Alternator or not?

Just need opinions on to run alternator or not, who is or isn't? Considering that I expect to have generator and charger on hand.

We run them on all of are Racecar. Never would run without one. How many rounds I run in a weekend running 2-3 classes. Most of the time a charger never gets put on my car.

never used one, not even on the 12 volt deal.

I ran one on 12v's when I had all electric accessories, water pump, fuel pump, shifter, stop. Dont expect a 10amp charger to keep up if you can go some rounds.

Curt wrote:I ran one on 12v's when I had all electric accessories, water pump, fuel pump, shifter, stop. Dont expect a 10amp charger to keep up if you can go some rounds.

true dat.............thats why I got a real good charger for the 12v deal (brothers car)

I love my Alt.

Nothing wrong with that. If you have room and the extra/open sheave.

I would pass on an alternator. I have never ran one, just two red optima batteries. I can go three rounds without charging (I didn't attempt to go any longer)
An alternator is just another thing that could fail (plus overkill if you have a generator/charger already) Also it would be harder to do monster wheelies with more weight in the front.
Justin

i have always ran one and still have starting issues after a few passes.now i dont have it on the car and will be tryen to find the starting issue. i'd like to go the 16v route but want to learn more about it.

I run 1 battery and a alternator and can go 23 rounds without a charge. I would of gone more rounds if there were any. Starts good everytime.

BigBlockFalcon wrote:I run 1 battery and a alternator and can go 23 rounds without a charge. I would of gone more rounds if there were any. Starts good everytime.

Damn, that's a busy race!!

Once the battery is charged, an alternator takes virtualy nil HP to run. Your ignition is always getting full voltage which will keep your HP consistent. True it is another thing to go wrong, but if properly designed and installed, should be trouble free for many passes.

Bill

billandlori wrote:

BigBlockFalcon wrote:I run 1 battery and a alternator and can go 23 rounds without a charge. I would of gone more rounds if there were any. Starts good everytime.

Damn, that's a busy race!!

Once the battery is charged, an alternator takes virtualy nil HP to run. Your ignition is always getting full voltage which will keep your HP consistent. True it is another thing to go wrong, but if properly designed and installed, should be trouble free for many passes.

Bill

X2 the alternator is worth the effort in a bracket car, it nice not to have to charge a battery between rouns and what happens when you don't have time?????

My dad and I both run alts on our broncos, with running the dunes as well as racing, it makes things a whole bunch easier. We both run the yellow top optima batts too.

Thanks everyone, good information.

wish i had room to run one myself. i run two 12v. got one 16v on the way, hope it's here before friday.

16v is the way to roll...more so with all them 'noids...........

I have several friends who lile the 16 volt as well.But if you are like me and run 12 volt I would run a alt.They reduce charging it is better on batt's.I have no data to prove it bt I think it keeps your ign. box's in service longer.My car runs the same time wise with or with out a alt.
The on problem I have seen with the 16 volt set up is some of the guys complain that it is hard on LED screens and bulbs? Looks like there would be a fix for that though.

On the 16 volt systems you can buy a battery that has three terminal post 16 volt and 12 volt so you can run the starter off 16 volts and everything else off of 12 volts with one battery, my brother runs that style 16 volt battery. We run the 16 volt battery with only two post but use a inline resistor to drop the voltage on certain components like computer boxes, etc that can't tolerate the 16 volts. Most items, starters, fan motors etc are designed to withstand up to 16 volts and will work fine. The only item that we have ever damaged with the 16 volt system was an automatic nitrous bottle warmer that worked off the main battery and it was not compatable with the 16 volts, cooked that baby!!! We do not run an Alt. and have gone 2 races without re-charging many times in the past.

I just pop the tops and take a leak in them , charged and ready to go

billandlori wrote:

BigBlockFalcon wrote:I run 1 battery and a alternator and can go 23 rounds without a charge. I would of gone more rounds if there were any. Starts good everytime.

Damn, that's a busy race!!

That was doing good in 2 classes. I like nights like that but the car take a beating.