alternator upgrade to POWERMASTER (1 Viewer)

[Fearnofish!]

Just ordered the powermaster 140amp alternator with the one-wire connection. Any thoughts?

Also info on the hook up would be much appreciated.

I search "powermaster" in the archives and came up bone dry. Makes me think maybe I am in uncharted territory.

Additional question: the wife wants to paint the rig metallic sand. Anyone have one out there similar or +/- comments?

 

[import silvia]

Just ordered the powermaster 140amp alternator with the one-wire connection. Any thoughts?

Also info on the hook up would be much appreciated.

I search "powermaster" in the archives and came up bone dry. Makes me think maybe I am in uncharted territory.

Additional question: the wife wants to paint the rig metallic sand. Anyone have one out there similar or +/- comments?

As long as she isn't getting it painted to make it easier to sell.....

 

[polarweasel]

Is she a good painter?

Oh, and look on the "technical links" page (link at the top of every page) for instructions on wiring a GM one-wire alternator. It's a common thing.

 

[Landpimp]

sound like a GM 1 wire alt to me..........in which case you will find info in the tech section.

 

[Fearnofish!]

Thanks guys. Based on some of the reading i did on GM 1 wires and the advice of a few here I canceled my order for the 140amp powermaster went instead with an OEM replacement alternator and a big optima yellow top battery. That made quite a bit more sense after it was explained to me.

Learning as I go.

 

[sebo4wd]

Dude how many amps are you pulling off your engine?? I'm running a dual batter set up w/ yellow top batteries, and a Diablo Puller Fan that I just recently installed. I had to up grade my alternator after my little 62amp went dead on me and went with the Powermaster 92amp at idle and 140amps on highway. Man that alternator is awesome. Why did you go with the OEM replacement??
Good luck man, Sebo4wd

 

[sportbiker929]

Dude how many amps are you pulling off your engine?? I'm running a dual batter set up w/ yellow top batteries, and a Diablo Puller Fan that I just recently installed. I had to up grade my alternator after my little 62amp went dead on me and went with the Powermaster 92amp at idle and 140amps on highway. Man that alternator is awesome. Why did you go with the OEM replacement??
Good luck man, Sebo4wd

does it bolt right up??

 

[Fearnofish!]

The power master was twice the cost and as I now understand, the battery is the main source of power for the rig. The alternator is only going to be charging the battery. So the battery isn't pulling power from the alternator it's just accepting what ever it dishes out. The same way a bucket doesn't pull water from a hose it just fills up. So the way I understand it is get a top shelf battery, and make sure your alternator can charge your battery as you go. Most people, even with winches, are not running the winches for hours every day or maybe only a few days a year. And stereos unless you have a trunk of funk don't draw that many amps. And to top it off they all draw from the battery. The alternator doensn;t have to equal your max amp needs for that day you are pulling jeeps out of the mud all day, it just has to be able to charge your battery while your driving to the bar after that. I realize that there are exceptions and some folks run lights and sound and winches and .... but most of us don't but have alternators that could power a small town.

My guess is that your alternator died due to someother problem and not that you couldn't power dual batteries. After all you alt is generating power wether your have batteries hooked up or not. Same power every minute your rig is running.

 

[HZJ60 Guy]

The alternator IS important. What you're saying it correct (mostly) but dont forget, under serious loads such as winching the winch is pulling 450+ amps from that battery. The alternator in turn realizes this and trys to give back to the battery what it needs to top itself off again. That puts a SERIOUS load on that alternator.

What would you rather have filling your battery back up during and after winching, a 40 amp alternator or a 160 amp alternator?

Dont mistake the alternators importance to the entire circuit.


TB

 

[Fearnofish!]

Good to know but... I thought that there is NO load on the alternator only on the battery. Soif you are winching drawing 450+ amps from the battery and your battery can give 700+amps per hour for several hours then you should be fine. Especially if you only winch for maybe 20 minutes or less. THe winches load is Xamps/time. Not in one big bunch. I agree though that an alternator able to supply 55 amps will take longer to FULLY recharge a battery but a good battery will not be reduced to a point of not functioning by a short time winching. Additionally, a stock alternator will more than power up a battery in the timeit takes you to put away your tow straps, scrap the mud off your boots and get back in the truck.

With all that said, if I had a big pile of money I would get dual monster alternators and quad batteries for that one time when I drive into hunting camp and everyone simultaneously needs to weld something while it is beeing winched out of a hole and illuminated to about 30million candle power. Oh yeah and we all tap into my rig to run our freezers (for all the elk)... and Van Halen needs more power cuz their playing a gig at our hunting camp too.

 

[sportbiker929]

Good to know but... I thought that there is NO load on the alternator only on the battery. Soif you are winching drawing 450+ amps from the battery and your battery can give 700+amps per hour for several hours then you should be fine. Especially if you only winch for maybe 20 minutes or less. THe winches load is Xamps/time. Not in one big bunch. I agree though that an alternator able to supply 55 amps will take longer to FULLY recharge a battery but a good battery will not be reduced to a point of not functioning by a short time winching. Additionally, a stock alternator will more than power up a battery in the timeit takes you to put away your tow straps, scrap the mud off your boots and get back in the truck.

With all that said, if I had a big pile of money I would get dual monster alternators and quad batteries for that one time when I drive into hunting camp and everyone simultaneously needs to weld something while it is beeing winched out of a hole and illuminated to about 30million candle power. Oh yeah and we all tap into my rig to run our freezers (for all the elk)... and Van Halen needs more power cuz their playing a gig at our hunting camp too.

now that i sgood!

 

[HZJ60 Guy]

Good to know but... I thought that there is NO load on the alternator only on the battery. Soif you are winching drawing 450+ amps from the battery and your battery can give 700+amps per hour for several hours then you should be fine. Especially if you only winch for maybe 20 minutes or less. THe winches load is Xamps/time. Not in one big bunch. I agree though that an alternator able to supply 55 amps will take longer to FULLY recharge a battery but a good battery will not be reduced to a point of not functioning by a short time winching. Additionally, a stock alternator will more than power up a battery in the timeit takes you to put away your tow straps, scrap the mud off your boots and get back in the truck.

With all that said, if I had a big pile of money I would get dual monster alternators and quad batteries for that one time when I drive into hunting camp and everyone simultaneously needs to weld something while it is beeing winched out of a hole and illuminated to about 30million candle power. Oh yeah and we all tap into my rig to run our freezers (for all the elk)... and Van Halen needs more power cuz their playing a gig at our hunting camp too.

Good lord no. Thst isnt how it works. You will KILL a battery in a matter of minutes by winching with a max type load on your system IF you dont have a good alternator replenishing the battery. And YES there is a severe load on that alternator when the battery is stressed that much.

You dont sound like you have much real winching experience (no offense meant) but just let your rig be the winch BITCH in a group just once and you'll see what I mean. That great battery isnt worth squat under heavy winch draw!

Unless ofcourse you have a rig with a 24 volt system (and wich). 24 volt winches only draw HALF the amps under load!!!!

 

[Fearnofish!]

Well I have never been a winch bitch but I have used it to pull out trees for fire wood, pull the truck out of some deep stuff, and help out the occasional friend. I am not running 24V but that sounds good and I'll give it some thought.

Regarding the load on the alternator... have you ever measured the amps coming form your alternator at idle and while winching. No really, hook up your winch to a stump and touch the hot end with your voltmeter (set to amperage). you'll find that the engine turning the alternator at the same speed will yield the same amps. You are 100% correct that the battery will change and that the alt will have to keep up with replenishing the battery but only at the rate at which the alt can generate amps. That's the rub. As you have stated a larger alt will replenish the battery faster. The take home message from my purchase/thread is that on a budget you don't have to have a super alt to have a rig that can handle "average" winching and stereo. In my attempt at humor about my hunt camp I was trying to say that most of us are never in a situation where we are winch bitches and in reality our eletrical systems are overbuilt. I went further to say that if I had a pile of money...

Take home... I have to be realistic about the dollars. I am just an average guy with an FJ60 and a dream... I'll make over the mountain and back (on the trail most of the time). With that said most people don't really know how much amps they need and spend $ on an alt and run and average battery. Up until a few days ago I was in that group. Dont go to the dark side HJZ60 Guy, come to the light!