Thread: My Festiva Car PC (3500+ watts of audio)

Originally Posted by fooshizn1x

First off, thats a hefty amount of equipment for a festiva, congrats!

but....

I have a small pet peeve with "one wire" alternators, and considering you've put quite a bit of money into your install you may want to reconsider the one wire thing and go back to (or switch to) a 3 wire alternator.. most stock 3 wire alternators actually put out MORE than those higher amperage single wire ones...

Not a Festiva alt.. the wiring is way too small to pump high amperage through..

I have seen those that have tried to upgrade the Festiva alt with stock 90 amp alts make fires and burn up the dash. Upgrading the Festiva alt is just too dangerous.

BTW, I'm not a youngin, (over 40) and while some of that may be true in that article, it mostly looks like an explanation on why to buy their product. And to say the reason people buy 1 wire alts is because they must not be smart enough to figure out how to wire a 3 wire alt. BAH!!

1. I don't need a dummy light, My caps have meters in them and if it stops charging, I will know and with the industrial dry cells that are meant to be discharged, it hurts nothing. If it starts over charging, I can simply turn the car off and disconnect the wire from the batteries without even exiting the car.

2. I don't need stringent remote sensing. This is a 2nd alt on a separate circuit. So as long as it senses when the batteries drop below a certain voltage and starts charging, and turns off when the batteries are charged, that's all I want.

3. The alt charging wire is a 1/0 and being in a Festiva it is shorter than almost any other car.

4. The alt is on it own pulley and if it tosses a belt the dry cells will drain and at most they would have to be recharged to 9v before the 1 wire would start charging again.

I have used both 1 wire and 3 wire alts over the years and yes the 3 wire is better for for general single alt car apps. But my charging system was designed to charge the batteries not, run the equipment.

I can run my whole system without the engine on for about 4 hours without dropping voltage enough to require a charge. So, unless I am on a long trip, or hitting it hard (which I then can't be in the car or I'd go deaf) charging is not a problem. I also have a 50amp 120v battery charger in the back of the car if I need more engine off time..

Needless to say the 160a alt and 2 industrial dry cells are overkill for the amount of things that 1 or 2 people can do at one time. All the while my tiny 50a Festiva alt runs the car and it's normal electrics just as it did before the system went in.

Originally Posted by FC3S

i'd like to know why your watching xmen 3

its not out on dvd yet

illegal~~ :P

That's a trailer...

Originally Posted by xpnsyd

Not a Festiva alt.. the wiring is way too small to pump high amperage through..

I have seen those that have tried to upgrade the Festiva alt with stock 90 amp alts make fires and burn up the dash. Upgrading the Festiva alt is just too dangerous.

BTW, I'm not a youngin, (over 40) and while some of that may be true in that article, it mostly looks like an explanation on why to buy their product. And to say the reason people buy 1 wire alts is because they must not be smart enough to figure out how to wire a 3 wire alt. BAH!!

1. I don't need a dummy light, My caps have meters in them and if it stops charging, I will know and with the industrial dry cells that are meant to be discharged, it hurts nothing. If it starts over charging, I can simply turn the car off and disconnect the wire from the batteries without even exiting the car.

2. I don't need stringent remote sensing. This is a 2nd alt on a separate circuit. So as long as it senses when the batteries drop below a certain voltage and starts charging, and turns off when the batteries are charged, that's all I want.

3. The alt charging wire is a 1/0 and being in a Festiva it is shorter than almost any other car.

4. The alt is on it own pulley and if it tosses a belt the dry cells will drain and at most they would have to be recharged to 9v before the 1 wire would start charging again.

I have used both 1 wire and 3 wire alts over the years and yes the 3 wire is better for for general single alt car apps. But my charging system was designed to charge the batteries not, run the equipment.

I can run my whole system without the engine on for about 4 hours without dropping voltage enough to require a charge. So, unless I am on a long trip, or hitting it hard (which I then can't be in the car or I'd go deaf) charging is not a problem. I also have a 50amp 120v battery charger in the back of the car if I need more engine off time..

Needless to say the 160a alt and 2 industrial dry cells are overkill for the amount of things that 1 or 2 people can do at one time. All the while my tiny 50a Festiva alt runs the car and it's normal electrics just as it did before the system went in.

Well thats pretty much the standard answer that most people give when they still think the 1 wire is better. that place isnt trying to sell any special product besides a wiring harness for those who are upgrading, adding to a vehicle without the proper wires already, or for those who are unfamiliar with how to install it. The charging capacity, and the way it charges are far superior with a 3 wire.. but if the 1 wire is working for you suffeciently, then I guess thats all that matters. Good luck with your project, I too would like to see it all finished up!

Originally Posted by fooshizn1x

Well thats pretty much the standard answer that most people give when they still think the 1 wire is better. that place isnt trying to sell any special product besides a wiring harness for those who are upgrading, adding to a vehicle without the proper wires already, or for those who are unfamiliar with how to install it. The charging capacity, and the way it charges are far superior with a 3 wire.. but if the 1 wire is working for you suffeciently, then I guess thats all that matters. Good luck with your project, I too would like to see it all finished up!

I'm an electrician and after reading that website you linked to, I saw no evidence of a 3 wire alternator being better than a 1 wire. I attempted to find somewhere on my own that shows 3 wire alternators being better than 1 wire, but couldn't find anything.

Originally Posted by xpnsyd

That's a trailer...

sure

Originally Posted by Namor

I'm an electrician and after reading that website you linked to, I saw no evidence of a 3 wire alternator being better than a 1 wire. I attempted to find somewhere on my own that shows 3 wire alternators being better than 1 wire, but couldn't find anything.

That makes two of us, I'm an electrician too, that fact doesnt mean that you should "get it automatically" 277/480 VAC has nothing to do with 12VDC. I'll just say that you either didnt read all of the articles (many have good pieces of information that any automotive enthusiast should know) or you didnt understand them. Either way, doesnt really matter... people will use what people want regardless.

Originally Posted by fooshizn1x

That makes two of us, I'm an electrician too, that fact doesnt mean that you should "get it automatically" 277/480 VAC has nothing to do with 12VDC. I'll just say that you either didnt read all of the articles (many have good pieces of information that any automotive enthusiast should know) or you didnt understand them. Either way, doesnt really matter... people will use what people want regardless.

The only thing is, I'm not a home electrician like you may be thinking. I'm an electrician in the Navy and we deal with both AC and DC and motors/generators in particular. And the simple fact is, the that link gave no proof. I was expecting comparisons of sine waves between the 1 wire and 3 wire, but either way its being generated by a 3 phase AC generator. So you will get the same output.

ummm besides it being Way rough..... where did you move the climate control to? or did you just decide you didnt need those anymore?

LOL.. Festivas really didn't have a "climate control" unless it came with A/C.. meaning all the movable vents on a Festiva are only for A/C. Other than that there is only defrost and heat which only comes out at the top and bottom.. so I just set it on defrost and relocated the fan switch to the oem lighter hole and added a new lighter section from another dash. Works well, I just went through a big rainstorm and it worked normally. Besides, I've lived in south Texas almost all my life and am used to the summer heat..