h/o alt

[macsdad 10+ year member]

i need a h/o alt for my 08 dodge caliber. it has a 120amp oem alt, my next set-up will be running my rft1000bdcp at a 1ohm load and i already have light dimmage when i push it. will a h/o alt help? i really do not want a second battery in the back. yes, i have done the big 3 in 0/1 wire and a red top under the hood. what size would i need and how much should i expect to spend? the in-line fuse on the amp is rated at 150amps, there is also an oem boston acoustics amp in the vehicle i don't know what it draws. there was some dimmage before the system add-ons.

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[rebelfromva 10+ year member]

Check your grounds. Big three should have helped. Have you monitored voltage drop? Battery in back will be cheaper than a ho alt I can tell you that right now.

 

[4OZGLOVES 10+ year member]

One good battery in the back should solve your issues.

 

[macsdad 10+ year member]

i don't have alot of space left in the hatch, the subbox and amp use 95% of the room and it was difficult enough to run power/ground and signal wires, and i don't think i am smart enough to do it myself. what should an install like that run

 

[rebelfromva 10+ year member]

It's fairly simple. Mount the batt in the box. I've seen that a few times.

 

[macsdad 10+ year member]

rebel, i see you have the apsm1500, what type of current draw are you experiencing?

 

[rebelfromva 10+ year member]

Idk if my plug in voltmeter is reliable but I never dropped bellow 13.1 when alt wasn't charging and never below 14.1 with it charging.

 

[macsdad 10+ year member]

big 3 did help alot, but i am concerned about the transition to 1ohm load, what, if any, diff can i expect? i want to utilize the amp to it's fullest without blowing up the car, lol.

 

[rebelfromva 10+ year member]

You won't blow up the car. I ran both amps mentioned at 1ohm. Get a dmm and check your volts. How did you set the gain?

 

[macsdad 10+ year member]

by ear pretty much, out of 1-11, it's less than 5. no bass boost on amp or h/u just using subwoofer level control on h/u. gets fairly warm so i'm guessing it probably drawing alot of current. which is why i started the thread. would upgrading power/ground wires help? currently using rf 4g kit.

 

[4OZGLOVES 10+ year member]

It's always good to go with 1/0 wiring over 1000 rms. read the gain setting tutorial and use a dmm to correctly set it.

 

[rebelfromva 10+ year member]

sub level should be all the way up. Everything else flat. I would recommend using 0 power and ground wires though. You said you had done the big 3 correct? Use 0 for that. I would recommend Audiotechnix. Coleman can hook you up. Use a dmm to properly set your gain.

 

[macsdad 10+ year member]

sub level is 1-15, usually on 13 or 15, yes, big three is 0/1g, will upgrading the other wires make that much of a difference?

 

[rebelfromva 10+ year member]

Yea

 

[macsdad 10+ year member]

so i guess i will be needing about 19ft of power and 4ft of ground in 0/1 or 2guage? and an adaptor for the amp (inputs for p/g are 4g) do ineed ofc copper or will cca wire work, and which size is better 0/1 or 2g?