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Hey

finally got da stereo hooked up. So the amp draws around 22 to 25 amps @ peak and it seems to be a problem while at idle. The alternator has no problem keeping up while the car is over 1500rpm but @ an idle the alternator will draw voltage down to about 12volts and the same with the battery. If I cranked the stereo which doesn't usually happen it would draw the alternator to about 11.5 while @ idle.

We where going to look into a smaller pulley custom made Or does this exist already??? Hopefully this will spin the alternator fast enough @ an idle to fix this issue.


Anyone else experience this and if so what conclusions have u guys made??

l8r
darkside420



my ride

 
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most alternators don';t begin charging untill about 1500Rpms.. it's normal.. don;t worry about the voltage either..just don't sit parked and listen to loud music.. there's no special custom pulleys.. Just go to an alternator shop and find a pulley with the same bolt patten..the same belt type with a slightly smaller diameter if you really want.. they'll charge you like $10 for the pulley if they have one

 
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cool!! I will have to look into that..... Hopefully they have something that works.

l8r
darkside420

 
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so did you ever go to the alternator shop and find a new pullet? im curious about this too... but isnt a humongous high torque thingamabobber needed to get the bolts out of the alternator pulley... therefore i'd need a shop to put it in... but um, enough rambling, out of curiosity... since a 10% larger underdrive pulley starts charging at a higher rpm due to a larger diameter (1.10 * diameter * pi), then a smaller diameter (smaller pulley) would it either start charging at a lower rpm, or would the faster spinning actually push more amps, or both? be aware, i may be spewing bull, because i dont know what im talking about, this is just me trying to remember my high school physics class...

 
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It would charge at a lower RPM..the speed at which the alternator spins won't generally affect it's output except if it's spinning too slow.

Cheers
Mohawk

 
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so i just called the guy at the alternator shop, he said that due to the size of our alternators, rewinding them would be hard, also i asked him about the whole 1500 rpm's thing, and he said "i really doubt it starts charging at 1500. Thats like saying that if you're idling with the A/C on you'll drain the battery." so according to him it should start charging earlier... i dunno, thats what he said.... i love these alternator shops where they're owned by like a family... the guy is doing research for me for free on the ohio, on finding a larger mitsubishi, and on a new pulley maybe..

 
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do you feel a difference in hp w/ pullies? do you think its a good investment?

 
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were talking here about different pulley's than the ones you're thinking... the pulleys they sell for our car are larger therefore causing the alternator to spin less so you get less charge on your battery, also another one for the power steering, causing the steering to be harder, but you get more to the engine because it reduces accessory use, but in reality, i think the gain in horsepower is minimal, very very minimal... we here dont care about performance/horsepower because we've realized it's a civic... there isn't much we can do.... what were talking about here is to put a smaller pulley, therefore causing more spin on the alternator... we would probably actually lose horsepower, but not much... but the alternator would work at lower rpm's

 
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Hey

Its been awhile since I have been on, G the summer got busy all of a sudden. If I put a small pulley on my alternator I should increase the output voltage and amperage @ low rpm conditions. Hopefully my mechanic can get one, since I think he's just looking to find a pulley thats 1/8th to 1/10th of inch smaller. This should increase the output of the alternator @ idle enough???


l8r
darkside420

 
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prolly would be enough... i talked to an alternator shop and they told me that it starts charging a little bit above 1000, but not 1500... they said 1500 is too high... so im assuming with a smaller size we could drop full charge to 800 or so... since idle is 700... if your mechanic can find one ask him if he can get 2... so you can mail me one and ill pay for for all the expenses (pulley, shipping, etc...) i wanna do mine too

 
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Ok that sounds good!!! I have to get some work done on tuesday, just some brake pads!!
Hopefully then he will have an answer for me, and how long it will take.


l8r
darkside420

 
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Hey...

sorry but wayne wasn't around went home early!! I might stop in on saturday or next week and ask him a few questions?

l8r
darkside420