High Output Alternators

[Marcinko]

Hi guys. I did a search and did not come up with any discussions, so here goes.

I have a 96' S-10 Blazer 4.3L Vortec and live in the very hot climate of Arizona.

I replaced the factory alternator with an Checker Auto (not sure brand anymore) 105amp alternator about two years ago and have gone through two autolite batteries since(paice of crap batteries in my personal opinion...lesson learned).

I installed a 300 watt Amp and kickers about a year ago along with 260 watts worth of KC lights about a week ago. All cables and wires are new and the line to the 300watt amp is shield as are the KC's.

Last weekend I was performing battery maintenance and checked each cell. I had two dead cells, so I replaced it with a Durlast Gold with 8 year warranty.

Sorry for the long lead in, but here is my question.

I am thinking about getting a high output alternator from here.

http://www.db-starter-alternator.com...283-200%20amp?

I want to know if anyone out there has one of these, or has a reccommendation for a high output alternator??

I plan on adding additional KC lights up top for a total of 4 and possibly some on the bumber (allot of camping and night time off roading).

Another topic I know, but this would explain my hard starts recently as the fuel pump was not receiving full voltage. Now with battery replaced starts right up.

[Blazin_Jason]

I have 2 of their alts for my truck. I haven't used them yet, but I think you should be ok. They seem to have good customer service. Prices are good too.

[hotchop]

Being my first time on this site I cant find out how to start a thread. Please help. Thanks rich

[goser]

There's a good HO alternator thread at http://www.s-10crewcab.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2948; they mention an alternator shop in Ontario--I didn't get around to ordering one from them but they had a good quote.

[csamford]

I just bought one of their alternators on Ebay, they work great (for the month that I have had it) Check it out you may be able to get one a little bit cheaper than ordering direct from their store.

[Marcinko]

I elected to go with the following.

http://www.db-starter-alternator.com...mp?sck=3421430

I spoke with the technical advisor and he pointed me to this unit for my 96' S-10 Blazer.

Today I noticed that with every electrical device I could possibly have on in the truck, I was getting 12.8 to 13.2 Volts across the poles on the battery at idle. While I know that anything above 12.6 is creating a charge enviroment, this still makes me a little uncomfortable. Thus the 200 amp High Output Alternator was ordered.

From what I can tell, the stock Alternator puts out a max of 105 amps at or above 2000 RPM, but at idle it could be more in th 65 -75 Amp range. Again this is just reading on the internet and do I in no way consider this to be the law.

The High Output Altenator creates 105 Amps at idle and 200 Amps at or above 2000 RPM.

By the way, I am also replacing the stock Alt to Battery wire with a 4 AWG cable with a 250 AMP fuse. Can't be too safe I suppose.

I'll post back after it is in and I get some time on it.

If anyone has any advice, or more facts on the stock or High Output Alts, please feel free to comment.
opcorn:

[mike2004tct]

Originally Posted by Marcinko

If anyone has any advice, or more facts on the stock or High Output Alts, please feel free to comment.
opcorn:

Just a quick question on your 2 year old alternator.

I bought the same unit at Advance Auto Parts, which is owned by the same Corp. as Checker, so mine is probably the same as yours. ( Brand new unit, not remanufactured, LLT warranty, came with a dyno slip of the output test).

Did you check the voltage at the battery with the engine running?

To blow a couple of batteries in a short time might indicate a bad Voltage regulator in the alternator. I had this happen to me, where the output voltage was around 23 Volts, anbd it cooked 2 batteries on me in a 1 month period.

[Marcinko]

Here is how I checked voltage.

1) With the engine running at idle I checked across the negative and positive terminals of the battery. 13.1 Volts w/ no load, 12.8 volts with FULL load

2) With the engine off I checked across the negative and positive terminals of the battery. 12.6 Volts w/ no load (Brand new battery)

3) With the engine running at idle I checked from the positive output on the alternator to ground. 13.5 Volts w/no load, 12.9 with FULL Load.

I have rang out all wiring and replaced wiring and connectors that seemed to have higher than normal resistance or was just plain ugly to look at.

My first battery turned out to be a broken plate. The second battery, was cheap and was literally "zapped" by the Arizona Sun. In 115 degree heat your lucky to get one to two years on a battery here, especially the cheaper batteries.

The upgrade to a High Output Alt is purely for peice of mind to know that in the high country, while running at low RPM, I can have everything on with power to spare. Also looking as an electric winch, so more power needed as well.

I'll let everyone know how it works out.

[ericn1300]

with that much electronics on board you might want to install a second battery also. look for an Interstate battery warehouse to do the wiring and installation. the state police here run up to 5 batteries but they idle a lot on the side of the freeway with the a/c on full, three radios, two radar guns, video tape recorder, gps, cell phone charger, laptop PC and roof lights on. ive been considering having one installed in the jack storage compartment on mine on an isolated circuit so that i can run my ice chest, and other toys when camping and not run down the main battery.

[Marcinko]

Hmmm...you know I toyed with that idea before. One battery strictly for main electrical functions on the truck, and a second for the additional toys.

Great suggestion...I'll do some research.

[Blue Bowtie]

Or get a nice, big Leece/Neville alternator, like trucks use. Nothing like 260A at a moderate idle to power all the goodies on your fire truck. Then again, the little "W" engine would strain to turn it, whereas some trucks have three of them.

[Marcinko]

Bowtie - Now that is a highout altenator....it would take every ounce of HP from my engine to run it...but boy I could finally get those 1 million candle power lights installed

My HO Alt should be here tomorrow. I'm going to take the opopurtunity to replace my serp belt as well as the idle pulley as it has a tenency to sqeek.

I will take voltage measurements before I remove my old alt and record them. After HO Alt is installed I'll take measurements and post the data.

[Blazin_Jason]

Ya let us know how it works for you. Here are my 2 200 db alts on my 350 swap.

[Marcinko]

YIKES GUYS!!

A set back. when I received the alt I hooked it up as normal and ran the engine. Immediately the voltage across the terminals shot up to 22.5 Volts.

I immediately turned off the engine and removed the alt. A trip to Autozone where a friend works revealed that the voltage regulator on the new high output alt was not metering the voltage between 13.5 to 15 volts. It cranked straight up to 23 volts on the machine.

Well so I emailed DB Electrical and described the condition and asked to return the unit. I just emailed them so I am guessing I will not hear back until Monday.

I'll keep all posted on how this turns out.

BTW Blazin Jason....GEEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!

[Blue Bowtie]

I hope it didn't pop any MOVs in the PCM.