Quote:
Originally posted by brainsboy
I had an 86 mustang years ago and put a 100 amp alternator on it, and had nothing but PROBLEMS!~!!... It was always burning up, and I had to keep replacing the diodes. I asked a few Ford guys about it, and they said it was because i wasnt using enough power and the alternator was creating to much power with no where to go. I ended up switching back to the normal alt and it solved the problem.
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Now that's one electrical problem I've never seen!!!..... I think you were told a major untruth. An alternator is an on-demand type of thing. If you have no load applied to it (just spinning and not powering anything) it will just sit there and spin. It is not generating any POWER if nothing is connected to it. If you have a 100 amp alternator, and you are powering a device that only requires 25 amps, the alternator will coast along and last a long time running at 1/4 of it's design limit. However, if you have a 100 amp alternator and are trying to power a device that requires 150 amps, then the poor alternator will slowly destroy itself because you have exceed the limits of the devices that make up the alternator. The formula for power in direct current circuits is Power (WATTS) is equal to the Voltage (VOLTS) times the Current (AMPS). Since the voltage in our cars is nominally 13.6 volts, the only other variable in our formula is the current...... or what the various electrical things in our cars need to operate. So there is NO excess power generated if it isn't needed.......
- Jim -