The guy at my local stereo store said that the altenator in my '03 WRX wagon wasn't very good for powering large amplifiers and they had a customer who blew out 2 altenators. Is this true? If so are there any aftermarket altenators I can buy so I don't have to worry about this? I have 2 Phoenix Gold ZX400ti amplifiers that I want to use in my new Subbie!

Thanks,

Rob

 

Just get your stock alternator rewound to like 95-120

-Tim

 

Any suggestiosn where to get it done? I am pushing almost 2000 watts and done want any problems

 

run some caps, ask around at stereo shops if they know any people who can wind alternators. Also ask garages.

-Tim

 

I have only 1000 watts with no changes in voltage. I have one Cap and works perfectly. Made a big difference in bass response.

drive fast, take chances!

 

Trade in your WRX for a 2.5RS We got bigger alternators!!!!!

 

Why would getting a cap help the problem? I am not producing enough power the cap will then try to draw more power from my altenator along with my sub...can any please explain this?

 

Cap Wont help the problem, though will help bass responce... and i check my alternator in my RS and its a 75amp one... which is kinda low. With everything on; lights, fog lights, defroster, windshield wippers, and AC on full blast... and it was drawing 71 amps. Now all these will most likely be on all at the same time... or that would be one bad *** night hot rain storm.


I have found alternators online for about 500 bucks... but im gonna check out having mine rewound.

 

A Cap is just like a battery in some instances. its holds a charge even when the car is off. when the bass hits it is going to take its power from the cap, the cap will feel a loss of power. the battery will then trickle charge the cap back up. Now, if you were to have enough of a draw where the cap is having a huge draw off it, then yes, it will back up to the battery and your alternator will continue to have problems. To fix this you either need to have a larger Farad Cap (first step) or a Deep Cycle Battery. Now your 2000 watts, it could be a fake 2000w, meaning that that is peak power and your RMS (route mean square) power is much lower, more like a 1000. If you are infact runnin 1000w RMS, I suggest running 2 total Farads for Caps. Run your system at close to full tilt, turn your lights on and look for them dimming. if its very slight then you'l be should be fine, but if its fairly noticable, you need a larger cap or a deep cycle battery (recomend optima yellow top). another good way to test the draw is with a meter ofcourse. hook it up to your battery and run the system. if you notice you voltage dropping anywhere below 10.5 volts, you will be deffinately causing damage, even if its over time.

 

What do you mean by trickle charge?
For my system I had 2 subs each 1000 R.M.S. watts, with 2 bat caps , I have removed 1 sub and 1 bat cap. But I still do not understand how someone can say that having caps and deep cycle batteries will solve the problem of a small alternator. If the system is struggling for more power why would you add a component that will draw more power off at the same time the subs might be drawing power? Sorry if this is a stupid question but can someone clear this up?

 

What the deal is... is that adding a deep cycle battery and a cap will help the problem, only if its not a big problem. Meaning that if you are only drawing more then the alternator can put out for a brief time and it isnt constant it will be fine. The battery can put out a lot of juice for a while (starting the car). So you can push it a little, but after that you need a bigger alternator... like im gonna have to do.

 

What amps are you using? no 1000 watts are the same

And anyone know what the ratting on the wrx alternator is?

 

hey, i'm pushing nearly 1000w and am having the same problem: lights dimming.

are there high-output alternators out there for the WRX?

i'm running a nakamichi 200x2 and a jl audio 500/1....900w rms, but i believe the jl amp is putting out more than 500w.

-db