More alternator vs more battery

[jdawg90 10+ year member]

Which is more important? I'm reading conflicting things about it. I read a post where one guy on realm of excursion was saying that the majority of the power going to your sub will come from the back battery and your alternator won't be sending more than 100 amp at a time to the back. That doesn't really make sense to me considering any power being pulled by the amp at a voltage over your batteries resting state should be 100% alternator (correct?) What would be better, a 370 amp up front and no rear battery, or a 270 amp with a d3100 in the back?

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[PapaGeno21 10+ year member]

270 with the D3100 just because you should have a rear battery.

I would do the 370+Batt though.

 

[jar1zx 10+ year member]

I have a a DC alt and factory alt and adding extra batt in the rear really helped out.

I would have to say if you want to go full tilt for along time it takes both alt and batt.

I have no dimming at idle now and going down the road has never been a problem since I got the DC alt.

Get the alt 1st then add how many batts you need.

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

For what kind of draw, what amp(s)? The 270 with rear battery will probably be the better option though.

 

[jar1zx 10+ year member]

Forgot to say my front batt is weak.

And it's hard for alt to be as fast as music so that's why the batt comes in. Sends more steady power to amps.

If you are looking for short burst go batts. If say you want to be able to play full tilt for unlimited time, it takes both.

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

batts are a buffer as an alt can't keep up with the transients in music. Get big alt and a batt bank and have no worries...