220amp alt, whats my limit ?

[BassAddictJ 5,000+ posts]

ok....when everythings said and done (bought and installed i mean) i should be running :

220amp iraggi alt

2 red tops

dual 4 gauge wire

dual 4 gauge for the big 3

the car is a 2002 vw golf hatchback, so the power wire goes about 16 feet before it reaches the 2nd red top in the trunk area....

roughly how many watts rms can i run daily before i get voltage drop from overpowering the electrical system (in a perfect world assuming nothign else goes wrong and causes voltage drop)???

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[BassAddictJ 5,000+ posts]

also would it help to get anothert red top, and if i did would i be able to run more power since i have an upgraded alty?

 

[headless 10+ year member]

ok....when everythings said and done (bought and installed i mean) i should be running :
220amp iraggi alt

2 red tops

dual 4 gauge wire

dual 4 gauge for the big 3

the car is a 2002 vw golf hatchback, so the power wire goes about 16 feet before it reaches the 2nd red top in the trunk area....

roughly how many watts rms can i run daily before i get voltage drop from overpowering the electrical system (in a perfect world assuming nothign else goes wrong and causes voltage drop)???

watts = amps*volts. Your alernator probably puts out ~14volts, so figure you have 14*220watts on tap at any point, from your alternator. Figure 40a or so for the car's electrical system and you end with 14*180 or so or 2520watts before you have maxed out your alternator and are pulling off of your batteries without charging them. You may or may not see voltage drop at that point, but you will certainly start to see it if you try >2500w for extended periods of times. On the plus side, it'd be pretty difficult to pull 2500w CONSTANTLY so you will probably be dynamically pulling way less than that rms. Don't bother with another red top unless you find that you are draining your existing batteries to the point that it becomes problematic.

 

[xpl0it 10+ year member]

More batts is always a good idea with a nice alternator. My kinetik I threw inthe back helps a LOT, i mean A LOT. I can actually use my heater now in the morning with more voltage, lol.

 

[Megalomaniac 5,000+ posts]

Instead of a red top try a yellow top, it uses a deeper cycle batt,might be more beneficial for you.

 

[BassAddictJ 5,000+ posts]

i wish i got he yelow top since it's eep cycle...at the time i could afford it so i went wiht the red top, then i managed to get another red top for 40 bucks direct fro a battery plant my friends dad worked at (interstate batteries, FL).... i know if you mix batteries without a celinoid or battery isolator they need to be the same kind and perferably the same age(in terms of time useage). because they will pull energy off each other when the car is truned off...and thats bad...

i think ill be fine with the 2 red tops...worst comes to wrost ill get a yellowtop for the hood and keep 2 red tops in the back......but i dont expect to be pulling more than 2500ish watts for daily, none the less music....

 

[Megalomaniac 5,000+ posts]

ok, to answer ur thread question 220A should be entirely more than enough for ur 2500wattish demand for power.

 

[cjj2d 10+ year member]

why the Dual 4ga wiring??? why not just go with 1/0 gauge???

 

[Megalomaniac 5,000+ posts]

Maybe he got a discont or something. i just did my Big III on Sat i used 1/0awg cause u know,upgrade wire once

 

[BassAddictJ 5,000+ posts]

ya budge...i already had 4 gauge so instead of buying 0gauge and having alot of 4 gauge left over.....just ran dual 4gauge