electrical upgrades. no nothing. help?

[robertoyoung08 10+ year member]

ive installed small systems in my car. just small amp with low power subs, so i never really needed any upgrades in electrical system.

now im installing a bigger system and i need some help figuring out what i should or need to upgrade. so id really appreciate some help

i am going to install a 1500 watt amp, running a RE audio MX sub off of it.

a 4 channel amp for 2 component sets, at about 240 watts. so i will be a little under 2000 watts total. will be using a cap (just 2 farads) so it wont be a big help, it will at least help with the 4 channel amp.

but based on that what would you guys say i would have to upgrade to keep everythning running good?

i know alot would have to do with my alternator, but i dont know how much exactly it put out, and even if i did, like i said, i dont know much about electrical, so i wouldnt know if it would need an immediate upgrade. its all in an 05 lexus gs300, so i guess it couldnt be too bad.

any help? would really appreciate! thanks!

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[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

If you upgraded your alternator and put a beefy battery up front you'd be ok. You might be able to get by without the alternator depending on what your stock is.

 

[MisterGrubbs 5,000+ posts]

I think he's only got a 100 amp alternator, unfortunately.

I think your alternator needs an upgrade, realistically. BUT.

Temporarily(I suggest a larger alternator) - - a nicer battery up front and a nice beefy battery in the rear should let you lean on it for a few minutes at a time before needing a little charge.

Edit - Good point, and definitely go ahead and join up to the big three.

 

[Chris Z 10+ year member]

Have you tried the big 3 yet?

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

Yeah 100A just won't cut it. Go for at least 200A

bigger if you can afford it, then you'll have some head room for when you want to go louder later, lol

 

[thegreatestpenn 5,000+ posts]

try 1/0ga. wire and do the big 3. if u still get dimming after those 2 upgrades look into another alt and extra battery

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

try 1/0ga. wire and do the big 3. if u still get dimming after those 2 upgrades look into another alt and extra battery

Doing the big 3 can actually make dimming worse when the electrical is not up to par. It just lessens the resistance and lets the amp pull even more power away from the headlights.

 

[robertoyoung08 10+ year member]

no big 3. and yeah, i considered big 3, but i figured as long as the alternator wasnt going to be able to keep up i would just be feeding more power to the amp so it would actually make things worse.

as far as the battery, i "upgraded" it prior to installing a system in, so it wasnt the best battery, it is supposed to be able to keep up with more electrical demand than others, but it wont probably wont cut it for this set up.

the most i was drawing was 1000 watts, but only for a few months. everything seemed perfect though.

a bigger alternator and a bigger battery under the hood sounds good. otherwise id have to run a lot. im running 0 gauge to the amp, but thats about it.

thanks for the help. i will try and find out what my alternator can handle. i was hoping i wouldnt have to do too much electrical upgrades, but i guess you cant avoid it as you get louder. =(

 

[dbeez 5,000+ posts]

Toss that cap too while you are at it..

 

[robertoyoung08 10+ year member]

i'll toss it out once i know i defintely have enough power for everything.

couldnt hurt. and either way, im using it as my distribution block.

anyways, its an exide orbital battery.

maybe its just time to replace it? its almost 2 years old.

 

[pentavolvo 10+ year member]

deff do the big3 and get a decent battery underhood and go from there

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

I would do the big 3 and add a decent sized battery in the back if your front is in good shape, something around a kinetik hc1800 or oddyssey pc1500.