Milford Cubicle II
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Out there.
My stock denso is finally starting to kick the bucket after about 250,000 miles. It will never hit 14v, and that's at ~2000 rpm. At idle I'm doing good to get 10v out of it and with as many short trips as I make, my battery's starting to hate me.
So of course, like 99% of everyone else on this board, I start thinking about not just replacing but upgrading. So what I want in an alternator is not necessarily crazy high output, but lots of power available at idle. I don't see the point of buying a 200 amp alternator (for example) when it will only make 200 amps at 6000 rpm at the alternator. Because then if you have enough power at those higher rpm then you're going to be lacking amperage at idle. I don't think I need to explain to you guys how having enough power at idle is important for off-roading though !!!1
So I started researching alternators and from what I have found so far, there is no certain "type" of alternator that is made for making a majority of its output at rpm speeds. Instead, each alternator and each company lists their alternators as maximum output, and output at 2000 rpm at the alternator which is supposed to be about where it spins at idle. That being said, that specification has been among the most important numbers to me.
Now here's what I found. It's a pretty quick example, I haven't gotten deep into mounting styles and whatnot but I figured if I want it bad enough, I'll make it work
So check out this freaking power curve! 140 amp at idle!
Pretty freaking impressive to me. The problem is that the only one's I've been able to find so far are around $600... not gunna happen lol. One of the reasons I've been bustin my butt looking at alternators is cause I think $400 for a Mean Green is a waste of money. Also, no respectable alternator company lists their alternators with no specs, not even a specific output... :bs:
However, Delco has some pretty appealing units as well. Also with very high amperage at idle. They are made for emergency vehicles, medium/heavy duty trucks, R/V's, etc. The 160amp Delco unit (28SI) does about 130 amps at idle according to their chart. They pride themselves in being highly efficient (about 70% effecient compared to the usual 50-60% efficiency), which is cool with me - anything to help the ole heep in the fuel efficiency department :thumbup: Another feature I think is pretty cool is their "remote sense" system. Basically it's just an extra wire to be ran to the battery in order to read voltage at the battery instead of at the alternator. This is important because of the voltage drop between the battery and the alternator, making the alternator charge at a lower voltage than necessary and increasing battery charging time. Which for me, making fairly short trips, would be especially beneficial. However, if you have your electrical system up to snuff, you should be using high quality, high gauge cable between the alternator and PDC and therefore there should be very little voltage drop between the two anyways, but it's still a brilliant feature, IMO. And to top everything off, the 160 amp unit can be had for just over $200:
http://www.finditparts.com/products/delco-remy-8600312
I'm not done researching yet though. I'm trying not to get too excited yet, I'm still waiting on the catch. Just wanted to get this out there and start getting some feedback to see if this is plausible.
Let's do it. :clap:
So of course, like 99% of everyone else on this board, I start thinking about not just replacing but upgrading. So what I want in an alternator is not necessarily crazy high output, but lots of power available at idle. I don't see the point of buying a 200 amp alternator (for example) when it will only make 200 amps at 6000 rpm at the alternator. Because then if you have enough power at those higher rpm then you're going to be lacking amperage at idle. I don't think I need to explain to you guys how having enough power at idle is important for off-roading though !!!1
So I started researching alternators and from what I have found so far, there is no certain "type" of alternator that is made for making a majority of its output at rpm speeds. Instead, each alternator and each company lists their alternators as maximum output, and output at 2000 rpm at the alternator which is supposed to be about where it spins at idle. That being said, that specification has been among the most important numbers to me.
Now here's what I found. It's a pretty quick example, I haven't gotten deep into mounting styles and whatnot but I figured if I want it bad enough, I'll make it work
So check out this freaking power curve! 140 amp at idle!
Pretty freaking impressive to me. The problem is that the only one's I've been able to find so far are around $600... not gunna happen lol. One of the reasons I've been bustin my butt looking at alternators is cause I think $400 for a Mean Green is a waste of money. Also, no respectable alternator company lists their alternators with no specs, not even a specific output... :bs:
However, Delco has some pretty appealing units as well. Also with very high amperage at idle. They are made for emergency vehicles, medium/heavy duty trucks, R/V's, etc. The 160amp Delco unit (28SI) does about 130 amps at idle according to their chart. They pride themselves in being highly efficient (about 70% effecient compared to the usual 50-60% efficiency), which is cool with me - anything to help the ole heep in the fuel efficiency department :thumbup: Another feature I think is pretty cool is their "remote sense" system. Basically it's just an extra wire to be ran to the battery in order to read voltage at the battery instead of at the alternator. This is important because of the voltage drop between the battery and the alternator, making the alternator charge at a lower voltage than necessary and increasing battery charging time. Which for me, making fairly short trips, would be especially beneficial. However, if you have your electrical system up to snuff, you should be using high quality, high gauge cable between the alternator and PDC and therefore there should be very little voltage drop between the two anyways, but it's still a brilliant feature, IMO. And to top everything off, the 160 amp unit can be had for just over $200:
http://www.finditparts.com/products/delco-remy-8600312
I'm not done researching yet though. I'm trying not to get too excited yet, I'm still waiting on the catch. Just wanted to get this out there and start getting some feedback to see if this is plausible.
Let's do it. :clap:
