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There is no telling he will be OK. I ran 1500 off my old 100amp and the car wanted to shut off at times. I had the Big 3 done and it helped but very slight, a trunk battery keep me from dimming but not for a full song full tilt.Quote:
Originally Posted by OmegaBunny
...This is the reason I suggested taking it one step at a time, there are A LOT of factors that play into your setup. If your not worried about having it full tilt all of the time your probably not going to have many problems. Put it all in, if you get dim, do Big 3...still some dim replace battery under the hood. I know there are guys on here that will argue that but putting an HO alt in is not only expensive, if something goes wrong... you have so many issues to resolve. I am just agianst HO alts unless you have to and then I suggest you REALLY do your homework
I'd like to show you:) It's a weak electrical system certainly, and I plan to upgrade the hood battery by early next year... But I've got an eD 9.1 rated @ 1200w @ 12.5v, and the 9.4 bridged for a total of 300w @ 12.5v. They are known to be underrated, so I estimate ~1600w with voltage in mid 13's. So when I am driving at night and I crank it up, I keep an eye on the lights, and sometimes the dimming will be noticeable, but that's about as far as it gets. It doesn't dim to like halfway, or affect my field of vision. I've taken a DMM to the amp at it dropped to 12.8v on the heavy notes. It'd prolly be different if I was listening to bass tracks or dub step. I'll have a mini voltage meter mounted in my car by next week so I can keep an eye on it. But I guess I'll put my DMM on it in the garage today, and try it with the lights AND the heater on.Quote:
Originally Posted by ColterDC
Quote:
Originally Posted by HazeGrey75
so what if the light dims a small bit but voltage going into the amp is at 13v.(i have my in car volt meter @ the amp power & ground)
I said the same thing too and I've dropped a few grand on car audio at this stage!! Hahaha Car audio is a money pit bro!Quote:
Originally Posted by Z3n
you aint never lie. i see all these people put grands in there systems. ill take my $650 145.5db anyday over spending grands to get a 150dbQuote:
Originally Posted by phrostbyte0311
---------- Post added at 03:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:55 PM ----------
or i could take what i have and do a wall and get a 150 with what i have now
No doubt that the type of music you're listening too and the volume it's played at will effect your systems ability to keep up, since most dimming issues are a result of the sub amp drawing large sums of power to push those large subs, not the power required to run a couple tweeters and mids.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheUnderFighter
Playing some heavy bass tracks at loud volumes may make your minor dimming become a major dimming problem.
Not to rain on anyones parade, but adding a second battery would not fix a charging issue unless a ho alternator is installed. If a stock alt cant even keep one battery charged while a system is hitting then how is it supposed to charge the car batt and the amp's batt? it would stress the alt way too much and eventually burn it out, causing you to invest in a ho alt anyway. If im wrong on this then please feel free to pm me and explain, im no where near an expert but this seems to be common knowledge.
Chances are.... You'll be fine with the amperage draw your worried about. I have a 136 amp alt, a SAZ-1500D V.2 @ 1/2 ohm, 500 + watts for the mids and highs and have no voltage problems.
This could be one of two situations though.
Music... Music is dynamic, you'r not pulling full current 100% of the time. It comes in peaks, up and down. When drawing heavy amps for bass notes in a song, the battery will cover your demand. When the bass note stops, the battery gets it's charge back.
Test tones and very heavy bass music will pull the voltage down, and if you don't give the alt and batt a chance to "catch up", then you may have voltage issues.
Do your install, see where it's at, and go from there.
^^^ Some truth here.Quote:
Originally Posted by 6thpinned
Battery capacity will help, but not when you have an 80a alternator trying to keep up with the load of the car AND an amp that can draw 80a peak. Hook it up and see what happens, it really depends on the type of music, volume level and power needs of the amp. A good battery under the hood and an alternator that puts out enough power may very well be in your future.
My alternator is 80 amps as well. When I first installed my 1000/1, I had 8gauge ran from my previous amp. The 1000/1 would go into low-voltage protection, which doesn't happen until it drops to 9 volts, which is ridiculously low.
I ran 0 gauge and grounded my battery to the chassis with 0 gauge, and problem "fixed". Well, the cutting out that is. The voltage drop is still there, it's just not as bad anymore. It's still ridiculous, but not as bad. I've gotten the low-voltage protection maybe three times since then, and that was with headlights on and heater on 2. I can make my headlights look like a strobe light with the right song. If idling at 800rpm, full load from the amp will drop it to 500rpms or less. Even funner when you're trying to pass someone and the car just won't go because of the amp. Forget the AC, heat, rear defrost, or anything else that ***** juice while you're playing music.
My guess is, you will be in the same boat as me. The only thing that will keep my (and your) voltage up is an HO alternator. Extra batteries are a no-no, and caps really aren't any better for your alternator that is already under a heavy load. Thicker wires help with the voltage drop, but that's it, it only helps. A HO alternator is the only true fix, and if you get one, you won't need any extra batteries or caps.
I'm not going to have time to work on the install and box build until this Saturday, so the whole thing should be in by Sunday, since I'll need to wait for the caulk in the sub box to cure. Then I'll go out at night and take some video of the head lights and stuff with the car idling and then maybe going down the road. Probably post it up here and see what you all think. Thanks for all the opinions so far!