140A alternator vs. volt boster

[Dr.drivability]

Say you have a turbo buick with a ton of electical / electronic components like two fuel pumps, alky injection, xfi, blah blah blah, what would be better, safer, and more reliable? 140A alternator, volt booster or both? I have been thinking of having my original unit rewound and remove the volt booster. Thanks in advace for your opinion, Dave.

 

[turbo nasty]

Whats your voltage dropping to on your XFI logs???

 

[LS954]

think youll be fine with the bigger alternator..maybe im wrong here but isnt it similar to when you add huge appliances to a home? If you keep adding more you dont up the voltage you up the service aka amperage.

 

[ESP Products]

John @ Casper's would be the best one to answer this. The Volt Booster will raise the voltage about 2 volts at WOT only. This is good for racing. The larger 140A alt. will restore up to that amount. If you have a voltage drop when everything is "on" the larger alt can help, but so would new wires. After 23 years of use, I'm sure they're tired. I have a turn signal issue right now with my car, when the lights are on. The alt is fine, but the wires/sockets are corroded. Also check the voltage lost between the Alt and the battery, this is a common lose of power.

Hope this helps you.

 

[jpratt]

If you are running ALKY then do not use the Volt Booster. The increase voltage will ramp up the alky in a way that you might not have tuned for.

 

[8UWITH6]

Volt booster's suck, throw it away, get your 140 amp alt and be done with it. My WE4 had a VB on it when I got it. Car started bucking violently leaving work one night, scrolled through the scanmaster and saw 18 volts! I shut it down immediately and ripped that stupid VB off the car and left it in the parking lot. Just my .02

 

[davidf]

You can also run an Optima yellow top. Those are good for lots of accessories.

 

[turbo39151]

I run a 140amp from a 95-96 SS Impala. Direct Bolt on. (write up somewhere with part numbers). No issues for me... I removed the volt booster I had...
I also upgraded all my wires (power and ground) to something much more substantial.

 

[8UWITH6]

I run a 140amp from a 95-96 SS Impala. Direct Bolt on. (write up somewhere with part numbers). No issues for me... I removed the volt booster I had...
I also upgraded all my wires (power and ground) to something much more substantial.

So did I, 4 gauge! LOL

 

[forcedfedv6]

I have a 170 amp alternator for sale for $120.00+shipping. modified by billy anderson with regulator included.

 

[Turbo1dr]

If you are running ALKY then do not use the Volt Booster. The increase voltage will ramp up the alky in a way that you might not have tuned for.

Why can't you just tune the alky to be used with the higher voltage? That would seem simple enough to do. Don't it have a knob to reduce the pump output to compensate for the higher voltage?

 

[Turbo1dr]

Volt booster's suck, throw it away, get your 140 amp alt and be done with it. My WE4 had a VB on it when I got it. Car started bucking violently leaving work one night, scrolled through the scanmaster and saw 18 volts! I shut it down immediately and ripped that stupid VB off the car and left it in the parking lot. Just my .02

Oh come on...do you throw away everything like that when something breaks on the car? That thing simply died...like a alternator could, a starter could, a turbo... and the list could go on. Voltboosters work. If it didn't, the guys that convert over to a 16volt system are just throwing money away.

 

[A2000RICH]

You can also run an Optima yellow top. Those are good for lots of accessories.

dave-----hate to break it to you but any 12volt battery is good for no more than 12.8 volts------fact-------that same battery will output even less than 12.8 volts when any current is being drawn from it-------fact------with a properly functioning alternator the battery is a load just like all the other accesories in the car even if its totally charged-------fact------any good alternator usually has a set point of 13.5 or higher so the battery contibutes nothing-------fact-------if the alternator of your car cannot provide enough current to maintain the voltage at its regulated set point the voltage will drop and if that happens performance of most components (such as fuel pump and other motorized devices) will suffer greatly-------fact-------by the time any cars battery is providing ANY current when the engine is running things are not working very well at all and the system is in a state of discharge-------the choice of any battery that is larger than is needed to do anything more than reliably start the car is of no value at all--------these statements are not my opinion but simple electrical engineering facts................RC

 

[A2000RICH]

Oh come on...do you throw away everything like that when something breaks on the car? That thing simply died...like a alternator could, a starter could, a turbo... and the list could go on. Voltboosters work. If it didn't, the guys that convert over to a 16volt system are just throwing money away.

can't agree with you more------problem is few folks really understand ohms law-------a thousand amp alternator will not work on these cars one bit better--------several years ago i did a test of a GN just to see how much current was actually needed to prevent voltage drop due to current demands--------put a car on the dyno and proceeded to turn on accesories-------car had XP super pump-----ATR liquid intercooler with electric pump-------i turned on the AC with cabin fan on high (means the radiator cooling fan starts)-----turned on the high beams------turned on the rear defog------turned on the emergency flashers-------lightly pressed on the brakes to light the brake lights--------turned the radio on-------pressed the cigarette lighter on----------turned on the windshield wipers-------blew the horn steady-------turned on the map reading lights and left the door open so the interior lights would stay on-------not exactly the conditions that i would consider would relate to race conditions-------certainly worst case for sure--------if memory serves me right current demand was 107 amps and the factory alt kept the voltage no lower than low 13's when hot------measured with over $30K of lab grade equipment not counting the price of the dyno-------a volt booster is nothing mysterious-------it simply changes the reference voltage to the regulator so the alternator outputs a voltage slightly higher--------it is a very elementary engineering exercise to prove that the type of fuel pumps that we use can supply more volume of fuel at higher pressures with a stock 120A alternator and a volt booster than they will with a 200A unit with standard output voltage set points--------as an electronics engineer listening to folks discuss alternators, batteries and volt boosters reminds me of how i feel when i hear old timer carburetor lovers talking down the use of turbos and electronic fuel injection because they don't really understand it--------anyone wants to see a demonstration just come to the turbobuick.com nationals (with your magic physics defying alternator) and i will be glad to give you a lesson in electrical theory and show how it applies to our cars.............RC

 

[Roger]

I consider volt booster to be "old school". I would consider something like Kenny Bell Boost-a-Pump (many competitors are also available). The Boost-a-Pump can be setup for even higher voltages than a volt booster can deliver.

 

[A2000RICH]

I consider volt booster to be "old school". I would consider something like Kenny Bell Boost-a-Pump (many competitors are also available). The Boost-a-Pump can be setup for even higher voltages than a volt booster can deliver.

its not old school-------its high tech school------"boost a pumps" have been around as long as volt boosters-------and from an engineering standpoint they don't seem to make much sense if you really look at it-----------a volt booster can be designed to produce more voltage than your pump can stand---------only real downside is the effect of higher voltage on other components--------the power still has to come from the alternator-------if it comes directly it is more efficient and puts less load on your engine (robbing horsepower at the rate of one horsepower per 750 watts plus efficiency losses) -------if it comes from a "booster" it is going to be much less efficient and thus puts more load on your alternator and engine.......just don't see the advantage----------RC

 

[TurboBuRick]

I want to believe you Rich but I've had vb's take out alternators.

 

[Roger]

An advantage of a Boost-a-Pump is it only puts higher voltage to the pump. A Boost-a-Pump is not capable of delivering enough current to feed more than the fuel pump, unless you get the larger (more $) unit to also feed the ignition.

The volt booster raises voltage to the whole car, the Boost-a-Pump only raises voltage to the fuel pump.

 

[mikestertwo]

The problem with a volt booster is it raises the voltage across the battery. The battery becomes a load on the alternator when voltages exceed 12.8 volts. A battery acts like a shunt regulator. The more the voltage increases across the battery over 12.8 volts the more current the battery will draw putting an increase load on the alternator. It will also take more horsepower to turn the alternator.

 

[A2000RICH]

The problem with a volt booster is it raises the voltage across the battery. The battery becomes a load on the alternator when voltages exceed 12.8 volts. A battery acts like a shunt regulator. The more the voltage increases across the battery over 12.8 volts the more current the battery will draw putting an increase load on the alternator. It will also take more horsepower to turn the alternator.

the battery does not act alike a "shunt regulator"--------it acts just like every other electrical accessory in the car in that it draws more current as voltage goes up--------in engineering terms that is considered a "load" and its no different than a pump or bulb or anything else in the car---------i have never said that a "boost a pump" is a bad idea------they are not new by any means------they have been around in one form or another since the early part of the last century and to electrical engineers they are known a DC/DC convertor--------all i am trying to convey is that volt boosters are a very low cost way to achieve a goal and they work and are not magic------if all you need is a couple extra volts for the short duration during boost they make a lot of sense if you understand them------to do the equivalent with any DC/DC convertor will cost much more if it is going to be a reliable device--------they both will do what a giant size alternator cannot ever do if its output voltage isn't increased regardless of amperage capability--------simple fact is that ANYTHING that produces more electrical energy to a load on the car is going to take more horsepower-----and that also means more load on the alternator---------why do guys have problems with alternators???-------probably cause most of them are 20 years old or are cheap rebuilds by now-------a volt booster on a good quality alternator is a no brainer if you really understand the engineering facts..........RC