Battery Help

[Brek 10+ year member]

Okay, now I have a system that draws over 1000 watts and I hear I need a new battery. I burned out my stock alternator and had to spend my money on a new alt instead of a battery...

now I have a 200 amp alternator and a 3 year old 540 cranking amps Everlast battery.

The specs of my amp are:

(ONE) crossfire cfa1000d

RATED power at 12.5v

250w at 4 ohms

500w at 2 ohms

1000w at 1 ohm

RATED power at 14.4v (car running)

288w at 4 ohms

575w at 2 ohms

1150w at 1 ohm

As for the subs:

(TWO) Audiobahn aw1200x

12" rated 700 watt rms 1400 watts max.

I have these subs wired together for a 1 ohm load.

I have the amp (2 channel) bridged to these subs. So I'm not entirely sure if my amp is giving the subs 1000 watts, 2000 watts, or 4000 watts. the reason I put 4000 watts in there was because I hear if you bridge an amp it gives your watts by one channel X4. but if that were the case I would have blown my subs already so probably not 4000 watts. right?

... and I have a cap (3.5 farad), just to help take the strain off the battery.

FYI (I used to have 3 Audiobahns (before I sold one) on that 95 amp stock alt for a long time and up until I upgraded the power wires recently the alt eventually wore out. I was using the same 3 year old battery I'm using currently.)

Now when I visit the Kinetik website and use the calculator it tells me I need 2 dry cell batteries one about 1400 watts and the other 1800.

The thing is That 3 year old 540 ca battery DOESN'T DO BAD AT ALL, I only get minor light dimming on max volume. So why do I need such high amp batteries if a little 540 amp wet cell battery can do it? Now I know its making my alt work harder then it should so I was planning on getting a higher amp battery but not as much as the site suggested. What should I do?

So my two questions are:

1. what are the actual rms watts of my system?

and

2. what kind of battery should I purchase for this?

(my old alt was 95 amps so i figure 95*13.6 = 1292 watts are for all my stock electronics required.)

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[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Do the big 3. If You got a larger alt and factory power and ground wire it's not going to make a lot of change from you old alt

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

yeah pickup like 10ft of some 1/0 knu kollosuss flex for like $30 and you'll be golden

 

[Brek 10+ year member]

Yeah Big 3 already done.

8 gauge speaker wires

4 gauge power/ ground wires

4 gauge and 8 gauge because that's the biggest the amp and subs fit.

and big 3 upgrade in 4 awg power and ground done as well.

 

[daboyfrumdabx 10+ year member]

Get rid of the cap. Just get a new battery. Yes, some batteries will be better than others, especially if you ever upgrade. However, for the 1kwrms you're pushing now, the new alt + big 3 + any new battery should be just fine.

 

[Brek 10+ year member]

So why get rid of the cap? I hear a lot of negative about a cap but when I put mine in a while ago I noticed it stopped light dimming and takes abuse instead of the battery. isn't a cap kinda like a second battery?

 

[daboyfrumdabx 10+ year member]

So why get rid of the cap? I hear a lot of negative about a cap but when I put mine in a while ago I noticed it stopped light dimming and takes abuse instead of the battery. isn't a cap kinda like a second battery?

Don't get me wrong, I've witnessed caps stop light dimming with my own eyes. Deal is, that on 1kwrms, your lights shouldn't be dimming in the first place. Therefore, your charging system has some issue that needs to be corrected. The cap just stopped the light dimming and hid the problem. This is why you'll often hear caps referred to as band-aids. Whatever the issue is, in this case likely the battery, it needs to be corrected. Once corrected, there will be no more dimming, at which point the cap just becomes another resistance point in the system, putting strain on the alt. The alt works hard to constantly recharge a cap after the cap discharges. Batteries store the more power for longer, hence why they are much better choices. For the price of a cap, you can typically buy a battery. You can probably sell that cap on craigslist for enough to replace yours now.

 

[Brek 10+ year member]

alright thanks and as far as the battery I've been looking at a kinetik hc1800. will that have any problems?

 

[daboyfrumdabx 10+ year member]

alright thanks and as far as the battery I've been looking at a kinetik hc1800. will that have any problems?

Should be fine.

 

[DeathByWaffle 10+ year member]

Ive seen people spending loads of money on caps haha. Like 10, 20, and 30. There shizz still dims cause they don't know what else they can do before they spend there money on things they don't need

 

[tc300 10+ year member]

With the lights having dimming now as you say, it's telling you to get a more powerful battery!!

That cap isn't doin it... It's like having a bad battery wired up in your system!! Haha

if you have done the big and have a HO alt, with the power your running there shouldn't be ANY dimming

 

[DeathByWaffle 10+ year member]

Rofl. His dimming problem no one can fix unless your there helping him.

 

[SPL Blazer 10+ year member]

Caps put more strain on your amp than you realize, they are pointless. The Kinetik HC1800 should be find, it'll be a lot better than the crap battery and cap you have now.

 

[Brek 10+ year member]

yeah I can tell you I knew I needed a better battery, I Basically killed the battery charging and using it while I hade a broke alt so the battery is pretty shot, but the new alt charges the battery past the full charge point so i don't think my charging system is a problem.

 

[DeathByWaffle 10+ year member]

You know. There is a chance that items do malfunction.