Need more amps?

[Thaddeus]

1997 Sunsetter LX 320 Monsoon with 400 hours. Just replaced the alternator ordered from Indmar. It arrived without a pulley so the mechanic doing the work found one in his shop and used it (we think it might be a bit larger than the one it had before).

The new alternator is a

Tracker 000130 Prestolite 8RG2062 Leece-Neville 12 Volt Boat Engine Alternator

I have two new Costco batteries hooked up in-line.

Also put a new stereo with two amps, 500 watt for4 mids and 400 watt for 12 inch sub.

The primary 500 watt Sound System app is going into protection mode both while the engine is running and while anchored.

The amp will run for 15 - 20 minutes if I don't push the volume and turn up the sub.

I'm getting a lot of different information and need advise.

Do I need an alternator that is rated to push 65/70 or more amps?

Someone else is recommending XS Power batteries vs the new Interstate batteries.

I'm taking it to a REAL stereo shop Wed to have the installation checked (wires crossed - wired incorrectly).

If a new alternator, with a higher amp rating, is needed - where is the best place to find a replacement for this alternator? And is that Tracker 000130 Prestolite really an alternator ordered from Indmar or was I taken by my mechanic (in addition to being hosed by my stereo guy.)

Love my Malibu but don't like using guys that don't know what they are doing to her.

Help.

[shawndoggy]

The amp going into protection probably nothing to do with the alternator. You should be able to run your system off of one of those batteries with the boat off at a decent clip for several hours assuming the battery is charged to begin with. I'm thinking there's something else causing your problem.

[FastFreddy]

Did you run individual power and ground cables to the amps? or did you just splice the power and ground cable form the original amp and tie in the subwoofer amp?

If you didn't run individual cables I'd bet that is the restriction. You may need to increase the size of the cable from batteries to amps or run a separate wire.

I ran 0 gauge cable from the batteries to the amps THEN I spliced it to 3 separate amps each with 4 gauge cable.

[tccombs]

could also be heat build up on the amps... are they well ventilated?

[halcbloss32005]

Really could be a number of things. Step one would be to check voltage with the boat running and when the amp finally shuts off. if i had to guess being that you have 2 batteries and it seems that your wiring is sufficient to run the amps, i would say that the ohm load that your main amp is getting is a bit too low. A/b amps will run with the load too low until they heat up and trip the protection circuit due to heat. Typically a protection shutdown due to voltage will turn off for a short period of time then when the battery catches up with the load that your putting on it it will come back on then off then on then off and so on.

[MLA]

If the problem occurs while engine off, then thats the best time to check the voltage at the amp. This assumes the shop actually ran the boat and checked the output of the new alternator. A larger pulley will reduce the alternators RPMs, so output will be down. Even then, I do not see that being the issue described.

What is the amp make and model?

What is the make and model of the 4 in-boat speakers?

If turning the sub volume up is actually sending the in-boat amp into protect mode or causing it to shut down, then you are almost certainly looking at a voltage supply problem.

[Roster man]

Running 3 amps with combined ~250 amp draw on 2 group 24 batteries and runs fine. Likely internal problem with the amp due to too low of ohms load or something causing it to overheat. You need to verify the ohms load per channel. If it is 4 ohms or more, you probably have a bad amp. If buying new ones, go with class D as twice as efficient as class A/B. im running the new polk d1000.1, D4000.4, and d5000.5 (last one is going in later this summer to replace an existing class A/B arc audio that has twice the output and is 1/2 the size. Added advantage is very little heat produced by each