notice a great difference gng to 1/0 ga wire. subs will hit harder because amp is happy young Jedi.

 

I also noticed than the wire going from my batt to the alt is only 8awg, should I switch it out for 4awg till I overhaul to 1/0? And how would I do it? theres a weird clip that goes onto the alt, I've never dealt with it before.......

Stupid shop!!!!! I told em to do the big 3!!!! I wonder what else they fudged up [&:]