Electrical upgrade

Prestondrew40

Car audio enthusiast
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I’m currently running 2 sa-12v1’s on a taramps md3000 and a 1/0 big 3. When I turn them up, the voltage drops to 11.5. The voltage normally sits at about 14.3 at startup and 13.8 later on. What’s some cheaper options to get that voltage up?
 
I’m currently running 2 sa-12v1’s on a taramps md3000 and a 1/0 big 3. When I turn them up, the voltage drops to 11.5. The voltage normally sits at about 14.3 at startup and 13.8 later on. What’s some cheaper options to get that voltage up?

cheaper:
-Big 3 using 2/0 welding and power wire
-Additional agm battery(ies) (sams club duracell are good value)

What’s your vehicle?
 
Whats your budget?

Looks like the stock alternator is 80-130 amps. Get one of the 320 Amp HO's here: https://www.qualitypowerauto.com/catalog.php?item=467

At 3000 Watts and at 13.8VDC you're pulling about 217 amps peak. Generally with music playing your Amp won't draw this much power but it's a good starting point to understand how much electrical support the amp needs to properly function. Your car already uses 80-90% (~100 amps) of the stock alternator's output to run the car/lights/blinkers etc. If you get the 320 you'll have around 220 amps extra to feed the beast. If you want to can also get a battery to act as a load balancer but if you just give the system the power it needs from the start you'll be much better off.
 
There is no cheap options. HO alt is your best bet. Getting/using multiple batteries on a stock alt is just asking your alt to work harder.
 
Whats your budget?

Looks like the stock alternator is 80-130 amps. Get one of the 320 Amp HO's here: https://www.qualitypowerauto.com/catalog.php?item=467

At 3000 Watts and at 13.8VDC you're pulling about 217 amps peak. Generally with music playing your Amp won't draw this much power but it's a good starting point to understand how much electrical support the amp needs to properly function. Your car already uses 80-90% (~100 amps) of the stock alternator's output to run the car/lights/blinkers etc. If you get the 320 you'll have around 220 amps extra to feed the beast. If you want to can also get a battery to act as a load balancer but if you just give the system the power it needs from the start you'll be much better off.
I know the alternator is the best bet, but I’m still in high school so I don’t have $500 laying around for one.
 
I know the alternator is the best bet, but I’m still in high school so I don’t have $500 laying around for one.

Understandable, I've been there. You'll have to live with it until you can afford the HO amp because like boomin' said, there is no cheap option to fix it. Also just as a warning you may end up burning up your current alternators rectifier if you push the system regularly as alternators can get unhappy if they're over driven regularly. See if you can save up for one, or see if your friends/family would go in on one for your birthday? Basically we're just telling you what you need to move the system forward and protect your car's electrical. IMHO I'd turn the gain down for now until you can address the alt.
 
Understandable, I've been there. You'll have to live with it until you can afford the HO amp because like boomin' said, there is no cheap option to fix it. Also just as a warning you may end up burning up your current alternators rectifier if you push the system regularly as alternators can get unhappy if they're over driven regularly. See if you can save up for one, or see if your friends/family would go in on one for your birthday? Basically we're just telling you what you need to move the system forward and protect your car's electrical. IMHO I'd turn the gain down for now until you can address the alt.
Yeah I understand what you mean. Gains at half right now and bass boost is barely on. Plus I have a bass knob so i only noticed it was going to low when I’m showing off lol. Found a super low song on YouTube to demo it for my buddy and pushed it to hard and hit 9v apparently Bc my amp went into protection mode
 
I know the alternator is the best bet, but I’m still in high school so I don’t have $500 laying around for one.
If you have FB, get on some of the car audio groups. I see people sell their alts all the time and they're HO ones to ranging from 250-300, used of course. So I would save some more $$ and do that.
 
Yeah I understand what you mean. Gains at half right now and bass boost is barely on. Plus I have a bass knob so i only noticed it was going to low when I’m showing off lol. Found a super low song on YouTube to demo it for my buddy and pushed it to hard and hit 9v apparently Bc my amp went into protection mode

1/2 way up? It sounds too much but what's your HU brand/model number?
 
Yeah. The amp gain is set to half. HU is a Sony
wx-920BT

HU isn't going to have that much effect here. What are you running the SA's at resistance wise? 1, 2 or 4 ohm?

If running @ 1 Ohm the Williston Dyno shows that amp pulling 338 Amps to make 2920 watts which is 61% efficiency, later he provides an efficiency rating @ 1 ohm of 72%. (Maybe after the amp had warmed up) (14.05v x 285.6A) / 2916. Either way you look at it even at half gain, unless you're measuring with a multimeter and have a general idea of what the amp is outputting that amp at half gain, it is still drawing enough power to shutoff your Tacoma. If you went into protect at 9 Volts you basically ****** your car's battery dry before the amp went into protect mode. I'd put a multimeter on the speaker output and try to get down to 1000W output until you get some electrical upgrades, otherwise you'll be forced into replacing the alternator soon anyways once the internal rectifier fails on it.
 
HU isn't going to have that much effect here. What are you running the SA's at resistance wise? 1, 2 or 4 ohm?

If running @ 1 Ohm the Williston Dyno shows that amp pulling 338 Amps to make 2920 watts which is 61% efficiency, later he provides an efficiency rating @ 1 ohm of 72%. (Maybe after the amp had warmed up) (14.05v x 285.6A) / 2916. Either way you look at it even at half gain, unless you're measuring with a multimeter and have a general idea of what the amp is outputting that amp at half gain, it is still drawing enough power to shutoff your Tacoma. If you went into protect at 9 Volts you basically ****** your car's battery dry before the amp went into protect mode. I'd put a multimeter on the speaker output and try to get down to 1000W output until you get some electrical upgrades, otherwise you'll be forced into replacing the alternator soon anyways once the internal rectifier fails on it.
1ohm final load. Trucks doesn’t shut off. Just amp
 
1ohm final load. Trucks doesn’t shut off. Just amp

Yup because of the internal protection, thankfully your amp has it. God knows how much signal distortion you had before the Amp shut off. Just a friendly FYI, if your amps protection circuit trips at 9 Volts then you've ****** your truck's electrical system and battery below a 0% charge. While I don't recommend it, if you ever do it again, make sure you don't shut off the truck soon after doing something like that because it probably wont be able to start back up.

State of charge with vehicle turned off:

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