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| Do you run an alternator |
| Yes, never run without one |
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37% |
[ 11 ] |
| No, do not see a need |
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37% |
[ 11 ] |
| not now but considering it. |
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24% |
[ 7 ] |
| used to run one but quit |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
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| Total Votes : 29 |
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NeverTrustAMidget
Joined: 06 Oct 2007
Posts: 14881
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 Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:38 pm Post subject: Alternator or not? |
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Stocks, Minis, Mods and Crates do you or do you not run an alternator? Why do you or do you not run one?
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| Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 5:56 pm Post subject: |
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Ford 737
Joined: 14 Oct 2005
Posts: 940
Location: Crow Mountain
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| Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 6:47 pm Post subject: |
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We always run one but for a while now ours has not been working so we are doing the old battery charger thing every week. But, yes, as a rule we run one.
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wwsc81
Joined: 01 Jul 2006
Posts: 465
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4everblue
Joined: 15 Oct 2005
Posts: 689
Location: Millington, TN
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 8:45 am Post subject: |
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| Along with what the beneifits the others have mentioned, having an alternator, along with a power steering pump is easier on the water pump due to the equal pull on it. |
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easymoney
Joined: 05 May 2008
Posts: 343
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:00 am Post subject: |
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i have not raced in a few years. in the 90s i ran ain the mini stock class, i bet i was the only one that ran an altenator, power steering and an electric fan. i felt that the hotter spark was worth it with the alternator. maybe i was just lazy liking the power steering. not running a fan on the water pump made up for some of the hp loss of the alternator.
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baileyx7
Joined: 16 Oct 2005
Posts: 577
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 11:22 am Post subject: |
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| are yall using a high dollar alt or just a stock one with a deep pulley on it?Thinkin of going to one but wanna get some input first |
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4everblue
Joined: 15 Oct 2005
Posts: 689
Location: Millington, TN
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 12:16 pm Post subject: |
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| baileyx7 wrote: | | are yall using a high dollar alt or just a stock one with a deep pulley on it?Thinkin of going to one but wanna get some input first |
We ran one on a street stock ( vacuum puller ) for five years, absolutely no problems. The alternator came from Dave's Armeture over on Jackson. I told him what we were going to use it on, he fixed it up, basically a stock, one wire unit. The pulley was stock. We used a stock mounting setup, never threw a belt. Our car turned 6500-7200, depending on the track. |
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phil38
Joined: 22 Nov 2005
Posts: 856
Location: dennard,ar
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 1:22 pm Post subject: |
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| For anybody curious just hook up your multimeter to the battery, read the voltage, then start your car , rev. it to around 4000 and read the voltage. More voltage when your ignition needs more voltage,..........This should be a no brainer. |
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NeverTrustAMidget
Joined: 06 Oct 2007
Posts: 14881
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 3:15 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for all the responses. I myself always ran one. Just as someone else said i spent most of my years driving without a crew and it was one less thing i had to worry about. An alternator on a fully charged battery only uses maybe 3 hp. You get a hotter spark and can use a wider gap to ignite more fuel. Plus ti helps to eliminate the high rpm miss. Racing Distributors produces a nice one wire large pully alternator at a very reasonable price. I have a kid i am working with and someone has been telling him not to run an alternator. Last week he had a top 5 finish going till the engine started losing power due to votlage drop. It cut out sputtered and picked up again and he spun out due to the sputter. I guess now he will put an alternator on the car. Without an alternator you start out with 12 volts and by the end of the race you may have 9 volts. With one you have a steady 14 volts all race long.
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shicken
Joined: 14 Oct 2005
Posts: 2704
Location: makin admin cry!
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 3:38 pm Post subject: |
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sounds more like a dead bat to me. without an alt i would run mmp friday, and sat where ever and batt still had good charge left. most people go out and get hi cranking amp bats, and that sacrafices running acessories. low cranking amps is alot more stable battery life
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NeverTrustAMidget
Joined: 06 Oct 2007
Posts: 14881
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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| shicken wrote: | | sounds more like a dead bat to me. without an alt i would run mmp friday, and sat where ever and batt still had good charge left. most people go out and get hi cranking amp bats, and that sacrafices running acessories. low cranking amps is alot more stable battery life |
Many years ago when we first started we ran a battery off a diesel bus but after reading about the advantages of an alternator it was an easy decision to switch. They do have some deep cycling gel batteries but they are expensive. Of course if the rules at your track don't allow alternators some people have wired a cycle battery in series with a 12 volt and send 18 volts to the ignition. Circle track had a diagram for the wiring and charging systems years ago.
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shicken
Joined: 14 Oct 2005
Posts: 2704
Location: makin admin cry!
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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i would go to pro bass and buy a gel battery for 83 bucks and it also gave about 80 lbs of left rear..  plus you could still run an alt. i did at one time mount one on my rear end and let drive shaft run it. didnt see any power increase just helped me in between bat charges.
im not big on alts. its another belt that could come off and cause you a race, 5-15% hp loss and 1 more part to work on...im lazy i dont even like power steering. tried once to run steering box off of transmission..
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easymoney
Joined: 05 May 2008
Posts: 343
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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someone just said that some tracks would not allow alternators. why such a dumb rule?? they must have put that in just to help fill up the rule book with stupid rules?? i put a larger pully on my alternator that way it cut the speed of the alternator and cut the horsepower needed to turn it. i stand by my decision to use power steering too. i can imagine how hard it must be to steer a street stock without power steering. also i am a firm believer in steering quickeners. if you have to make a sudden move you do not have to be cranking the wheel so much. if you want to go fast first you have to get your car to handle. then think about more horsepower.
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NeverTrustAMidget
Joined: 06 Oct 2007
Posts: 14881
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| Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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| shicken wrote: | i would go to pro bass and buy a gel battery for 83 bucks and it also gave about 80 lbs of left rear.. plus you could still run an alt. i did at one time mount one on my rear end and let drive shaft run it. didnt see any power increase just helped me in between bat charges.
im not big on alts. its another belt that could come off and cause you a race, 5-15% hp loss and 1 more part to work on...im lazy i dont even like power steering. tried once to run steering box off of transmission.. |
I think you have fallen prey to an old myth. Manufacturers have data that shows that on a fully charged battery it takes very little HP to operate an alternator. Performance Distributors claims as little as 1 HP required while others such as Floored Fabrication use as little as 1.5 HP.
http://www.circletrack.com/techarticles/ctrp_0601_hei_ignition_system/maintenance.html
Myth #5: You have to run an alternator with an HEI system. Any electronic ignition system, whether it is capacitive discharge or inductive (HEI), will run optimally with an alternator. The more input voltage you put into an ignition, the more output you get out of it. Some HEI systems only draw two to three amps off the battery. Capacitive discharge draw between six and 14 amps off the battery. An alternator will keep both the battery and the ignition at their optimum for the entire race. Remember, an alternator draws less than 1 hp. (Another myth is that alternators rob too much horsepower.)
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