Just want to rant for amin about CA for me this weekend...

[Volvowith18psi 10+ year member]

So, I was super excited to finally "do things right" this time with my car audio setup.., IE actually shelling out the extra whats going to end up being 2,000bucks JUST for electrical equipment(H/O Alt 1x XS6500D 4xD3100 1x charger). I went ahead and spent the roughly 800 bucks (more then my entire car audio system atm) to get a H/O Alt and XS D6500 to get me started and have a great foundation for what I have in their now.

Well, 1st thing that fking bothers the **** out of me, that I NEVER thought of to check, was my god **** Jeeps PCM controls the alts charging volts. So Im stuck atm with a brand new 470 dollar alt that charges MAX @ mid 13's. The rep whom I talked to when ordering it was super nice, we even chatted for about 30m, mentioned nothing about possibly needing a AVM to achieve a charge volt of 14.4. So, now its all installed, I have to call him on Monday to ask about this, and AT BEST Case spend another 150 bucks to get the AVM IF they even offer it for my ride. Lets not talk about the next 2-3 weeks it gets tied up in shipping, removal, and reinstalling. Worst case is a $XXX custom tune from god knows where to get the full output..... Jesus....

2nd thing that's eating at me.... My 1st XS battery.... Granted, its costs to play, I get that. I figure buying the best CA battery on the market atm, which is 2x the cost of most other battery's is worth it. However, you VOID your **** warranty if you charge them over 14.4v because they "gas and vent and blah blah". So, not only did the battery cost 2x as much as others, you HAVE to buy the XS charger to go with them. You don't get to plug in play right out of the box, because they HAVE to be "charged" before installing..... So I think to myself, Ill just get a charger from a local store until I can afford to get the XS one... NP.... I bought 4 different ones today, from different stores, and ALL charge well over 15V. I took them all back. Now I have to watch my $330 battery collect dust because I didn't honestly think EVERY local charger would charge so high..... even ones designed to charge AGM, like the last one, a schumaker 1500 w/e reached upwards of 15.8 volts (verified with my Fluke MM)....I pulled the plug right away... (Testing on my yellow top btw)

I haven't even bought anything really fun yet is the really sad part...Ok, Im done, and sorry to rant, bout 30 beers deep so far and well.... Im still frustrated. Did have a nap in between though //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif Figured some of you guys might feel me on this... -Later on

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[splwj47 10+ year member]

what year jeep? what type of alt? how much?

 

[Phoenix Risen 10+ year member]

long story short, shits expensive and a pain in the ass, its always been that way and probably always will be.

 

[quackhead 10+ year member]

um.......................................................................................nope, I just aint feelin it.

But I do hope things smooth out for you on this, bud. What do you plan to run?

 

[TaylorFade 10+ year member]

There is no peace of mind like what comes with having solid elecrical. I paid through the nose for my alt and got the interanlly regulated one and my charging voltage was crap. But guess what? It never f'n budged off that number and that's a beautiful thing when you can wang away with 5k+ and still see mid-high 13's.

I thought XS' warranty was 15.1? Either way... that's a pain you have to watch your batt collect dust. I certainly wouldn't do it. I'd be charging that thing off a Harbor Freight charger and getting busy.

I hear you though. And like you said, you gotta pay to play but in the end, it'll be worth it.

 

[Volvowith18psi 10+ year member]

what year jeep? what type of alt? how much?

2003 JGC Limited w/ the 4.7. Mechman 270.

Ya I know shits expensive, I was just so hoping for it to "work" right out of the box so to speak, not have this other crap pop up... IE>., charge @ mid 13's.

I don't even know what I want to run, I just know I want that **** to be loud, LOUD as **** lol.... Im tossing around the idea os some SD zv3s 12's/15's / DC lv w/e in a proper box with 2x saz2500's strapped, however, thats a 500+amp load and I dunno if all I said in the 1st post would take it daily. ALl I know is I want good reputable brands, amps wise, that rate on low voltage due to my charge issues... IE..., Sundown / DD M3A's. My problem with the subs, is Im not quite sure how much I can fit in the hatch atm, with an "optimal" box. Ill deal with that beast later though. Electrical for now, fun stuff later. I am kinda excited to see what the SA-12's will take daily though(Have them now on an SAE 1200Dv2@1ohm), as the amps will be the 1st purchase when the time comes me thinks...

Thanks for the words of encouragement along the lines of the charging volts, I been fearing with the mid 13s charge, voltage dro to high 11/low 12's, impedance rise, meaning these expensive amps will be no where close to their true potential of output.

 

[TaylorFade 10+ year member]

Yep, stick with solid amps that make power on 12v. You're on the right track with Sundown and DD. RD/Atomic is some of my favorites. Don't know how nuts you want to get on your budget, but B2 makes great power down low. SounDigital, Stetsom, MMATS are all good on 12v.

 

[Volvowith18psi 10+ year member]

Dually noted on those less mentioned amps. Thanks!

 

[splwj47 10+ year member]

2003 JGC Limited w/ the 4.7. Mechman 270.
Ya I know shits expensive, I was just so hoping for it to "work" right out of the box so to speak, not have this other crap pop up... IE>., charge @ mid 13's.

I don't even know what I want to run, I just know I want that **** to be loud, LOUD as **** lol.... Im tossing around the idea os some SD zv3s 12's/15's / DC lv w/e in a proper box with 2x saz2500's strapped, however, thats a 500+amp load and I dunno if all I said in the 1st post would take it daily. ALl I know is I want good reputable brands, amps wise, that rate on low voltage due to my charge issues... IE..., Sundown / DD M3A's. My problem with the subs, is Im not quite sure how much I can fit in the hatch atm, with an "optimal" box. Ill deal with that beast later though. Electrical for now, fun stuff later. I am kinda excited to see what the SA-12's will take daily though(Have them now on an SAE 1200Dv2@1ohm), as the amps will be the 1st purchase when the time comes me thinks...

Thanks for the words of encouragement along the lines of the charging volts, I been fearing with the mid 13s charge, voltage dro to high 11/low 12's, impedance rise, meaning these expensive amps will be no where close to their true potential of output.

sweet u got the same unit as me. yours have the 4.7 HO or just the 4.7? i dont know whats up with my stock alt but i only get 14+ volts driving down the highway and high 13s at idel. how much was ur mechman? i need to upgrade my alt very soon.

 

[Dr. Slam 10+ year member]

My 270a Mechman alt came with an adjustable voltage regulator but I still see mid 13s fult tilt with 5 batts but I'm running ~7000 watts. But like you stated, most 12v car audio batts say the max that you can charge them at is 14.5 volts so I doubt the regulator is even necessary for ~.6 volts

*That's for my 2002 grand cherokee

 

[E-Rock 10+ year member]

I agree with you too TC. Even though I didn't go nearly the extent you did. I installed some components and an amplifier. Even though I got it all installed I still have to do more tweaks. My back isn't set for this kind of hobby. But now my door lock is acting up and I have to figure out why my window isn't 100% on rolling down all the time. Running wires was a PITA, but once it's all said and done. I'll be really happy that I didn't spend an arm & leg on some installers to potentially screw things up.

Before I start working on the car again, it's time to work on my guns, that don't give me as much of a headache.

 

[Mitch86 5,000+ posts]

I spent over 1k on my set up, installed it after a month or more of headaches with different problems and reasons I couldn't install everything. Finally got it in and wasn't satisfied and still had issues..so I got pissed and sold everything for a huge loss after only playing it a few hours tops. I have decided my money can be spent in better ways. Car audio is fun, but it can be frustrating as hell! Not to mention very expensive! I'm sure ill be back to installing another system soon though... its more of an obsession than a hobby for me. Lol

 

[4OZGLOVES 10+ year member]

If you ever need any help with your setup I live in butler also. I'm sure you think you'll be by far the loudest guy in our tiny little town , you won't lol.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

You can pick up voltage regulator for @ 125$. IMO the 13.4 /13.5V my Jeep charged at isn't even adequate to properly maintain a battery. I run 14.6-14.8 The good thing about external regulator is that you can use it in any install later.

IDK about charging that battery, I'd be pretty pissed about that if I bought a battery that was useless without buying a 400$ charger for it.

 

[Volvowith18psi 10+ year member]

@40.... Nice man, Im also looking for fellow car audio heads to get with and do things!! No, I dont want to be the loudest in town, and I know for a fact I wolnt be. I met a guy through another site who tuned my current stuff for me, had 2 15's lv5 on 9k in like a caverlier, **** was balls loud! lol.

@hispls... I really hope thats some good news, your saying I shouldnt have to ship the alt back to have it modified to work with the AVM from Mechman? I thought they had to moddify the internals for those to work....