Stock Electrical System Max Load?

I have been steadily increasing the load on my electrical system but haven't upgraded it from the stock single battery and factory HD Alternator. At what point is it absolutely necessary that it be upgraded to the dual batt or higher performance alt?

Besides stock draw and the occasional phone or Ipod charge I have added:

• Heated Front Seats
• LF 240 Blitz 100w Halogens (conversion kits at home for 55w 5000k HID to install when I get leave)
• PIAA 510 55w (conversion kits at home for 35w 3000k HID to install when I get leave)
• 80w Knockoff LED Light Bar (8 CREE 10w XML T-6's in 10" bar = 7000+L)

Also converted the stock headlights to 55w HID's as well.

Am I pushing it, but still on the safe side or is it time for the upgrade? Not sure what the trade off was on the stock fogs vs the 35w HID or the stock lights vs the 55w HID, but I know I am helping myself by converting those 240's and PIAA's.

Haven't noticed any ill effects yet, but then again haven't had to do any winching either.

My new house is 50 miles from the nearest town and 25 miles of it is uninhabited desert so I get to run those lights a lot and it makes the trip even more pleasurable when you can see.

Thank you for any advice. I work about 11 months of the year overseas so when I get home to play with the toys I dont want problems. If I know I am going to have them in advance I can get the parts before I get there to do the upgrades.

 

Anyone here able to weigh in on this. I appreciate the advice.

 

I got 390 watts total correct on your rig right? It's got the tow package?

 

Not sure what the seats are, but assuming they are 69 watts (highest I found) then:

Additional Load=
-55w HID Lights x 2
-80w LED Bar
-69w Seat Heat
=259w

Substituted load=
-Stock lights (?)w for 55w HID x 2 = 110w
-Stock fogs (?)w for 35w HID x 2 = 70w

Total lighting and seat load including substituted lights = 439w

Thanks for looking into it.
MW

 

I had this debate with my local toyota guys a while back, i asked them the same question. I have a total 780 watts of lighting on my rig.4x130 watts in the front, 2x130 watts facing the rear.
Here's the formula:

Take the total number of watts (780), divide by the voltage of our systems (12), gives us the total amount of amperage draw on the alternator = 65 amps

If you have the tow package alternator it puts out I believe 135 amps. The consensus is that the alternator will handle it but it may wear out the alternator sooner. That was speculation on their part but they put it in the truck to handle extra auxiliary loads. I'm not saying you have to go out a put a new alternator in your truck. I've run the front 520 for reasonable periods of time and have noticed no ill effect, i have driven it with everything on (780 watts), and have noticed no ill effect. Now you should factor in the winch you were mentioning, what is the amp draw of that winch? If it takes 40 amps to run, you may be kinda starting to push the alternator harder with the motor, lights and winch all at once.

 

If/when winching I would shut off all extra loads so it shouldnt be a factor.


Now the math you ran through is what I thought, but wasn't sure what the stock load was to add to the aux load for the calc and realize running right up against the 130A max is not a good place to be.

The fact you have ran 780w and regularly run 520w without a noticeable problem is a good enough answer for me. Sure wouldnt mind putting in a second battery and higher output alternator at a later date though.

Thanks for the help.

MW

 

You're welcome, yeah, the best solution ultimately would be to put a HO alternator in for sure. A second battery is probably overkill but it's a plus in remote areas. If you are shutting down everything but the engine to run the winch you should be fine in the near term because you are not running it all the time obviously.

 

You're opinion is the 2nd batt is overkill? The main reason I haven't upgraded yet is I thought that was the way I needed to go and wasnt ready for the major surgery involved.

Switching the alt and upgrading the battery is quick/easy. What would be your suggestion for the best HO and battery that fit without modification to the mounts or tray? I get Optimas for a 35% discount.

Thanks again,
MW

 

For the most part ho alts are a waste, they generally put out less amperage at idle

 

IDK anything about HO alternators to offer a firm opinion on one and as far as batteries go, you will find a ton of opinions on here, some like Optimas, some don't, meh? I am going to waste a battery every two three years anyways, kinda partial to the Durlast Gold myself but to each it's own i guess.
My idea for my truck going forwards is actually to mount a second battery that is a marine deep cycle and wire an electrical solenoid switch that brings the second battery online to the alternator when i want to charge it, meaning not all the time. I plan to wire the lighting to this second battery so that if I run it down, the primary still starts the truck. If i am driving and i want to run the big lights I just kick on the switch and it charges while i drive. It sounds complicated and i haven't found a solenoid switch yet to do this but since deep cycle batteries can be run flat repeatedly with no 'memory', i feel this is the best way to have lighting (like jobsite/camping), that i can run without fear of stranding myself when the motor isn't running.

 

I read both sides of the Optima argument. Seems the good outweighs the bad. I should need a new battery fairly soon now and want to change over to a deep cycle. The high CCA is not necessary for my usage and since I get the Optima discount it makes it easy.

Wish I had time for the Dual setup for the exact same reason you mentioned and not for constant use. Just not enough time when home to spend it doing this overhaul vs enjoying myself in the mountains, hunting or fishing. My projects need to be quick where I can do them overnight in the garage and be ready for the next day. I typically get 2 weeks or less so never a minute to waste.

I will likely stick with my current setup until it becomes the weak link that gets me stranded one day. Reactive vs proactive solutions for being unprepared.

Thanks again for your advice.
MW

 

Deep Cycles don't necessarily make the best starting batteries.

I'd go for a high reserve capacity, high CCA battery starting battery.

As far as your set up. I figure with the electrical load just to run (excluding audio and blower motors etc etc) the truck and then with all your lights and accessories factored in, you're somewhere around 60 amps. With some of the other stock accessories maybe 80-90 amps. Shouldn't be a problem. I'd kill most of the lights when winching as you said. A typical 8000 lbs winch will draw probably 400-450 amps at full load and 75 at no load. Your alt will be at full output and you'll be drawing off the battery directly. This is where high reserve capacity and CCAs come into play.

You can see why you'd want to stop winching and let the charging system bring the battery back up often.

 

I filled in 2 of your blanks. Your headlights and fog lights are a wash (although I seriously hope you have projectors, otherwise those 55W HID's are just pissing off oncoming traffic )

Your extra 259W is only an added 22 amps and that is if everything is on. Everything should be fused separetly. If you run everything all day every day, then you might start having issues but chances of that are probably slim. Just be mindful of the HID's, they have a very large initial draw when they fire so if you get in and turn everything on at the same time, you could cause a spike. The large initial draw is only for a fraction of a second so the time it takes you to move from switch to switch would be long enough.

The Optima batteries fit nicely in the stock location and actually give you a little more room. They use a spacer under the battery so you can still retain the stock tie down.

 

The short answer is when a healthy battery can no longer start your engine. Please see Section 5 in the Car and Deep Cycle Battery FAQ on www.batteryfaq.org.

 

And the alternative is?

 

Mike: Thanks for filling in; I thought they might be close to a wash, but wasn't sure. Yes, I did the projector retrofit and although the 55's are very bright coming at you they seem to keep from hitting oncoming traffic directly in the eye unless they are driving something very low and then only at close range. All aux lights on on their own switch for that very reason concerning the startup draw.

Max: Thanks for filling in the system amperage. I guess that was the initial question all along: 130A output - stock draw - add ons = upgrade or no? Seems with everyone's input the answer is no for now.

Thanks all.