Charging-Electrical

Been having trouble with my electrical system being over taxed. I have a 220 amp alternator, Running an Optima Red top under the hood for the Trucks factory system and 2 Yellow Tops under the bed for the air ride stuff... All 1/0 cable to the batteries. I still get drug down when my viair 400's kick on.... Am I missing somthing? What is everyone else running?

Edited: 10/27/2005 12:28:51 PM by thunderbird

thats doesn't sound right to me. When its running your 220 amp should be plenty. Check the life on your batteries. nothing will kill an alt. like trying to charge a dead battery. I would unhook the yellows and try running all of your stuff off the red and alt only. see what happens. then add the yellows back on one at a time until it starts to load the alt. i think its battery issue. This is all assuming the alt. is functioning properly. maybe you should load test the alt while its running. what kind of alt. is it. i have a 160 amp wrangler and not much will make it load.

With the red top only it does the same thing if not a little worse, I have tried combonations of 1, 2 and all 3 batteries, Replaced all 3 batteries and the Alt is brand new, Iraggi Alternator built it... Don't get me into that subject... It still shows to be charging at 14.4v when everything is on.. Compressors, Lights, Stereo, and rolling the windows up and down. It just drags down bad enough to get my attention. Should I run an Isolater on my yellow tops?

Edited: 10/27/2005 3:27:07 PM by thunderbird

isolaters are not good, all the high current runners will say just to use large current relays to isolate batterys. isoslators have diodes and small parts in them and "theoreticly" will give you a voltage drop thru them.

i have heard of those alts. i thought they were a nice alt.

the only other thing i can think of, that happened to me was a "senseing wire". mine is externally regulated and the wire needs to be put where you want the reg. to measure the current from. in my case, it went through a factory harness before it got the battery and had a voltage drop by the time it got the the battery. Wrangler had me run that wire directly to the battery and it smoothed things out. my headlights use to pulse when the car was running.past that i would have the alt tested at a specialty shop that maybe rebuild them and see what its putting out. your problem seems to be current not voltage. 2 totally different thing.

why do you need so many fuckin batteries?The worst thing you can do to an alternator is give it more unnecessary parasitic devices.Unless you are playing your stereo or running your compressors with the engine off then you dont need any more than a single battery.You are actually hurting your alternator with those extra batteries.Use just a single red top and see .If you are having alternator issues then look into a mechanical man alternator.They are rated hot as where most are cold rated.Those extra batteries dont do fuck all when your alternator is running