Alright so my stock alternator gave out about a month ago, which gave me an excuse to buy something ive had my eye on for awhile, the DCPowerInc 270amp high-output alternator.
After reading countless reviews and forums about the company and the product for the last 2 years I found this to be one BAD*** piece of equipment that would have no problem powering my audio system.
My system isnt insane, 2 1200watt 12 inch sony xplods running of a kicker kx600, and 4 pioneer a series speakers running off a mtx thunder 204.
The only issues i had up until the stock alternator gave out, was the subs would cutout at 3/4 volume if it got bass heavy for more than 4 seconds (this didnt bother me a whole lot considering i rarely drove around with the volume that high for more than a few minutes, and the subwoofers werent turned on most of the time anyway, only when i wanted).

Long story: my alternator gave out on me on a 2 hour drive home from work. Got the car home swapped it with a spare stock alternator i had. Put the charger on the battery to get it back to normal.
At this point i contacted DC Power Engineering about getting a new high output alternator and ended up putting the order in right before thanksgiving. Next day took the battery off the charger tossed it in the car and started it up, everything ran fine i checked the voltage off the battery and was pulling between 13.6and 14 volts with the engine running. I checked this every morning and night after and before driving . i also checked the battery after shutting of the engine everytime and it started at around 13.2 (after it was charged) and eventually dropped down to 12.6- 12.8 after a week and eventually stayed in that range since.
Now that seems perfect to me except i feel like the alternator is going to give out like the last one.

'Radio has not been hooked up since the alternator was swapped'
Symptoms:
Alternator squeals on several different occasions
1. When any accessories are turned on
2. When i hit the brakes ( stopped or in motion)
2a. The headlights will also dim when i hit brakes
3. When accelerating

Now after about a month of driving the car very sparingly without the radio hooked up, my new
DCPowerInc 270xp highoutput alternator has arrived.
These claim and have been proven to give up to 200amps at idle, which is more than i may ever need.
Unboxing:
The alternator came packed really well.
Appears to be heavy duty and high quailty



Alright now hopefully i can get some decent weather this weekend, so i can toss this beast in the car.

Thanks for reading ill keep this updated through the process and let you guys know how it goes.

If anyone else has had any experience with highoutput alternators or DCpowerInc themselves and has any suggestions or anything , id appreciate the knowledge.

 

Looks like a great alternator.

Side question: How old and what type of battery are you running?

I've seen a battery with the beginnings of a short cause a good alternator to go bad.

 

Battery is a little over a year old...
Its the autocraft gold from advanced auto forget what group size but it was the best one they had that would fit.
i am looking into getting an optima yellowtop but havent made an excuse for that yet.

Going to try to take my car in for a load test saturday before i swap alternators.
hopefully get an idea of the difference between Before and After, and to see if i have any power loss anywhere else in the system

 

I've got five Autocraft Gold batteries running in right now. I just had to buy a new group 27 in Silver for one car because the stores no longer stock a Gold in that size.

I think the batteries are built by Johnson Controls. Just about all have shorted out at just over the 36 month mark. They seem to go fast. It looks like Johnson Controls makes a large number of other batteries on the market.

Last spring I had one with an intermittent short that eventually took out an alternator while it was still in the last couple of warranty months.

I see places are starting to sell the AGM batteries. I wonder if AGM really last longer than a conventional battery?

 

Ive heard the same about the batteries , theyre all made by the same manufacture and sold to several companies..only reason i went with autocraft is because it's specs seemed better ( and i had a 30% discount to get rid of, normally i get everything from autozone).

Have you had any good experience with any batteries? Did you continue to go with the same battery because they were covered under warranty?

Thats the main reason i want to go get my cars charging system fully tested, last thing i need is a blown $600 alternator.

Will someone with the right equipment be able to diagnose any shorts in the battery that you mention? I fear this battery may have been deepcycled more than it should have been.

 

I've been going with the Autocraft for the same reason. There is a discount code TRT41 that gives 40% off over $100 if you need anything else from AA.

I order online and stop by the store and they install it right there. So they have me coming back for price and convenience. I've learned to just replace one around 36 months to keep away strange electrical problems. On one of my Honda's I started getting a CEL codes for the VTM4 (all wheel drive system) system. Then other codes appeared. I thought the ECU was toast.

Then I realized the battery was over 36 months old and drove straight to a store and had the battery replaced. That cleared up all of the CEL codes.

So I've seen some scary stuff electrical problems come from batteries with an intermittent short problem.

I wanted to try Interstate batteries, but they are sold by small shops here and the price is on the high side. Then I read those are also made by Johnson Controls. I lost interest after that.



AA can run a charging system health check or you can run your own using a VOM. It's not hard. Though I've started doing my own using a VOM.

When I return a suspect battery for warranty, I pull it out of the car and take it into the store and report there is an intermittent short problem, which really is the case. Then they check it a few times, give me a new one, and send me on my way.

I seem to get better results on returns when I walk the old part into the store. If they know they aren't going to be installing the replacement, they seem to be more agreeable to keeping the customer happy with a replacement.

I buy a LOT of parts from AA. They usually have what I need in stock on weekends. Using the TRT41 or TRT30 discount codes brings the price way down. For a big project, RockAuto is my preferred source due to the overall price advantage.

Over the years, I've learned to buy ONLY name brands like FelPro, National, Intermotor, Wagner, MOOG, some Dorman, and etc. I've had too many mixed experiences with the aftermarket house brands.

Coincidentally, most all of the aftermarket products that I trust, are all made by Federal Mogul companies. Federal Mogul is major a Just-In-Time supply partner (JIT SUP) for Nissan, BWM, and other auto makers located in the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) electrical grid. I've learned that imported cars we see coming from manufacturing sites in TN or AL are usually built with a significant number of parts supplied by Federal Mogul. Also I found Federal Mogul has a huge supply center in Japan that is not too far from the Nissan plant there. So I see the FM connection and follow it when selecting aftermarket parts.

Many times when I buy an Intermotor part, it turns out to be the same Hitachi part that came with the car when new. That was the case on a recent Intermotor electric EGR that I purchased for the 99 model.
It used the same Hitachi motor as the one I was replacing.

 

Awesome gonna try out those discount codes in the future thanks for that.

So how much trouble to you think i would have if i brought the battery in and said it was no good just to get a fresh one out of them since im still under warranty

 

I would take it back and say that it appears to have an intermittent short and that it causes electrical issues that resulted in the destruction of a very expensive alternator.