voltage issues im having.

[smashedz28 110]

I currently have 2 Kinetik HC2000's in my Tahoe, one under the hood, one under the back seat maybe 15" of power cable away from the amp. Have a db-starter-aternator 220A alternator (which for some reason i cant locate the one i bought from them.. maybe they stopped selling it? lol) It listed it makes its power at like 1200 RPM or something.. should have never bought it.. but thats what I have, I took the voltage meter outside today and looked at both battery's..

Car not started in over 24 hours the battery under the hood was sitting at 12.6 with the vehicle off.. back battery at 12.5. turned the vehicle on which had the rpms at like 1300 or so since it wasnt warmed up.. saw 13.8 or so in back and 14.3 i think it was under the hood.. turned the system on (sundown 1500 and 18" BTL) at around 1/2 volume.. rpms at idle (under 1000) 12.6 at highest all the way down to 12.2ish.. under hood was slightly higher but never hit 13 with system on. Had someone hold rpms at around 2200ish.. maybe + .1v-.2v in back.. I have done the big 3 in 1/0. wiring is as follows..

Alternator to front battery positive

front battery positive to back battery positive

both battery's grounded well

back battery positive to sundown positive

basically looks like i got a shitty alternator... is there any other tests i should do? Maybe wire it differently? kinda irritated with this. I mean even with the system off driving on a normal day unless im giving it gas the stock guage will drop to around a high 12.x right as i let off the gas, then when i accelerate it quickly jumps to the 14 mark.. what do You guys suggest i do? wanting to get a crescendo 3kw but with voltage issues i better deal with this first.

[Sir-Lancelot 216]

I would check all the cables and make sure they are good and tight, but it sounds like your alt is just not cutting it at idle.

[jonbearsmt 919]

sounds like you have a alt issue.... you can take it down and have a load test done at any auto parts store... but thats what it sounds like to me.

[smashedz28 110]

If i take it to a auto zone i just ask them to load test it? what kind of results will they give me? Not sure how that works or what it is im looking for.. was hoping i could make this cheap alt work.. but i got what i paid for i guess lol. looks like a DC power alt may be in my future. just need to cough up the damn near $500 for it lol. sucks for me

[Wackzirth88 4]

I have an alt from db also when I first got it, it did the same thing. It'd drop down around 12.8 volts at stop signs and pretty much anytime it was idling in gear it'd drop like that. But just the weight of my foot on the gas petal would kick it up to 14. So I ended up bumping the idle up just a tad. It made a huge difference. Now my voltage only drops from 14.x to 13.8 at stops with lights on and all system a lil over half volume. I don't know how you throttle body is set up but for mine I took like 4 bread ties, burnt the paper off them, twisted them together then wrapped it around the throttle cable essentially making the cable a smig shorter.

Edited June 25, 2010 by zack w

[Duran 387]

Doesn't sound like a quality alternator to me.

[jonbearsmt 919]

12.8 or so is about right at stop lights with your car in gear....

the op is stating that hes only getting 13ish at idle in park if i read it right....

op. if you take your truck down to vato zone.. a load test will show you your output in voltage and amp out put from your alt...

and amps is important.... and it shows you the range of your alt output at idle and then at 2k and then 2k with a strong load on it. ( what your alt does when it is doing its job)

[shizzzon 461]

before getting a new alt put on, charge all your batts up prior to installation so u don't burn it up.

[smashedz28 110]

before getting a new alt put on, charge all your batts up prior to installation so u don't burn it up.

can you elaborate? the only battery charger i have is an old 1980 charger. supposed to be bad ass in its day lol.. but not sure how it works with the newer type battery's. Not sure i understand how that will burn them up. thanks for all the responses. id rather not rig my throttle body with bread ties lol. give ya an A for creativity there though. If its possible to adjust it i would rather do that, but if a new alternator is what i gotta do to get this voltage in line then thats what im gonna have to do. Durring this entire build there was only 2 things i skimped on.. alternator and a MB Quart high's amp.. havn trouble with both of those damn things. should have just kept with the spirit of the build and bought quality.. should of known Ill try to make it down to auto (vato LOL) zone tomorrow and ill post what information i get. If you got more to add please do.

[smashedz28 110]

12.8 or so is about right at stop lights with your car in gear....

the op is stating that hes only getting 13ish at idle in park if i read it right....

op. if you take your truck down to vato zone.. a load test will show you your output in voltage and amp out put from your alt...

and amps is important.... and it shows you the range of your alt output at idle and then at 2k and then 2k with a strong load on it. ( what your alt does when it is doing its job)

actually less. with the system off and idle i believe it was 12.6ish, ill have to do that test again and actually write down the exact numbers, all im sure of is its not where i want it to be.

[jonbearsmt 919]

12.8 or so is about right at stop lights with your car in gear....

the op is stating that hes only getting 13ish at idle in park if i read it right....

op. if you take your truck down to vato zone.. a load test will show you your output in voltage and amp out put from your alt...

and amps is important.... and it shows you the range of your alt output at idle and then at 2k and then 2k with a strong load on it. ( what your alt does when it is doing its job)

actually less. with the system off and idle i believe it was 12.6ish, ill have to do that test again and actually write down the exact numbers, all im sure of is its not where i want it to be.

yeah with your system off car on at idle in park it should be 14.4

[KU40 173]

Does the alternator have an adjustable voltage regulator? Maybe it just needs to be adjusted up?

[Robert.Metzel 4]

I had a 200 amp alt from them a few years ago with no issues. Lately I have seen a few people complaining about idle performance. I have a 250 amp coming from them today I hope. First thing I'm gonna do is take it in to be tested. This is the info from their website about the 220 amp alt.

* Voltage Set Point – 14.5 Volts

* Internal Voltage Regulator

* Under Full Load Conditions, amperage output at 600 engine rpm (idle) will peak at 110 Amps.

* Under Full Load Conditions, amperage output at 1200 engine rpm will peak at 220 Amps.

Edited June 25, 2010 by Teampapi79

[Notorious97200 339]

With the same amp(saz1500) I 've never seen less than 13.3 v, and I have a stock electrical system, with no added batt.

Check your wirings, connections, all you can...

You don't have enough power for such voltage drops.

[NDMstang65 403]

Sounds to me like you need to crimp your connections properly. Anybody who works for the local power company would have a set of proper crimpers. They're about 3 feet long and if they have the proper dies they can crimp 4/0 or 500 MCM.

Large Compound Action Crimp Tool - Klein Tools 2006

[smashedz28 110]

lol... i soldered the shit out of ALL my wires... not a single crimp on anything bigger than an 8ga wire... i could damn near hang from these connectors. They are the knukonceptz ones though.. but still shouldnt be the issue, voltage regulator.. no clue.. 1997 chev tahoe 5.7 v8, 4dr. ?? its this shitty alternator im sure of it, i know all my connections are very tight, grounds are good.

Nick... or anyone else.. is there a way to tell if my connectors could be a weak point in my system? I highly doubt it, i trust my connections over this cheap ass alternator i bought any day of the week, but im open to anything you guys have to offer and appreciate the help.

[cheese20323 13]

maybe a bad battery try checking your voltage straight from the alt if it reads fine then you might have a bad batt or your just freaking out and didn't calibrate your volt meter

[Duran 387]

You need to crimp as well, solder by itself is not very conductive.

[smashedz28 110]

Both batterys read 12.5 to 12.6 with vehicle off over 24 hours. The volt meter is very old. But the volt meter shows basically the same thing my stock meter shows so it leads me to think it's correct. He'll I'm sure the alt is working as advertised ( making voltage at 1200 rpms) but it bothers me to see it move so damn much, 12 volts everytime I let off the gas is bs. I'll get my dad involved in this, he knows slot about testing batterys and voltages, maybe he can help hunt this down. Again .. Appreciate all the posts, keep em commin if u have something to add. I'm open to all ideas and plan to test everything mentioned when I get the time.

Would adding a run of wire from alt to back battery do me any good? Right now it's just alt to front battery and front batt pos to back batt pos??

[smashedz28 110]

Hmm maybe that's something I need to take a look at duran. Could that be a big reason for this? Learn somethin new everyday thought solder would be perfect.

Edited June 26, 2010 by smashedz28

[jonbearsmt 919]

did ya ever take it to the zone?

[smashedz28 110]

probably gonna do that today