higher amp alternator

[Brads70]

And if you want to get REALLY silly...
http://www.qualitypowerauto.com/catalog.php?item=557
I agree with the comments about the 40 year old wiring.

I got silly after going through battery after batter and alternator not charger and giving me enough amps i got the 180 idle and 320amp max.  Works perfect, awesome fit, no worries.  I was really pushing my alternators hard talking to qualitypowerauto i needed at least 200amps to run total all my electrical when fully all turned on lights, radio, 3 fans, etc....i did do the 140idle and 200amp but it was not enough.  Even with a denso 120amp at idle stop and go she dipped down to 12volts or so, no dimming lights full brightness.

So if I understand this right you first got the 200 amp version and it was not enough for you?Reason I ask is the Challenger died on me after about 6 hours driving , about 1 1/2 hours to go on the way to Carlisle. I had to buy another battery at Walmart. I put the ground wire for the electric fans on a toggle switch so I could switch it off on the hwy to charge the battery. Worked ok just a pain in the butt. Soooo I'm thinking of getting the 200 amp version  from the link I posted earlier. What's your thoughts/suggestions? I have a 95amp square back on there now and it won't keep up to the electrical add ons

[1974dodgecharger]

Yes it was not enough for me because i have alot of electrical stuff in my car.  People wonder why their battery dies alot well for starters add up everything u have amp wise in your car for me example.

Car amp-60
Car radio-maybe 10
3 electrical fans- meh 15 amps each 45 amps
I figured stock lights and to run the car say-30amps NEEED
Added fuse box-5amps with GPS, phone, etc Ll connected maybe


Well as u can see I'm well over 140amps? I had a stock new 60amps well if that alternator only gave out 60amps where do u think the rest came from, well battery of course.  So i replaced battery's every 3 months, free of course. I also have a toggle switch for all 3 fans i let those runs if I'm going into a store real quick since az heat is 110 to 115 out here a little air wont hurt the car.  Also whats important is what an alternator gives out at idle not full rpm i learned.  My alt. amps is 180 idle and 320 max....so u can see my lights won't dip at idle at a stop sign or light.  With the 120 amp idle and 200 amp max my car idled at 13 volts which is, ok and would slowly creep up to 14.4v after i accelerate now with 180amp idle i get 13.8 to 14 with everything on at idle and once i accelerate she hits 14.4v

Also factor in efficiency as a alternator gets hotter its not as efficient as quoted so say my 180 idle when in hot az heat might be doing 160 for example.  Our stockers were notorious for low amp idle it maybe quoted 60 but at idle it was near 30....i know m car dipped down below 12 volts at a stop so i had to turn off my radio and amp and it creep up to 12v.

[Brads70]

Yes it was not enough for me because i have alot of electrical stuff in my car.  People wonder why their battery dies alot well for starters add up everything u have amp wise in your car for me example.

Car amp-60
Car radio-maybe 10
3 electrical fans- meh 15 amps each 45 amps
I figured stock lights and to run the car say-30amps NEEED
Added fuse box-5amps with GPS, phone, etc Ll connected maybe


Well as u can see I'm well over 140amps? I had a stock new 60amps well if that alternator only gave out 60amps where do u think the rest came from, well battery of course.  So i replaced battery's every 3 months, free of course. I also have a toggle switch for all 3 fans i let those runs if I'm going into a store real quick since az heat is 110 to 115 out here a little air wont hurt the car.  Also whats important is what an alternator gives out at idle not full rpm i learned.  My alt. amps is 180 idle and 320 max....so u can see my lights won't dip at idle at a stop sign or light.  With the 120 amp idle and 200 amp max my car idled at 13 volts which is, ok and would slowly creep up to 14.4v after i accelerate now with 180amp idle i get 13.8 to 14 with everything on at idle and once i accelerate she hits 14.4v

Also factor in efficiency as a alternator gets hotter its not as efficient as quoted so say my 180 idle when in hot az heat might be doing 160 for example.  Our stockers were notorious for low amp idle it maybe quoted 60 but at idle it was near 30....i know m car dipped down below 12 volts at a stop so i had to turn off my radio and amp and it creep up to 12v.

Thanks for the reply! What's the trade off getting more amps than you need?  Did you get the dual field regulator? I was considering going with the one wire regulator option?

[1974dodgecharger]

No trade off with getting higher amp the higher amp u have and less u need the less u pushing the alt. capability which less wear on brushes.  The closer u r at the amps capabilities the greater the wear so more room to breathe the better.  If u can afford it get max 180 idle version he has.  I got single field for me but he can do single wire setup....great thing is its direct drop in though i had to get a spacer at ace hardware that was 2.50 dollars and cents, lol.


Oh yeah my car has died also while driving my battery was dead and i mean dead.....lol. 

[Brads70]

Just ordered the 250 amp version.... more than enough for what I have installed. 

[1974dodgecharger]

Just ordered the 250 amp version.... more than enough for what I have installed. 

yup, that should more than enough you will love it and no more dead batteries every few months.

[Nacho-RT74]

wow... Motorhome alt? LOL

[b5blue]

Just ordered the 250 amp version.... more than enough for what I have installed. 

Got a link to what ya ordered?

[Brads70]

Just ordered the 250 amp version.... more than enough for what I have installed.  

Got a link to what ya ordered?

250 amp, chrome, one wire hook up

http://www.qualitypowerauto.com/catalog.php?item=557

[1974dodgecharger]

great customer service also from Ron.....always a good thing in this small hobby of ours. 

[b5blue]

interesting!

[Brads70]

Ok finally got it and just installed it.(250 amp version) First half hour running in the driveway the battery reading with a multimeter on it was 12.5V? I then put on everything electrical and it dropped to 12v . At this point I'm NOT impressed?  I was getting slightly less at the alternator lug . 11.8V it was not charging the battery. I'm pretty upset now and put the car back in the garage and go to bed. Next day I'm thinking , ground issue? or....?
I thought I'd make up a new ground cable as its the only thing not new hooked to the battery. I have a heavy wire going from the alternator to the battery to sort of by pass the amp gauge. So before I start cutting cable I decide to check it one more time. I fire it up and now I'm getting 13.8 at idle 15v off idle.? Then it was like the alternator would work intermittently ? The amp gauge in the car still works slightly and would go to discharge for about a minute. I check with the meter again and it's 12.5 volts ( battery with engine off , all charger up was 12.8v) then it "springs to life" and goes to 15v then drops back down to 13.8ish? Keeps doing this cycle. I get in and take it for a 10 minute drive around town come back and check it again and it's a constant 14.5 or so volts?
Any idea as to why this happened? Never heard of having to " break in" an alternator before? 



I'm planning of getting Speedhut gauges over the winter, so I'll ditch the amp gauge and upgrade the wiring then. Season is almost over here.

[1974dodgecharger]

mine did that in the beginning too to be honest with you and I don't know why.  when I first initially fired it up and turned everything on it initially the sucker hit 12volts im like WTF.  Did the same thing as you then put a voltmeter to battery, alternator, etc...then for some reason next day it responded better when everything was on.   Then I actually drove it and damn, it does not drop my voltage anymore and it charges my battery.  My batteries used to be 12.5V when the car was off now it sits at 12.65v.  when I first bought my battery brand new at sears, platinum, it was 12.65v so it has stayed charged since new unlike before. 

I don't know if its called a break in or the voltmeter regulator has to recognize a better alternator I don't know, but what you described I had the same issues, initially.

whats your rpm at idle that will determine whats the amp output also. 

[Nacho-RT74]

maybe brushes "seating" ?

[1974dodgecharger]

maybe brushes "seating" ?

huh, maybe your onto something Nacho.  I know he takes parts off a higher amp and rebuilds them with the custom cases he has for our cars.  I kinda figured that one out after looking at the alternator really close  you start to notice some of the parts are from other higher end amp alternators.

[Brads70]

mine did that in the beginning too to be honest with you and I don't know why.  when I first initially fired it up and turned everything on it initially the sucker hit 12volts im like WTF.  Did the same thing as you then put a voltmeter to battery, alternator, etc...then for some reason next day it responded better when everything was on.   Then I actually drove it and damn, it does not drop my voltage anymore and it charges my battery.  My batteries used to be 12.5V when the car was off now it sits at 12.65v.  when I first bought my battery brand new at sears, platinum, it was 12.65v so it has stayed charged since new unlike before.  

I don't know if its called a break in or the voltmeter regulator has to recognize a better alternator I don't know, but what you described I had the same issues, initially.

whats your rpm at idle that will determine whats the amp output also.  

Idles at 750-800 rpms .... I got the one wire version too if that factors into anything?
Thanks for letting me know you had the same issue. Makes me a little more confident with it. First thought was "OH GREAT! It's defective, now I gotta ship it back to CA from Ontario Canada, buy the time I get it back it will be almost winter, plus the shipping expenses and dealing with customs etc..!  "

[Brads70]

Ron Van Arsdall from Quality Power just emailed me back and I sent him a link to this post so maybe he will chime in?
Seems to be working OK now?    It sure looks pretty though.... and a little lighter too!  

[1974dodgecharger]

Ron Van Arsdall from Quality Power just emailed me back and I sent him a link to this post so maybe he will chime in?
Seems to be working OK now?    It sure looks pretty though.... and a little lighter too!  

give it a drive around town.....is all I can say.  I have not replaced my battery since I bought it and my electric load is a lot more than before.  My battery finally gets charged....my battery used to drain even when unhooked from a drive and after 12 hours it will drain down to 12.3v. 

Overall after the initial odd ball start up and turning everything on and hitting 12v it now it does not do that and im happy with it and yes its a good looking piece 

One thing I did also was go straight from alternator to battery with a 3/000 guage welding wire instead of to the stud.

[John_Kunkel]

Anybody using the external regulated version of the Qualitypower alternator?

[mopar0166]

If I run 4 g wire from my 120 amp alternator to the battery directly, should I use a fuse before the battery?
If so what size?

then I have 8 g wire feeding the distribution supply to the dash splice and head light relays

also have an internal distribution supply  via 8 ga wire from the battery that supplies my secondary fuse box and power supplies for all the extras like my fuel pump 2 12" fans, aftermarket radio etc. 

any other concerns I should have before things go to crap  haha ?

[mopar0166]

ok I gave up on pepboys and ordered a powermaster 140 instead.

[1974dodgecharger]

Bigger wire the better if your doing straight to battery.  If u get a fuse between that make sure to get a fuse that won't constantly pop if the car using lots of juice. 

[mopar0166]

SO I ran a 4 g wire to battery with no fuse but a 8 g wire from batter to starter relay etc. 

I Went with a power master 140 amp and I am now very happy, no charging issues and the car ran great this weekend. 

Directions from power master say to use 8g but since I had already bough the 4g that's what I used.  all the after market stuff seems very happy now. 

Only thing if somebody is going to do this would be the brackets.  I tired to use my stock bracket and I didn't like how close it was to the head so fortunately I had a longer one which my be for a AC set and it swung out the alternator just enough and I'm now happy. 

Thanks again to all the advice people gave me.