Does Texas Star DX 1600V damage my Peterbilt 379's computer or alternator?

Discussion in 'CB Radio Forum' started by Kingpinny, Dec 13, 2008.

  1. poppapump1332

    poppapump1332 Road Train Member

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    Also ts draws more amps then say a fatboy or davemade
     
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  3. rabbiporkchop

    rabbiporkchop Road Train Member

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    at full power it should suck about a hundred and fifty amps. that might be pushing the limits of your alternator especially at night time with all your lights on.my galaxy s 9 and my DX1600V would probably work quite nicely in that particular truck because it was tuned by Harddrive at fine-tune CB shop and I used it in a Kenworth t600 and it works great. if I took that same amplifier and radio to 99% of the radio technicians in this country and told them to tune the radio they would end up making the radio overdrive the amplifier and it would be a total splatter box and it would suck a lot more amperage and probably kill the engine and probably damaged the trucks computer. it all depends on who tunes the radio to the amplifier and if they have any clue what they are doing. if they do not hook up an oscilloscope to the output of your amplifier as they are tuning the radio it will probably not work very well.
     
  4. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    Just an FYI, if it is installed right, it draws less current than a good inverter running a microwave.

    The batteries play a big part in this, it the alternator is max'ed out, the batteries provide the amperage reserve needed to support the amp.

    My truck has a 1600 watt microwave with a 4000 watt inverter that came out of a boat. it will draw 140 amps at the start up and then settle down to ~ 125 amps.

    So no, I don't think even a hard driven amp would cause issues with the trucks computer or alternator unless there is an hour key down with 3000 watts.
     
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  5. rabbiporkchop

    rabbiporkchop Road Train Member

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    2 watts carrier and 8 watts peak is about the most I would put into it without over driving it.
     
  6. trees

    trees Road Train Member

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    Simple answer, very likely. Why? Near field induction. The wire harness connecting to the trucks ecm is not shielded. Unless you do something to choke off rf current from the sensors and ecm you're are going to be hitting the truck electronics with heavy duty rf energy. The truck devices work on microvolts, rf energy inducted into these devices is going to seriously overload them.
     
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  7. rabbiporkchop

    rabbiporkchop Road Train Member

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    The Texas Star DX 1600 V worked just fine in my Kenworth T600.
    I got off the road shortly after that so I didn't get to try it in any other trucks
     
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  8. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    While rf near field induction could be an issue, it would take a lot of coax leakage and put it near or on the wire harness.
     
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  9. craig_sez

    craig_sez Road Train Member

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    Coax length formula....300÷freq÷2 × vf of coax..÷ that answer by inches...
     
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  10. trees

    trees Road Train Member

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    You have a load, (antenna), radiating rf energy somewhere within a quarter wavelength and a half wavelength of the trucks wiring, and ecm. The near field energy at 1kw is substantial, and at this distance the ecm and related sensors and wiring is sitting right in the field. I used to be able to modulate the lawn sprinkler system at my house with the near field energy at 1kw.... When I say modulate, I mean just that. A lawn irrigation system that was off, with sprinklers that were installed in the earth, would pop up and deliver water.... I could vary the height and volume of water flow out of the sprinkler head by how loudly I spoke into the mike... I could set off building alarm systems and talk on public address systems... All through the phenomenon of induction, and near field energy....
     
    Last edited: May 24, 2017
  11. mike5511

    mike5511 Road Train Member

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    or make the 8ft fluorescent lights come on while setting under the gas pump awning.....
     
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