Electrical Upgrade Question

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

I was wondering if an electrical upgrade was even needed, and if so what would be recommended. I want to keep price low for the time being(can spend more money later), but I want to know what the best route would be... if anything different.

I'm going to be running an MB Quart DSC4125 and a MB Quart DSC1500.1D on 1/0 gauge wire.

Suggestions? I don't know very many battery brands other than Optima and Kinetix(from reading the forum), so I don't know what to shop for. It's a 110a alternator stock if that makes a difference and the battery is a stock, 580 cold cranking amps.

Is there some sort of formula that would enable me to determine how many amps I should look at for the next battery?

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[blackdrag450r 10+ year member]

go to kinetics website, there is a calculator on there that may help you....

also i would def do the big 3 for starters...

 

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

go to kinetics website, there is a calculator on there that may help you....also i would def do the big 3 for starters...

Yeah, I'm worried about how hard that will end up being.

I went to Kinetic's website, and the calc says to replace one under the hood, and another two in the trunk... that seems a little extreme.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

Yeah, I'm worried about how hard that will end up being.
I went to Kinetic's website, and the calc says to replace one under the hood, and another two in the trunk... that seems a little extreme.

Depends on what you put into it, for 2000 watts rms you can add a hc2000 to the back or you can switch out your front battery as well then it suggests a 1400 under the hood.

110 amp alt at 14.4 can handle 1584 watts max take into consideration the car needs 50 amps to run+ accesories that leaves you with about 864 watts of support from the alt on a 2000 watt system with the alt at max output.

 

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

I thought batteries to the back was only for when the car wasn't running and will only put more strain on the alt if the car IS running?

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

More strain when ran down, when your system is pulling more than your alt can put out eventually you will run into where the battery draws more because it is drained more no matter its location, also the type of battery it is will determine how easy or hard that it is to charge. Also realize that no battery can recharge as fast as it discharges. Now a battery can bulk charge pretty fast when the car is running and the system is off or turned down but it wont get 100% and if it gets left too low too often and by the time you mix actual heat into the mix a battery can and will eventually sulfate and if it sulfates it makes a battery seem more dead than it is or will eventually crack the plates in a battery. It can be a very slow process (years) or semi quick (months) depending on how a battery is cared for.

 

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

So if I get a 1400HC in the front, that will work for now? I'm trying to move slowly on the upgrades(and I know its not easy to cheap on electrical system) since I just spent a crap ton on the stereo.

Other than the Big 3, best thing would be put a Kinetik in te front?

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

If price were the factor I would do the battery in back where it would actually suppliment the audio system. Off of kinetiks suggestion a hc 2000 would be used.

 

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

Okay, explain to me once more how the back one helps me wired to the stock one in the engine as opposed to just upgrading the stock one by itself? Sorry, not trying to be difficult.. just want to make sure I understand.

 

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

Also, I've read both answers to this but wanted your opinion since you seem to know what you're talking about.... when doing the big 3... 4 gauge or 1/0 gauge?

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

Think of batteries as air tanks on a compressor, if and when there is more work to be done than the compressor motor puts out the reserve kicks in. In this case it is the battery. Kinetik is able to be deep cycled more so than a standard automotive battery so in regards the the system power is going to be drawn from the back battery before the front. As far as the big 3 goes I try to match it up with the rest of my wiring in size. In some cases I wouldn't use 0 ga on a stock alt due to some stock alts having small studs and or too tight of an area to fit the girth of the 0 ga terminal/wire without the wire touching something that is hot or the ring connector insulator.

 

[jgruberman 10+ year member]

And this second battery will be charged by the alternator as well? Wouldn't that put more strain on the alternator trying to charge two batteries?

Edit: Just found this on Crutchfield http://www.crutchfield.com/S-Ci7zBD1s87k/tech/kb17.html

Seems that they think it only helps for stereos in cars not running as well.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

How much strain is it to charge a more drained single battery? If you have to jump start a car how much strain will it be on your alt? How much more of a voltage drop is it when everything is at the front of the car?

 

[The HACKER 10+ year member]

And this second battery will be charged by the alternator as well? Wouldn't that put more strain on the alternator trying to charge two batteries?
Edit: Just found this on Crutchfield Crutchfield Tech Support: How would adding a second battery to my vehicle help my system?

Seems that they think it only helps for stereos in cars not running as well.

Your making this way harder then it needs to be...okay money is an issue and you can add more later. So I would say

1. Do the Big three in 0 guage, I say 0 because if you wanna add to your system later all your wire will have the same current flow.

2. Replace the starter battery with the biggest you can put in there.

3. Add a rear battery, same size or bigger.

It works and will work fine as long as you connect everything properly. Number 4. would be to replace your alternator. But of course you can do it in any order you want because 2, 3, and 4 might get done in different orders just because everyone see's the power stuff a little different this is the way I would do it.

 

[nateberrier 10+ year member]

The big three is the biggest help for the price bro. Knu Konceptz 1/0. 65 bucks did a run to the back, the big three, and i have some left over. There is a dude on here with some good Deka batteries for about 100 bucks. Get one at least. Then look at alts when you have a couple batteries. I still wouldnt try to run over 1k until its all done. Also AGM> Lead Acid, when looking at batts