First off, I know there is a General Electrical Forum, but my question is model year specific (I think).

Alright, in reference to this thread, I have a few questions. Currently I'm running a full stock electrical system (alt, battery, starter, etc...) along with two Off-road lights and a CB; no problems. I'm planning on purchasing a dual battery-kit (either 12-volt or Painless) and a pair of red tops and eventually a winch (maybe two).

My question is that a higher output alt. is most likely recommended for the new set-up, but will it be too much if I don't have the winch yet? I'll be putting this together in stages as money comes along and am wondering if the extra power will hurt an otherwise factory system.

 

Just an idea--What about running a large odyssey Battery and nixing the dual set up. Up grade all your charging, starting, gounding wires and throw in a higher amp altenator?. That is the route i am going because the Odyssey is both a high CCA battery and can be deep cycled.

I know the discussion is going to come up about the battery going dead and blah blah.....but with a battery like the odyssey and the reserve capacity it has--it doesnt seem like a bad option. And fitting them into the engine bay is easy--just made a support plate for the battery.

Food for thought

 

Once the batteries are charged your alternator is not putting out anymore then normal operation now. If you will be running both winches, lights and everything at the same time you will have a problem.
I would do the dual batteries first then you will not have a problem and may not need to upgrade your alternator depending on how you are using your equipment.
ps I have noticed thought that the stock alternators do not work very well when they are going slow. If you plan on using the winch a lot I would put in some kind of "idle up" mechanisim.

 

Which one (size) are you going to?

 

not as long as the voltage regulator is functional.

 

if your going to be upgrading your alt you should do the big 3 at the same time. as far as it being too much, if your going peice by peice you might as well plan ahead and get what you think you may eventually get instead of getting what you need just for now then have to upgrade again later. but i am using a 120 amp alternator right now and no regular large drains and i haven't noticed any problems from this.

 

Currently have a PC 1700 in there. Prior to that i was using an Orbital and running a winch for moderate pulls--never had a problem.

But this time around i am going upgraded altenator, big three, and already have the PC 1700 in there. Plus i will add light and other stuffs....

It just seems easier to go with 1 mega battery and upgrade the alternator.

 

the alternator voltage regulator regulates how much amperage is put out. (if you want a full explanation just ask, its pretty technical if you dont understand electronics & ohm's law)

upgrading the alt isn't gunna cause any issues.

one thought though is that you might want to go with one red top, and one yellow top (deep cycle) with an isolator so that you can run the winch off the yellow top, and use the red for starting. You could even get fancy with an automatic charging relay, and have it charge the start battery first, and then top off the deep cycle.

 

well, going along with all of this, I've got a brand new stock battery a running factory alternator (tested) for my 22re. The problem's when i run my headlights and heater, the headlights dim and the blower slows down at idle. I also have 2 100W fog lamps i run as driving lights usually and it all seems to kill my idle. Would upgrading the alternator help? I thought about the dual battery system and really didn't see the point except for prolonged high voltage usage w/ out the engine running ... which i never do.

 

If you do stay with a dual Optima setup, run the winch with a yellow-top, and the engine on a red-top. You can use isolators to keep the winch from draining the red top while you're out there. You can also use VSVs to kick up your idle while winching (most alternators barely pull any amps below 1500 engine rpm).

I just setup a quad-battery setup on a local guy's mud rig using isolators. He can selectively charge both banks as needed.

 

Yea, id stay away from two redtops, they arent deep cycle and if you let them die completely then your basicaly SOL. But dualies is the way to go when your running a winch in conjunction with all your other stuff because charging voltage at low RPM is gona suck when your using that thing and if you dont have more then one battery it will suck one of them down a bunch. As far as the alt goes, the stock ones for most years are only 70Amp, and almost all of the genereric reman. aftermarket ones are 120Amp. In my tacoma teh stock alt. was a denso 10si (100amp) and when i killed it the first time i looked into doing a reman. replacement instead of just doing the rebuild. I ended up replacing the brushes, and it died again in like a week after more mud. So i replaced it with the aftermarket reman. which turned out to be a denso 12si. The 12si is 120amp and has had incredibly more charging power and durability while under load at various RPM ranges in mud. If your running two winches you will want a better alt than that, like a mean green or whatnot, but my recomendation is just make sure that its something which you can find internal parts for relatively easily, because those suckers do die if you get into the electronics while you are in the muck. Ugh sorry for the long repetative post...
Anyway i would do both an alt and dual batteries, its not like its going to hurt the truck, if you have the finances go for it.

 

well the stock is a 60 amp, and the stock headlights are gunna be 55watts + the fog lights + the blower should still be under 60 amp.

might look at upgrading the big 3. when you draw a lot of amperage through a relatively small wire you get a fairly large voltage drop = lower fan speed. the bigger the wires the less voltage drop.

 

the big 3? battery, cables, and alternator?

the grounds through out the behicle have been added to. The light bar across the top of my rig has it's own ground, and the headlamps aren't stock, they are eagle eye upgrades ... and i'm runnin zenon 80/100WH4 bulbs ... so i think it's over 60 amps. I think i'm getting the best alternator i can ... that oughtta fix it?

 

the big 3 upgrade is wiring, not components like alt and batt. it is charge wire from alternator to battery, engine to chassis, and battery to chassis are the 3 wires you need to do. if i rember when you do this you should use 4 gauge or larger wire.

 

Here's another thread on the subject:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...-setup-129801/

 

4 hundred watt bulbs @ 13 volts is only going to be around 30 amps. so with everything else you're probably near to but not exceeding the alt's capacity. Blower is probably 5 or less, and i'm not sure about the ECU, and possibly the stereo.

 

thanks a million guys ... the stereo is a 45Wx4 and a 500W amped sub