Major electrical problems.... where to buy bigger alt.??

[G20pimp]

I have a fairly large car audio system (total amperage draw abou 1200 watts). My problem is that my headlights dim severly and I even lose RPM's when I turn up my system. Where can I buy a high output alternator for my G? its a 1993

[GoldP11]

Do you have a capacitor for your sound system. "Lightning Caps" or something like that!?! It looks like a big energizer battery.
I'm not really familar with sound systems, but my friend had a couple of capacitors for his car and he said it worked fine.

[frogg]

Caps are only a temporary solution.
Unfortunately I havent heard of any alternators that work really well (as well as OE)
Just make sure not to buy one from a local auto store as they are the ones most prone to stop working after a couple days.

[wickedG20]

try getting an external battery that you can place in your trunk and hook your sound system ONLY to it.

[A380Driver]

You're still going to need a way to recharge it.

[nis.k.a.]

1200W shouldn't have a problem running off the OE alternator. I believe 2 farads should be enough to run the system, all acessories without any problems. As long as they're charged than you'll be alright (they are rechargable as long as you have the resistor). They store a charge and give when needed, so it's not REALLY a temporary fix. I'd say this is easier than getting another battery and having to charge it often. My caps went 7 months before losing noticable voltage.

[ric]

first thing i would do is reinforce my grounds everywhere. especially the one at the battery....if you look at all the red wire going out the + and this tiny little black wire going into the -- you can plainly see its a bottleneck. sure im just a honda guy but its pretty cross platform. i would also upgrade your engine grounds to 4 gauge. total wattage does not necessarily define the amp's you consume. i runa class d amp for my subs because of my tiny honda alternator and it puts out 775 watts but consumes far less amps then a standard class a or b or a/b sytle amp of equal power output because of more efficient circuitry. a cap will help with transient power shifts but would do little for prolonged tones. if you are consuming to much power you may need to run a second battery with an isolator or get a bigger amperage alternator. a top notch place for an alternator is ohio generator, alma gates and a lot of big car audi names use them. first i would try doing the grounds upgrade and maybe getting an optima battery since its the cheapest and if that fails i would start looking at isolator systems and bigger alternators.

[TRBOBRK]

Originally posted by nis.k.a.
My caps went 7 months before losing noticable voltage.

The caps wear out?

[ric]

Originally posted by TRBOBRK

The caps wear out?

only thing thats in those bad boys are paper and some chemical and once that breaks down its toast or your toast. ive actually seen one blow up in flames before....looked like a napalm explosion from a vietnam documentary.

[FlossinPrimera]

Originally posted by TRBOBRK

The caps wear out?

Beats me?

As for a bigger altrenator, how long old is your battery? What is the cold cranking amps of your battery? My battery produces 1200 Cold Cranking Amps, I would suggest nothing less than 900 CCA. I beleive that your problem is that your battery does not provide enough current, that is why your lights are dimming. I would suggest getting a Gel Cell for your car, they are about 130$ from Batteries Plus.

[nis.k.a.]

Not really wear out, just lose voltage like a battery. They can explode if mistreated or a design flaw. I've seen one explode when the resistor wasn't used to charge it, not a pretty sight. As mentioned, all it is is a bunch of paper rolled up with chemicals on each side of the paper. I believe that is is two dissimilar chemicals on either side, not sure though so don't qoute me on that.