160 Amp Alternator Problem

[Rba007]

Heres the deal:
My new 160 amp alt makes MORE than enough juice when Im doing anything more than idling. But, when I idle, with my head and foglights on, my volt gauge drops from just below 15, to just under 12. Also, my lights get EXTREMELY dim. Any suggestions? BTW, this is the alternator from the gpstore. Thanks!

-Dave

[Brendon]

Have you upgraded your alternator wiring and your battery's ground yet? It won't do much at idle, but it will help a little.
If that still does do it, I guess you could adjust your idle (only way that I know of would be to shorten your throttle cable...)... or better yet, invest in a capacitor or a second battery....

[Rba007]

See, my oem crap alternator didnt do this! It never dropped below prolly 12.5 volts at idle, but it didnt even give me enough juice when i was rollin. This one gives more than enough when im cruising, just not enough when im sitting. Grrrr!!! I have not upgraded any of the other wiring, but i have another question:

-I have an optima red-top. How could I wire my amp into the posts on top? Currently, its going into the power wire which goes into the fuse box in the engine bay.

[Brendon]

Your amp is taping into the wire that goes from the battery to the fuse box?
I'm sure they make battery clamps or adapters posts that would allow you to connect it directly to the battery.

[Rba007]

Where could I find those?

[zx7ninja]

Hey rba, you should be able to find those any any car audio shop in your area. They're only like 10-15 bucks. Or here:

http://www.knukonceptz.com/search_results.asp?txtsearchParamTxt=&txtsearchParamCat=8&txtsearchParamType=ALL&iLevel=1&txtsearchParamMan=ALL&txtsearchParamVen=ALL&txtFromSearch=fromSearch&btnSearch.x=11&btnSearch.y=8

Good stuff there.

As far as the alt goes, that's not right. I'm wondering if even though the max amperage of the alt is higher, if the idle amperage is actually lower than stock. Not likely, but possible. Either that or somethings wrong.

[Rba007]

gpstore gave me a phone number to call the makers of the alt tomorrow, so ill see whats going on. Thanks all for the help!

[Rba007]

zx7, so I would need one of those terminals, and Id just feed the power wire (which already has an inline fuse) into that connection and put the clamp thing on the top - post of my battery?

[zx7ninja]

Yup. Just try to put the inline fuse within a few inches of the battery.

[Rba007]

Im just trying to make sure i dont need a pos and a neg. So, just the neg and a connection. Sounds too easy...

[zx7ninja]

It's the positive that you need connected to the battery. The neg can be grounded wherever. Although I think it was a mistype when you said neg above....

The terminal goes on just like a normal battery terminal. The only difference is that it has a connection for power wire on it, where a normal terminal does not. Just run the power wire to that connection, and you're all set. Just don't forget the inline fuse.

[Rba007]

zx, thanks for bearing with me, I really appreciate it. I thought the power wire from the amp would go into the -, cuase its taking power from the batt. Thats why i didnt know why i needed the +.

The amp is grounded to the chassis in the trunk area
Wouldnt I jus tneed to put the power wire from the amp to the - terminal on the batt?

[zx7ninja]

The chassis ground in the back will be the - that you need. When you connect to the + on the battery, that will complete the circuit. Connecting the power wire to - would be like connecting both the power and ground to - or grounding both power and ground to the chassis. The chassis ground and - willact like the same thing. You need to run the power wire to the + on the batt.
And no problem with bearing with you. I'm here to help.:D

[Rba007]

So, I need to buy the positive terminal you showed me, and thats it. Just connect the power wire to that baby, connect it to the battery, and ill be set to go?

[zx7ninja]

Yep, that'll do it. Don't forget the inline fuse. Just double check the wirng. The - should only be to ground(chassis) and + only to the + terminal.