is my batt voltage low? how do i get more out of it?

[talon2nr7588 10+ year member]

how can i raise the voltage on my battery? my kinetick 1800 only reads 12.79. how do some batteries stay at like 13-15 volts?

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[talon2nr7588 10+ year member]

need to raise voltage

 

[haunther]

big 3

yellow top

H/o alt

/thread

 

[talon2nr7588 10+ year member]

big 3 yellow top

H/o alt

/thread

i already have two batts if i add another will it help keep more voltage like letting the car charge up to 15 volts or 15.5?

 

[regal8r 5,000+ posts]

big 3 yellow top

H/o alt

/thread

yeah, um...pretty sure a yellowtop isnt gonna help that much if hes already got an HC1800.

id say if you havent already done so, do the big 3 and if your not above 13.5, then do HO alt. also, are you testing voltage with car off or running? if youre checking with the car off, thats where it should be.

 

[talon2nr7588 10+ year member]

big 3 is done in 0 gauge with 240 amp alt. i want to keep a higher charge, i dont want it drop as much, like with the system on blast voltage drops to at least 12 volts and as low at 11.5. will another batt help to not drop as low?

 

[Blove1991 10+ year member]

What **** amp are you running?

 

[talon2nr7588 10+ year member]

hifonics colossus II

 

[regal8r 5,000+ posts]

next step is more batts then

 

[05gliguy 10+ year member]

what is the voltage on the other battery? are they connected all the time?

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

12 v battery for daily wont read 15v. a trained battery for comp will usually read around 13.5v and then for a daily application it wont last (years wise) as long because when you train it you literially push it on the brink of toasting. my 1400 isnt trained or had anything special done to it it rests 12.9-13 v. some people get "special batteries made that read near 14v but i wouldnt use them for daily. if this is for comp and you want the "best" for what i see people running they spend $600-1400 on the battery and at that you are talking about gaining .1's of dbs and end results to that are dependant an a few factors. when you add another battery think of it as more power from its resting voltage on down. figuratively speaking adding a second battery should initially raise the low point from 11.5 to keep it about 12v+ (thats an estimate results can vary) as long as your electrical and your listening habits permit the alt to keep them both charged. again thats dependant on a few things as well.

 

[talon2nr7588 10+ year member]

what is the voltage on the other battery? are they connected all the time?

the one under the hood is 12.75

 

[spin dB 10+ year member]

If you have a second battery and you have the big 3 and a H/O alt that kicks 240 amps then I would say that there is another issue. What is your Voltage across both the batteries with the stereo off and the car running. If they are just over 13 or less then you are not having voltage dip and nothing is going to help you. However If I were you I would call the company that makes your Alt and ask them to hook up an external voltage regulator. This will allow the alt to charge at higher voltage let's say around 15.5V instead of the normal 14.7V. This will intern increase your voltage across the first and second battery. Adding more batteries only helps you a little and will actually cause your alt to work harder and may actually cause a lower reading because of this. More batteries is not the issue. I would also think about increasing the size of the wire for the big 3 to maybe another run of 1/0 awg or maybe 2/0 awg. This will help charge the batts faster, resulting in less voltage dip. The readings you are getting are actually not that bad. What battery do you have under the hood, if it is a stock battery upgrade it to the same as the HC 1800 are at least the biggest one you can find. This will also help.

 

[talon2nr7588 10+ year member]

If you have a second battery and you have the big 3 and a H/O alt that kicks 240 amps then I would say that there is another issue. What is your Voltage across both the batteries with the stereo off and the car running. If they are just over 13 or less then you are not having voltage dip and nothing is going to help you. However If I were you I would call the company that makes your Alt and ask them to hook up an external voltage regulator. This will allow the alt to charge at higher voltage let's say around 15.5V instead of the normal 14.7V. This will intern increase your voltage across the first and second battery. Adding more batteries only helps you a little and will actually cause your alt to work harder and may actually cause a lower reading because of this. More batteries is not the issue. I would also think about increasing the size of the wire for the big 3 to maybe another run of 1/0 awg or maybe 2/0 awg. This will help charge the batts faster, resulting in less voltage dip. The readings you are getting are actually not that bad. What battery do you have under the hood, if it is a stock battery upgrade it to the same as the HC 1800 are at least the biggest one you can find. This will also help.

with car running voltage stays at 14.2 when the car is hot. when i turn on the car for the first time every morning, cold start, they read 14.7. yeah i was thinking of adding more grounds. i got the stock motorcraft batt under the hood, it says 650 cold cranking amps. the readings arn't bad, i know that, i'm not complaining, iraggi built me a **** good alt. i just was get a little more out of the batts though. what if i hook the batteries up to a charger would that help?