Larger alternator for 2 12"s?

[N_nick]

I just bought 2 12" kickers and a pioneer 1600 watt amp for my 97 sierra extended cab. Gonna stick with my stock door speakers.

Gonna get a new battery, but will I need a larger alternator for this setup? Or even dual batteries?
Pretty new here, hopefully this topic hasn't already been discussed.
Thanks.

 

[kennythewelder]

Here is the thing. You should do the big 3 up grade to support the amp, and your grounds. Take a look at the size of the wire that goes from the Alt back to the battery. Its very small. Also when you ground the amp, most people ground the amp back to the cab. By adding a large ground wire to the cab, this gives a much better path for the neg to flow from the battery. I did mine several months ago. I have 1 Sony 10, and a 680 watt amp. I used some AWG #2 welding lead. For your set up, I would go with 1/0 welding lead. You will need to run a + wire from the alt back to the + on the battery. This will need to be fused. As for the grounds, you will need 1 from the back of the alt back to the - on the battery. from the - on the battery, back to the frame, one back to the engine, and one back to the body. So this would be a big 5 up grade. One from +, and 4 from ground. Go through some of these videos.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=big+3+upgrade

 

[kennythewelder]

Here are some pics of mine.

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[kennythewelder]

More pics

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[kennythewelder]

You don't want to remove anything, you just want to add more to what is already there. electricity flows like water does. A bigger wire, is like a bigger hose. You will get much more flow from a bigger wire. This will make you charging system much more effective.

 

[N_nick]

Here is the thing. You should do the big 3 up grade to support the amp, and your grounds. Take a look at the size of the wire that goes from the Alt back to the battery. Its very small. Also when you ground the amp, most people ground the amp back to the cab. By adding a large ground wire to the cab, this gives a much better path for the neg to flow from the battery. I did mine several months ago. I have 1 Sony 10, and a 680 watt amp. I used some AWG #2 welding lead. For your set up, I would go with 1/0 welding lead. You will need to run a + wire from the alt back to the + on the battery. This will need to be fused. As for the grounds, you will need 1 from the back of the alt back to the - on the battery. from the - on the battery, back to the frame, one back to the engine, and one back to the body. So this would be a big 5 up grade. One from +, and 4 from ground. Go through some of these videos.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=big+3+upgrade

Thanks for the reply and information, that helps me out a ton. I totally get it, I saw the stock wires and was a little worried haha. Thanks again.

 

[RawbDidIt]

I just bought 2 12" kickers and a pioneer 1600 watt amp for my 97 sierra extended cab. Gonna stick with my stock door speakers.

Gonna get a new battery, but will I need a larger alternator for this setup? Or even dual batteries?
Pretty new here, hopefully this topic hasn't already been discussed.
Thanks.

What alternator do you have currently? I believe there's a 110A and a 160A. If you're running 110A and have any plans on using that amp to it's fullest potential, you should upgrade your alternator. Whatever you have it fused for is what you should have in excess of stock. For instance, in my daily driver, I have my amps wired through a 70A fuse, and I can safely run my system without exceeding that limit. Stock alternator for mine is 110, so I need at least 180A from the alternator. Upgraded to a 240A and gave myself room for an upgrade. With those 2 12's, you're likely going to want to upgrade your mids in the future, so it's better to invest to grow in the beginning.

Dual batteries will help keep your volts at or above 12, but check your voltage at the amp, if your voltage drops below 13v at normal listening volume, or hits 12v during heavy use, upgrade the alternator. Your power from the amp drops if your voltage drops too low, not to mention the strain to your battery and alternator when you're pulling more power than the alternator can provide. If you're experiencing a large voltage drop during use, you should also upgrade your wiring (commonly referred to as a big 3 upgrade, plenty of posts about that on the forum, I won't reiterate here).

All of this should be weighed against what you have currently and what your plans for the future are. Is everything else stock? Do you want to add HID lights, or anything else that taxes the electrical system?

TL;DR: it can work with what you've got, but I'd be careful. That's a lot of bass for the stock mids to keep up, you'll likely want to upgrade which would necessitate the better alternator. It would be better for all of your components to upgrade now if you've got the funds.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[kennythewelder]

If your alt has issues keeping up after the up grade, then yes will need a bigger alt, but I think you will be ok with the OE. It depends on how much you push the system. If you push it hard, then you may need a bigger alt. For every day use, IMO you should be good.

 

[kennythewelder]

Mine is the 110 amp.

 

[N_nick]

What alternator do you have currently? I believe there's a 110A and a 160A. If you're running 110A and have any plans on using that amp to it's fullest potential, you should upgrade your alternator. Whatever you have it fused for is what you should have in excess of stock. For instance, in my daily driver, I have my amps wired through a 70A fuse, and I can safely run my system without exceeding that limit. Stock alternator for mine is 110, so I need at least 180A from the alternator. Upgraded to a 240A and gave myself room for an upgrade. With those 2 12's, you're likely going to want to upgrade your mids in the future, so it's better to invest to grow in the beginning.

Dual batteries will help keep your volts at or above 12, but check your voltage at the amp, if your voltage drops below 13v at normal listening volume, or hits 12v during heavy use, upgrade the alternator. Your power from the amp drops if your voltage drops too low, not to mention the strain to your battery and alternator when you're pulling more power than the alternator can provide. If you're experiencing a large voltage drop during use, you should also upgrade your wiring (commonly referred to as a big 3 upgrade, plenty of posts about that on the forum, I won't reiterate here).

All of this should be weighed against what you have currently and what your plans for the future are. Is everything else stock? Do you want to add HID lights, or anything else that taxes the electrical system?

TL;DR: it can work with what you've got, but I'd be careful. That's a lot of bass for the stock mids to keep up, you'll likely want to upgrade which would necessitate the better alternator. It would be better for all of your components to upgrade now if you've got the funds.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

I have the 110. Just has led tails, not gonna get hids or leds, just some under the dash to light the floor. I will get them installed and go from there, I am thinking something will have to get upgraded though. Thanks for the help guys.