High Output Alternator
 

I always deck out my cars with audio upgrades and the S is no exception. Looking at battery voltage with Alternator % on my scan tool, A/c on, headlights on, and full volume, my Alt is working too hard at 95%. I do not want to add a battery or a capacitor. That masks the problem. The way to solve it is a higher output alternator BUT I cant find anything on someone buying one.

The main companies that make them: DC Power, Mechman, have said they were not able to successfully make a case that would still bolt up without a bracket. Has anyone tried or hear about this one from power bastards? http://powerbastards.com/proddetail....od=Fitzall-220

Any luck on this? I wish I knew this when I had my accord! I ended going the capacitor/optima battery route and still had some dimming of my headlights! Guess that's why tweeter went out of business!

No luck. I spoke with a rep from Mechman alts and he said they were making prototype but were never sucessful making a alt case that bolted right up like OE WITHOUT a bracket. Id prefer a straight replacement one. Oh well... For now I turned down the gain on my sub amp and it is alot better, even though I could be hitting sooooo much harder :banghead:

Maniac Electric: 145amp direct fitment - HERE
Quality Power: 160amp direct fitment - HERE
PowermaxUSA (ebay seller): 200amp direct fitment - HERE

My tip. Get a Yellow Top Optima battery and load up with 1.5-2 Farads of cap. I was amazed when I put a Red Top into my Honda Accord! Bass hit harder.

I know it's not a SOLUTION. Having been in car audio years ago at least back then aftermarket alternators usually weren't the answer......and they were very unreliable.

I assume you have beefed up the wiring everywhere. I don't think going bigger wire from alternator over will help any though.(to short of a distance)

Good luck! Can't wait to see you at some of the meets this year. Hope you make it out.

Most of the guys that went to a yellowtop had it fail within a year. Optimas arent what they used to be ever since they moved production to Mexico. Having said that, the only proper solution to the OPs problem is to get a higher output alternator.

Well CRAP! My old red top went from my 88 accord for 4-5+ years to my mom's Honda for another probably 6-8 and was going STRONG. Never needed a charge and never failed.

Any input on what SEALED batteries are good? Hate dealing with potential of acid getting on me as mine always seem to leak a little as it needs charging.

Trying to solve that issue with a breaker switch push button cutoff for the stereo system.

Trust me, a lot of us here used to be optima fans, but then they shipped production to mexico, used a bunch of bad lead, weaseled their way out of warranties, and that's that. if you want a good battery, go with an Odyssey or a Sears Die Hard PLatinum.

Odyssey shows their battery at almost 200 and the DieHard with a sealed system at only 130 ish. Die Hard is a "DieHard Battery 51" so not sure if it's Platinum but it's what was recommended. Model # 50351

Seems you guys have done this before. Any recommendations for another version? I am not looking to downsize at all just direct size replacement.

I know this isnt a current thread but i thought i should chip in with my experience of alternators on the S2000.

I use my car at weekends and on trackdays and last year i killed an alternator (rectifier failure) after a trackday. I had the dashboard flickering and when i removed it i found that one of the diodes had failed in the rectifier.

I opted for a Denso re manufactured item from rockauto and 12 months later i have flickering dashboard and a decrease in alternator performance. I have removed that and stripped it down and it looks brand new internally but yet again a diode in the rectifier has failed......

The heat of the track is obviously causing issues with the rectifier and maybe a lack of cooling so i contacted a few ebay sellers regarding there alternators.

BNR parts

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-S2K-S2...cc61c7&vxp=mtr

Powermax

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HIGH-OUTPUT-...5c853e&vxp=mtr

I told these sellers the issues i have had regarding alternator failures and that i wanted an uprated item that could handle more heat.

BNR replied with

Hi, The high amp alternator dose have higher amp rectifire and a better rotor and a stator .The high amp alternator will absorbe more heat threw the stator and last much longer than a stock amp alternator the alternator will not be running at full output with the higher amp for example if the alternator is 200 amp and the car uses 160 amps it will run much cooler.

Thanks - BnR Parts

Powermax replied with

this alternator is bad do not buy it we have a problem on rotor after couple hour the rotor fails don't buy it i want discontinue this listing ,Thanks

I opted for the BNR alternator even thou i was quite suspicious of it putting out 220amps. It arrived yesterday and looks the part and i could already see through the vents at the back that the rectifier was of a different design and looked more robust. One thing became quite apparant early on is that this alternator uses a smaller pulley even though there is no mention of this in the ebay listing. This got me worrying because generally a smaller pulley means they have rewound the alternator to such an extent that idle current is down so they need to overspin the alternator with a smaller pulley to get it to put out any power. One plus side to the smaller pulley is that the internal alternator fan will spin faster aiding cooling.

I fitted it all up and the OEM belt was very slack, to such an extent that the tensioner is at the end of its travel to keep the belt tight. This isnt a massive issue as you can get shorter belts easily. Just for peoples info the OEM belt is part number 6PK1470 and you can get a 6PK1460 or a 6PK1450 belt to reduce the slack. I have order one of both of these belts so i can see which one suits best.

Whilst fitting the alternator i fixed a 40mm earth wire to the alternator bracket and a 40mm + wire from the alternator pulley to the battery. I stuck a 150amp fuse in this circuit to add abit of protection in the event of any shorts.

Initial idle testing shows that with all the electrics turned on ie. Fullbeam, heater blower on full, AC on, rear heated screen the alternator will get very hot at idle and the voltage will gradually begin to drop as it struggles to keep up with demand. Give it a few revs and it responds well and the voltage increases.

Hopefully i wont cook anymore alternators from now on, i guess i will have to wait and see. Will keep people updated