[jgarden]

I ordered a DB alternator FORD F TRUCK 7.3L 135 AMP ALTERNATOR 98 99 00 01 7796: 7796-135 AMP REGULAR OUTPUT DB Electrical Starter-Alternator This alternator is advertised as 135 amps. However the alternator I received has a tag of 105A. I called DB, and told them the alternator they sent has a 105A tag on it. The guy apologized profusely, and said that shouldnt have happened, and he would promptly send out the correct one.

So today I received the replacement....and it has the same 105A tag on it. For those of you that bought the 135A alternators from DB, do you have a 105 A tag on it?

Could they have made a mistake two times in a row? I will have to call them on Monday to see what's up.

 

[jgarden]

UPDATE: I spoke with DB again today. Anyhow, the guy on the phone was surprised by the 105A vs 135A question. He went and looked at the alternators he had in stock and sure enough they are 105 and NOT 135 as advertised.

Their customer service was good, and they offered to refund my money. Even at 105A, I figured $120 was pretty reasonable, so I will keep it. It would have been nice to have a 135A model, as ordered, but o'well.

So if you order this FORD F TRUCK 7.3L 135 AMP ALTERNATOR 98 99 00 01 7796: 7796-135 AMP REGULAR OUTPUT DB Electrical Starter-Alternator you will be getting a 105A not 135 as advertised. He was going to see if they can update their www site.

 

[444-4D]

Where is that alternator made? Does it have a mfg name on it?

 

[SmokeyWren]

'99 and '99.5 SuperDuty pickups with gas engines came with 105 amp altenator. Diesels came with 130 amp.

2009 SuperDuty pickups with diesel engine come with 135-amp altenator. 200-amp single altenator is optional. Dual altenators with 160 amps each are also optional.

In a nutshell, that altenator intended for use with a gasoline engine is probably not quite enough for your glow-plug equipped diesel pickup. I'd send it back and demand at least 130 amp replacement. Probably this one:
FORD F TRUCK 7.3L 98 99 00 01 DB HIGH OUTPUT ALTERNATOR 200 AMP

Yeah, I know. That one cost twice as much. But it will do the job.

 

[Excavator]

for 199. you can get their high output 200 amp
Ford F 7.3L DIESEL TRUCK HO Alternator 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 7768: 7768-200 AMP-DIESEL DB Electrical Starter-Alternator

 

[catch&release]

I sure hope they know something about electrical, because they don't even know how to spell the state they're in......."In business for 26 years in Eastern Tenessee".:lol:

 

[jgarden]

'99 and '99.5 SuperDuty pickups with gas engines came with 105 amp altenator. Diesels came with 130 amp.

2009 SuperDuty pickups with diesel engine come with 135-amp altenator. 200-amp single altenator is optional. Dual altenators with 160 amps each are also optional.

In a nutshell, that altenator intended for use with a gasoline engine is probably not quite enough for your glow-plug equipped diesel pickup. I'd send it back and demand at least 130 amp replacement. Probably this one:
FORD F TRUCK 7.3L 98 99 00 01 DB HIGH OUTPUT ALTERNATOR 200 AMP

Yeah, I know. That one cost twice as much. But it will do the job.

Smokey, I thought the diesels came with 130 amp alts also...That is what I told the guy from DB and he told me they all came with 105. I replied that I believed only the gassers came with 105 and the diesels came with 130...he insisted I was wrong. I guess he was wrong!

If that is the case, I will send it back to them. Now I need to find a different alternator!

Everyone on this list raves about how great DB Alternator is. Their customer service is great, but now I am not sure how much they know about alternators?

 

[jgarden]

Where is that alternator made? Does it have a mfg name on it?

World Power Systems is the mfg of the alternator I got from DB. If you go to this thread http://www.thedieselstop.com/forums/f24/got-my-db-alternator-got-question-221126/ you can see a picture of the label that is on the alternator itself.

So besides DB, any other places I should look at in getting a true replacement for my diesel. The DB high amp alternator is a good price at $199, I am just not so sure on how accurate their advertising is anymore???

 

[SmokeyWren]

Smokey, I thought the diesels came with 130 amp alts also...That is what I told the guy from DB and he told me they all came with 105. I replied that I believed only the gassers came with 105 and the diesels came with 130...he insisted I was wrong. I guess he was wrong!

Depends on the model year. For '99, '99.5 and Y2K model years, diesels came with 130 amp altenators. But for 2001 they came with 105 amp altenators. I didn't look up the other years, but by 2008 they were back up to 130 amp with the diesel engine.

 

[jgarden]

Depends on the model year. For '99, '99.5 and Y2K model years, diesels came with 130 amp altenators. But for 2001 they came with 105 amp altenators. I didn't look up the other years, but by 2008 they were back up to 130 amp with the diesel engine.

hmmmm, wonder why they dropped it down to 105? The fact they went back to 130, seems to indicate it was a bad idea to have dropped to 105????

It seems that many parts books simply lump the years together and call it a 105 amp.

 

[FTG-05]

It seems that every time someone posts something here or any other diesel board about DB Electrical it goes from bad to worse.

For example, on another board, there was a group buy for the so-called high power alternator from DB, it was supposed to 220 amps IRC. The guy who did the group buy tested them and couldn't get more than 150 or so. All 14 were returned. DB said it was a "mistake". We're supposed to believe that they tested a 220 amp alternator, got only 150 amps and missed it 14 times in a row. Right.

Here, someone orders a 130 amp alternator, it's actually a 105 and when it gets replaced, they replace it with another 105 amp alternator. How stupid is that?

I haven't decided whether these guys are either really, really stupid or they're just con artists. In any event, I'll never buy from them.

 

[jgarden]

It seems that every time someone posts something here or any other diesel board about DB Electrical it goes from bad to worse.

For example, on another board, there was a group buy for the so-called high power alternator from DB, it was supposed to 220 amps IRC. The guy who did the group buy tested them and couldn't get more than 150 or so. All 14 were returned. DB said it was a "mistake". We're supposed to believe that they tested a 220 amp alternator, got only 150 amps and missed it 14 times in a row. Right.

Here, someone orders a 130 amp alternator, it's actually a 105 and when it gets replaced, they replace it with another 105 amp alternator. How stupid is that?

I haven't decided whether these guys are either really, really stupid or they're just con artists. In any event, I'll never buy from them.

Albin, Funny what you wrote. Prior to buying an alternator I did a search for DB on this board. Can't search that short, so I landed up going through hundreds of "alternator" posts. I couldnt find much negative, but there was some. So I started a new post - asking about anyone having had problems with DB - and it seemed that everyone believed that DB was the cat's meow. With that and then the fact they sold a 135 amp alternator for $100 + shipping, I figured I couldnt go wrong. I guess it was too good to be true.

If anyone has a recomendation for another alternator mfg that is reasnably priced - I am listening.

 

[JimTJr]

I had a "200" Amp DB alternator for aabout 20 months. (I had a 5 alternator in 6 month deal where I was scared to death of my alt lasting. (Turned out the tensioner and or the idler pulleys must have been bad.) I replaced them and it lasted this long now. I JUST bought the DB HI torque starter. (I LOVE IT so far) However a week after I got the starter and installed it. HOWEVER, my 200 amp starter went out, (Chattering) on me at that time. I pulled the belt, and didn't even check the alternator, I had a bit of fluid around the PS pump shaft, and it felt funny. So I replaced the PS pump. Put everything back togeather, and still had the chatter,,,,:icon_rolleyes::icon_mad: So then I spun the alternator pulley and it was grinding. (I tried the screwdriver handle to my ear on each part while it was running, couldn't pinpoint it) Anyway, I thought,, sheesh, not this again. Called DB, and they would not help me.. said it was out of the 12 months warranty period. (Fine, yes it is....) So I put the Autozone one with the life time warranty back in the truck. (Carried it as a "Spare" and really forgot it was in the tool box, planned on returning it) I told them, if I was going to have to replace it every two years, it may as well be free.
I CERTAINLY hope the starter lasts longer, I DO love the way it spins the motor over.

 

[jgarden]

On another note -

Anyone have any info on this place? National Quick Start Sales, High output alternators, Alternator & Starter Parts - 1999-2008 Ford 7.3L, 6.0L & 6.5L Power Stroke Diesel

They talk about the large case 6g alternator. My understanding is that these trucks use a 6g. So how would a large case fit (assuming we have the small case - as they seem to imply)? If the case were larger I am not sure how it would fit in the cradle - larger to me would imply the bolt holes being farther apart????

 

[444-4D]

If the case were larger I am not sure how it would fit in the cradle - larger to me would imply the bolt holes being farther apart????

Look at the pictures on their website.

 

[jetskier]

How do you load test to verify the full 220a that DB advertises? I got one a few weeks back and now you got me doubting. One interesting note, the alternator came with a overdrive pulley 2.3" rather than 2.5" diameter for better idle performance ~8-10% more rotational speed.

When I ordered, I added the hi-amp kit. It didn't come with the alternator although I was charged. I called and they shipped the wiring. It came with a 300A fuse and only 6" of heat shrink rather than the 250A and 12" of heat shrink. I think they have some issues. I hope my alt doesn't fail. I kept my old one just in case. (doesn't charge at idle, but works at higher RPM)

 

[FTG-05]

On another note -

Anyone have any info on this place? National Quick Start Sales, High output alternators, Alternator & Starter Parts - 1999-2008 Ford 7.3L, 6.0L & 6.5L Power Stroke Diesel

They talk about the large case 6g alternator. My understanding is that these trucks use a 6g. So how would a large case fit (assuming we have the small case - as they seem to imply)? If the case were larger I am not sure how it would fit in the cradle - larger to me would imply the bolt holes being farther apart????

These are the people I've been looking at for quite some time. The good: they appear to understand alternators, how to make a high powered alternator and, more important, what will make them reliable.

The bad: I can't get past the "6.5" Ford engine typo on their website. I mean, this is as dumb as DB sending out a 105 amp alternator for a 150 - twice - or sending out 14 150 amp alternators as 220's. Jeez, how hard is it to pay attention to what you're website says?

Al

 

[FTG-05]

How do you load test to verify the full 220a that DB advertises? I got one a few weeks back and now you got me doubting. One interesting note, the alternator came with a overdrive pulley 2.3" rather than 2.5" diameter for better idle performance ~8-10% more rotational speed.

When I ordered, I added the hi-amp kit. It didn't come with the alternator although I was charged. I called and they shipped the wiring. It came with a 300A fuse and only 6" of heat shrink rather than the 250A and 12" of heat shrink. I think they have some issues. I hope my alt doesn't fail. I kept my old one just in case. (doesn't charge at idle, but works at higher RPM)

I was one of the first people to retrofit high power Chevy/GM alternators in Toyota 22RE engine rock crawlers. I used a Powermaster 47294 140 amp alternator in the swap.

The pic below is not mine, but it's very similiar to the one I received with my Powermaster alternator, except I believe mine had slightly higher numbers*. Obviously, the person who this pic belongs to also got the same test sheet. Everyone who has done this swap reports the same test sheet with very similar test results.

Now, sure, it could all be one big scam that Powermaster is pulling. But you have to admit, it's been a very reliable and consistent scam since it's been going on since at least Oct. 2004 when I got my PWM-47294 although the way up to late 2008, the last alternator swap thread over on Pirate.

At the very least, it means someone actually put the alternator on a machine just like Auto Zone would, and ran it and recorded the test results. If they're paying the least bit of attention, there's no way that one 220 amp alternator would've been shipped much less 14, all in one batch.

When I order my high powered alternator for my PSD, you can bet that I'll ask and expect to receive one of these same type test sheets with the alternator.

FWIW.

Al

ETA: I checked my numbers, they were higher at idle, but less at speed:

Set voltage: 14.8 vdc
Output at idle : 101 amps (stock pulley, 2400 dyno RPM*)
Output at highway speed: 151 amps (stock pulley, 6000 dyno RPM*)

 

[Alaskapsdvan]

Any updates on this altenator?
Been thinking of changing out the stock type altenator with one with more output for the lights that I like to run on back roads in the winter and then there is the heater that is running.... lots of amps going there and often the rpms is down around 1200 because the roads are snow pack or ice ...

 

[jgarden]

What kind of update are you looking for? The 135 advertised I got was 105 amp. If you want a higher amp than 105 (which you do, since stock was 130), then I suggest you confirm it with them before ordering.