A while ago I was having trouble with new batteries continuously running dead. When I took it to the auto electrician he said it was my amp, everything else worked fine. I took the stereo out and the car runs great, but I miss the pumping tunes.

My 1200 has a 40 amp Lucas alternator from an Escort. To run my amp I need a minimum of 48 amp, possibly more. Anyone else had to overcome this problem? If so, what alternator did you use?

In India, we'd simply get the alternator rewound to give you the capacity you need... an alternative is to get yourself a big stereo system capacitor for your amp... one of those cansiter-shaped thingys that look like they're a time bomb...

I thought a capacitor was just used to store charge. The problem I had is that the alternator could not produce the current needed to fire the amp. Over time this caused the battery to die, as it was the battery powering the amp.

I've never heard of re-winding an alternator. Doesn't sound trustworthy to me.

The main prob is LUCAS alternator.
Lucas the prince of darkness.
The best thing to do is mount up a bosch alternator 85amp. You will have to make an adptor mount & change few wires like the main lead running to the back of the alternator will be to small. Also the regulator will be wired differantly I normaly get charged about 30bucks from a auto elec to wire them up. Look at a vn-r bommodore style alternator thats what you need if you go down that path. Heaps of cars built in australia have tese alternators so you should beable to find one to come close to fitting

The original alternator has a generic body. Both Hitachi and Mitsubishi electric use it. They come in a range of capacities from 35 Amp up to about 75 Amp I believe. They are internally regulated which means you can just remove the old tin regulator and loop the wires to suit. I have done this just 2 days ago, fitted a 60 Amp alternator and it runs my 4 channel amp no problem, even with the lights and heater on I still get 13.5volts.

One of my mates had a bad problem of his battery running dead and didnt know what was wrond. Apparently his amp was continously running when the car was off, therefore drawing all the power out of the battery. He had to get a electronic compenent that automatically switched the amp off wen he turned the car off. Duno if this is any help tho. O well

if you can find a 260c alternator,they have a 75 amp externally regulated alternator that'll bolt straight onto the a series bracket & uses the same style wiring.this should handle the demand for the amp,& not be too hard an upgrade.or 1200rallycar has a conversion for a
80 amp ford falcon alternator on his web site.
both options should do the job you need.if you go for the 260c alternator,grab the regulator off a b310 sunny,they are adjustable,so you can get the right amount of charge to the battery.

Like cheater said, make sure the amp isn't running constantly but rather ONLY when the head unit is switched on. If the head unit is off, then the amp (if working correctly) will not be drawing any power. Generally there is a wire (usually blue) on aftermarket head units that is the remote power for the amp. Make sure this is connected. If there isn't one, you can also use the POSITIVE wire from one of the speaker cables. Hope this helps.