# 150 Amp factory alternator... How much of a system can I run?



## 2010_Ford_Fusion (Apr 17, 2011)

Car: 2010 Ford Fusion 2.4L 4 Cyl.
Alternator: Factory 150 amp.
Battery: Factory
Question(s): How much system can I safely run on my daily driver?

I do not sit in parking lots and bump with the car off.

I drive to and from work, and some misc. driving. I like to listen to my music loud, but clean, no distortion, ect.

Any insight into how much/many amps/watts I can run safely? 

Thanks!


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## FAUEE (Jul 22, 2010)

That seems like an awfully big alternator for a 4 cylinder car. I'd double check that.


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## quickaudi07 (May 19, 2010)

Oh wow looks like Ford did its upgrade on alternators. I have a Audi and mine stock is 160. 
You should be fine powering 1 4 ch.amp and 500 to 1000 eke amp. If you get really bad dims than get a battery cap or another small battery for ur trunk. Or instead of 1000 w eke. Go with 500 w rms you shouldn't have a problem with the light dimming.

Sent from Verizon Thunderbolt


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## nick650 (Feb 7, 2011)

1200 RMS and 0 voltage drop for my 90 amp alt. (800 is class D 4 ohm and other is 400 A/B). You can handle more then you need.


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## Sarthos (Oct 29, 2010)

Maximum you can run continuously is maybe like 500 watts


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## Mike_Dee (Mar 26, 2011)

What kind of amp? D? A/B?

150A * 12.5V = 1875W

1875W * 55 % efficiency (A/B efficiency) = ~1,000W


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## kyheng (Jan 31, 2007)

Depends on how loud you want. Speakers with good efficiencies(>86dB) that requires little power will be a good start. And you will only need 10-20% from your amp's rate fuse.


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## nick650 (Feb 7, 2011)

Mike_Dee said:


> What kind of amp? D? A/B?
> 
> 150A * 12.5V = 1875W
> 
> 1875W * 55 % efficiency (A/B efficiency) = ~1,000W


12.5V is incorrect and should be 14-14.4 volts. Whole car isn't going to be an A/B amp.

I run my system MAXED, right before distortion and get 0 voltage drop while driving and idle I get a small .5-1 V drop here and there.

So your 1k watts is WAY to conservative and he should handle 1.5k RMS easy.


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## upperguy (Jul 31, 2009)

nick650 said:


> 1200 RMS and 0 voltage drop for my 90 amp alt. (800 is class D 4 ohm and other is 400 A/B). You can handle more then you need.


This.

I mean if you're really curious what the most you could safely run is, then let's get into the technical side of things. But you really don't need a ton of power to make stuff sound great! 

I mean jeez, I've got my entire system run off a JL 300/4(Focal components and a 12" kenwood shallow) and it's clean and very loud without even approaching distortion. I also invested pretty heavily into dampening materials though, so most of my music stays on the inside

Give us more info before a war starts!


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