Going 2000w+, what to upgrade?

[EarDrummin. 10+ year member]

When making the step to 2000w+, specifically.. what are some good ideas for electrical system upgrades? So far, I'm aware of: 1. The big three, and 2. High amp alt. Any others?

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[78nova 10+ year member]

whats the big three, i would get a H.O. alt (like 300 amps) and get a distribution block and run a separate optima yellow top or a batcap in the rear and regular batter in the front

 

[BooLeaN 10+ year member]

I would say those are the biggest 2 that you already have listed. Make sure you have some thick power wire, 1 gauge minimum would be my suggestion. Also make sure you have a good ground, and if u have to have multiple wires grounding, either get a distrobution block for them or just put them all to one place (ie common ground).

 

[kingpin_jeffie 10+ year member]

A shitload of dampening

Not electrical related but youll need it.

 

[kickerlivinloud 10+ year member]

what size alt should one get when goign 2k+. I am probably going to go to 2.5k and cerious if a 100 amp stock alt will be able to hold out untill I can get a HO. And what ampage should i think about getting??? Also how important is a yellow/red top battery. I am going over my planned budget in getting (hopefully) a Orion 2500D so it will be a while b/4 i get a electrical improvment.

Your imput is appreceated...

Jon

 

[BooLeaN 10+ year member]

I would think a 200 amp alt would do you really nicely for about 2.5 kw. I doubt you would need any more than that for daily. As for the 100 amp alt holding out, I was running 1.5 kw off a 55 amp alt and the alt didn't die however my amp did //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif. I think it just depends on if you have undervoltage protection on the amp or not. My American Bass CX1200D didn't, and I was told it fried because of lack of voltage. I dunno if it was a crock of BS but it doesn't work anyway I look at it.

I'm sure with a decent battery up front, the big 3 wires done, and that 100 amp alt you'd be alright for a while atleast.

 

[TheVanMan 10+ year member]

I plan to up with my van with a 200amp alternator to power the two brutus I am going to have. I don't plan on using both of them all the time, so I don't believe I will a bigger one.

 

[Mark_ab 5,000+ posts]

Those are the main things you'll need to do. Just make sure the alt is high enough amperage to cover your ass, since I'm sure you don't want to buy another HO alt after the first one dies.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

I'm sure you don't want to buy another HO alt after the first one dies.

...or a new sub amp if you manage to cook that one when it clips excessively from going way below normal voltage. It does happen, I've seen it. Take it really easy until you get the new alt. The bigger the better. You really can't have too big an alt.

 

[Alpine CDA-9815 10+ year member]

Yeah... well get a 200 amp alt, that should do fine, they should run 3000WRMS pretty easy. You'll also want to get an isolator and dual Yellow Top batteries. Upgrade the magic three with 4-0 gauge wire... also getting a few caps or batcap might be useful too, but not really needed.

 

[drkodin 10+ year member]

some of you guys are way off in your reccomendations. First off, if this is only going to be a daily driver i can't see you needing any more than 150a alt and a pair of batts (i have a similar setup). If you are playing music there is no need to have an alt big enough for the max draw of the amps, the person who reccomended 300a was WAY off.

Honestly, i say 1/0awg to a distro block in the trunk, 4awg to the amps from there (remember distance matters more than thickness), and just run a couple batts, one in the trunk one under the hood. I think you will find that it will be good for what you want to run, and IF by some chance you end up killing the alt replace it at that time, you still wouldn't have lost any money.

also remember an H.O. alt generally wont do you too much good unless you are running at 3,000rmp or greater all the time, the output at low rpms is prettly low.

 

[EarDrummin. 10+ year member]

also remember an H.O. alt generally wont do you too much good unless you are running at 3,000rmp or greater all the time, the output at low rpms is prettly low.

Interesting.. considering my car redlines at 4500 rpm.

 

[BooLeaN 10+ year member]

also remember an H.O. alt generally wont do you too much good unless you are running at 3,000rmp or greater all the time, the output at low rpms is prettly low.

I'm not trying to start a fight but I just ordered an alternator that is 200 amps (Hot Rating). It should arrive on Tuesday but the guy who built it, did a test before he sent it out. At idle, the alt produced 172 amps. Not too sure if that is common or not, but I know that the pulley on the alt i'm getting is pretty small. Still has a 2 year warantee though //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[Qckrun 10+ year member]

Well I personally would get a bigger alt anything above 180amps would do justice. Reason why i would upgrade the alt, is your probably going to end up competiting some time after u upgrade ur amp, and your gonna want that extra source of juice.

Upgrade the alt.

Do the Big 3 (do 1/0awg for this)

Get a bigger/better battery. Optima, Lifeline, Stinger, etc.

That should be fine, you might want to add 2 batteries but you'll be fine with that i think. I'm running around 1500+ watts right now, and i havent had any problems. Soon will be running close to 3kw, not daily but for comps, daily around 2.5kw.

 

[delvryboy 5,000+ posts]

some of you guys are way off in your reccomendations. First off, if this is only going to be a daily driver i can't see you needing any more than 150a alt and a pair of batts (i have a similar setup). If you are playing music there is no need to have an alt big enough for the max draw of the amps, the person who reccomended 300a was WAY off.
Honestly, i say 1/0awg to a distro block in the trunk, 4awg to the amps from there (remember distance matters more than thickness), and just run a couple batts, one in the trunk one under the hood. I think you will find that it will be good for what you want to run, and IF by some chance you end up killing the alt replace it at that time, you still wouldn't have lost any money.

also remember an H.O. alt generally wont do you too much good unless you are running at 3,000rmp or greater all the time, the output at low rpms is prettly low.

saved me some typing //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

i also think he stated his stock alty was 100A

more than likely this will be fine, as long as the wiring is up to par and he runs a second battery