Kinetik HC1400

[gunz4me 10+ year member]

I picked up a Kinetik HC 1400 for my 1997 Civic and was going to replace my main battery with it. Then, while reading the Kinetik instructions, it dawned on me that I could parallel it with my existing stock equivalent battery. In fact, that is what the instructions recommend if you are not going with dual Kinetik batteries.

Sorry, but I am old school here and would like to know what kind of issues I could run into by paralleling the Kinetik with a different make/model of battery. Back in the good old days this was NOT recommended without some sort of isolator. Did I miss a change in the last 15 years?

You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but I am willing to learn //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

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[Spectrum]

some people here will tell you that it is a bad idea...if you never drain the smaller one all the way down you are good

 

[jrwalte 10+ year member]

The main concern is if your stock battery sits at a lower voltage, say 12.4 or so while your kinetik likes to sit at 12.7 or so. The stock battery will drain the kinetik until they equalize while your car isn't running. This will shorten the life of your Kinetik battery. Another reason is when the old battery dies long before the new one would, it'll be masked by your second newer battery and most likely the bad old battery will drastically shorten the life of the newer one.

Check with a DMM what voltage your stock sits at. If it's 12.6+ I'd say you're fine.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

either way you go with or without an isolator you will/should monitor both batteries

 

[gunz4me 10+ year member]

At first I believe I am going to just wire up the one Kinetik and see if I have any problems. I am waiting on more 1/0 to come in so I can do the Big 3 upgrade and the most power I will ever run will be about 850 watts RMS. I rarely run the volume at full tilt so I may be okay with upgraded wiring, a stock alternator, and the Kinetik. If I have issues, then I may get a HO alternator and another Kinetik. The main thing I like about my Civic is that the spare tire well is big enough to hold a few batteries if needed!