Can my alternator handle this?

[4X4Bauer]

I have an 02 ex with the 130 amp alternator and I'm wondering if what I want to do will be too big of a load for it to handle. I have power everything, I believe halogen lights, door speakers then a 500 watt sub. I eventually plan on putting a set of four auxiliary lights, each of which is 27 watts. I also eventually want to throw in a four channel amp and hook it up to a higher end set of door speakers. Are these last two things doable?

 

[Joe in NY]

well lets take a look.

13.8 volts * 130 amps = 1794 watts.

going over that?

 

[Number4]

At 2000 RPM, it's only putting out about 100 amperes. You won't get 130 amperes until 3000ish RPMs.

 

[4X4Bauer]

Let me ask this: How much of a load is put on the alternator with 100% stock components? As in, all lights are on, A/C on full blast, music at moderate volume w/ factory sub.. How much can I add to that before I start to really push the limits?

 

[Joe in NY]

Well, headlights on high beam is ~230 watts
full blower ~ 300 watts
radio is minimal.. probably 40 to 50 watts continuous. If that. Each door speaker is MAX 20 watts. And the sub I believe is like 50 watts MAX.

You are quite a ways from pushing the limits...

I will say this. When running a 700 watt heater on my 120 volt power inverter, with all the lights on (high beams), in gear, blower max, defrost on, heated seats on, brake lights on, full interior lighting on, and reverse lamps on, (yes maximum load ) at idle I believe the voltage steadied out to around 12.2 to 12.4 volts. AT IDLE IN GEAR. As soon I went off idle voltage went up to 13 volts easy.

 

[4X4Bauer]

Well, headlights on high beam is ~230 watts
full blower ~ 300 watts
radio is minimal.. probably 40 to 50 watts continuous. If that. Each door speaker is MAX 20 watts. And the sub I believe is like 50 watts MAX.

You are quite a ways from pushing the limits...

I will say this. When running a 700 watt heater on my 120 volt power inverter, with all the lights on (high beams), in gear, blower max, defrost on, heated seats on, brake lights on, full interior lighting on, and reverse lamps on, (yes maximum load ) at idle I believe the voltage steadied out to around 12.2 to 12.4 volts. AT IDLE IN GEAR. As soon I went off idle voltage went up to 13 volts easy.

Yeah, I forgot to say I have a 12 inch sub and it's sucking up 500 RMS watts. Thanks for the info though

 

[Joe in NY]

Yeah, I forgot to say I have a 12 inch sub and it's sucking up 500 RMS watts. Thanks for the info though

Are you sure it's actually using 500 watts? That may be it's max continuous load. But that does not mean it is always using that. True wattage is far louder than people think. A 10 watt amp is more than enough for decent volume for a stereo. Actually using 10 watts that is...

 

[4X4Bauer]

Are you sure it's actually using 500 watts? That may be it's max continuous load. But that does not mean it is always using that. True wattage is far louder than people think. A 10 watt amp is more than enough for decent volume for a stereo. Actually using 10 watts that is...

It's 500 watts RMS, not sure what the peak wattage is because that figure really doesn't matter. It's a newer kicker 12" comp R sub so it sucks up a decent amount of power when it's going, and I listen to music that generally has a lot of bass. The amp may not always be using 500 watts but i can imagine it uses a decent amount. I just used the 500 number because it's just about the highest possible number it could be within reason. If I estimated that it used 200 watts all the time and ended up over stressing my alternator that wouldn't be good.