I've been running a single Alpine amp to drive my sub for awhile now and just recently picked up another 4 channel amp to run my speakers up front. I figure the cleanest solution will be to run wires to a distibution block in the back and then split off from there, my question is this: has anyone ever tried or does anyone know if it's possible to pull power directly from the alternator as opposed to the battery. Talking with my dad, we came up with this in the interest of saving the battery from constantly being drained and charged, but neither of us know enough about the car's electrical system to know if it's a good idea or not.

well, it'd be very hard to use the radio with the car not running at all. That'd be my biggest concern.

You can do it, but it wouldn't really gain anything. By hooking your amp power lead to the positive on the batter, you're basically running your amp in paralled with the battery to the alternator. Connecting directly to the alternator gives the same results.


-Chris

Well your head unit works when the car isnt running, just draws off the battery. I figured I wouldn't get any power increases or differences, like I said, it's more in the interest of preserving the battery.

It's the same thing. If your battery is hooked to your alternator then the amp will be hooked to the battery. You haven't gained anything.

get a yellow top and then for get about the problem

Labotomi wrote:It's the same thing. If your battery is hooked to your alternator then the amp will be hooked to the battery. You haven't gained anything.

What he said. Take a look at your car's wiring and figure out how it works. The alternator Positive wire is hooked directly to the battery. There is no "switch" in between to separate the two circuits. Hooking an amp up to the alternator is the same as hooking up to the battery is the same as hooking it up to any other positive power source in the car.





Club Vantage :: importfighter.ca :: RIP Trux0r...

hey man this is a very simple question and no one has suggested is a capacitior a 1 farad cap it stores power for the amps so your not straining the battery just run your positive power cable from the battery(make sure you have a fuse in there) to the cap (positive side) then run a power cable off the cap to a power dis.. block and then run a ground off the cap (negitive side) either to the neg side of the battery or to a good ground there are different caps some have volt displays and some are plain i would get the voltage display one so you can monitior the suck of power from the amps depending on were you live here in canada it's about 100 to 150 bucks

agree^^^

The reason no one suggested it, is because for some reason, there are a lot of anti-cap people who won't touch em, and insist on people ignoring them in favor for the big 3. Even though I did, I will always run a cap.

All in all, I don't think there would be any measureable benefit in bypassing the battery. I'm sure if it was something noticeable, it would've been done by now by lots of people.

^^ Stop talking

A capaciter will not save your battery, it will drain just as quickly with a cap.

Al lthe cap is store power for bass drops and things of that sort so random electrical problems such as your headlights dont dim (as much) although they still will.

If your battery has 12v, you cap has 12v. Your battery has 10v, cap has 10v. battery is dead, cap is dead. You get the idea.

Capiciter would only be benificial in saving you battery if you do not have a deep cell battery such as an Optima YellowTop. And even then, don't expect too much.

I personnaly wouldnt worry about your problem. I would also recomend not using subs when your car is off regardless of what type of battery you have or how its wired. I would also recommend an Optima YellowTop.


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there is a wire that runs from the battery...to the alterntor. connecting your amp ANYWHERE on that wire...wether it's at the batt, in the middle, or at the alt. it will be the same thing. Your not changing anything by doing so.


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Matt Webb wrote:we came up with this in the interest of saving the battery from constantly being drained and charged.

Your battery isn't being charged and discharged when the car is running. The alternator is supplying the loads with the battery acting as a "surge volume" as such it only discharges when the load on the alternator is too much for it to handle. Hooking the connection to a differen't point on the same leg of the circuit isn't doing anything. All points on a wire are electrically the same (except for extremely long runs). By hooking the connection to the alternator instead of the battery, you've just tapped into the same point (electrically) as if you would have hooked up directly to the battery. As I said before, you've gained nothing

As for the cap discussion, don't even get it started here

listen to labotomi.


when the car is on your power comes from the alternator not the battery. the only time your draining your battery is if your drawing more power then the alt can supply.


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Alright guys, thanks alot. Like I said, I just didnt know enough about how everything was connected to know if it was worth the effort or not.

bad idea, the battery actually takes the voltage spikes and such form the alturnater, I don't know how well an amp will like a voltage spike, battery voltage will be more consistant then alturnator voltage

An alternator generates voltage spikes, yes... but they've been dealt with by the alternator's circuitry by the time the signal goes out to the battery. Electricity travels the path of the least resistance. All batteries have an internal resistance higher then the resistance of a power wire. So even by putting a ring terminal on the battery terminal you'd still get those voltage spikes. So if that were true, you'd still be getting those voltage spikes no matter where you hook up.

As for hooking up to the alternator...

If you put a power wire off a ring terminal at the battery... it's exactly the same thing as putting a ring terminal on the alternator, as putting one at the starter's B+ terminal even, because it's all redundant connections. It's all connected. Resistance in said wires SHOULD be so little that it would make an immeasurable difference on where you connect anything.








Club Vantage :: importfighter.ca :: RIP Trux0r...

That's IF you've upgraded the big 3 already, though. If you're still using the stock charging wire to the alternator, there will be a power loss by hooking the amp to the alternator as opposed to the battery.

Bottom line, the battery is the best place to hook the amp. Upgrade the big 3, and you'll see an improvement in starting and charging. Consider the rest if needed.

'Nuff said.

aqua95 wrote:That's IF you've upgraded the big 3 already, though. If you're still using the stock charging wire to the alternator, there will be a power loss by hooking the amp to the alternator as opposed to the battery.

This is BS. Even if you hook the amp to the battery the electricity still flows from the alternator to the amp along that same stock charging wire.