need help with voltage drops..

[vandiar2 10+ year member]

Van you are doing everything right. As long as both of those batteries come back tested good, there is no reason for it to drop that far. Let us know what the battery testing says. They are going to need the CA or CCA ratings for both batteries in order to load test them correctly. IIRC that Batcap 2000 is rated at 2000 CCA. At least that is what their eBay listing says. Their website gives basically no info at all.

took the front battery to autozone.. tested good. I can't get to the back battery box is in the way. Won't be able to get that tested until this weekend when I can pull the box out :/. maybe the batcap needs to be charged? guess I won't know until I get a load test done on it. Also, doesn't an alternator act as a charger? what is the difference in taking it out, and charging it with a charger rather than just driving around for a day or two without music and letting my alt charged it.

 

[loopkiller 10+ year member]

took the front battery to autozone.. tested good. I can't get to the back battery box is in the way. Won't be able to get that tested until this weekend when I can pull the box out :/. maybe the batcap needs to be charged? guess I won't know until I get a load test done on it. Also, doesn't an alternator act as a charger? what is the difference in taking it out, and charging it with a charger rather than just driving around for a day or two without music and letting my alt charged it.

If it is resting at 12.8v it is charged. That does not tell you if it is 100% good. And yes the alt is the best charger you can buy. Driving around without the audio on should fully charge your batteries within an hour or so of drive time.

Here is what I would try now. Since Batcap said the 2000 can power 1500W RMS, I would leave the front battery out of the car, keep the engine off, and try to run the audio off the rear battery alone. I would do this with a voltmeter applied at the amp power input and monitor the voltage while playing music. I would start at about 1/4 volume and see where the voltage stays, then half and monitor, then 3/4 and note voltage again.

Let me know how it goes. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[vandiar2 10+ year member]

If it is resting at 12.8v it is charged. That does not tell you if it is 100% good. And yes the alt is the best charger you can buy. Driving around without the audio on should fully charge your batteries within an hour or so of drive time.
Here is what I would try now. Since Batcap said the 2000 can power 1500W RMS, I would leave the front battery out of the car, keep the engine off, and try to run the audio off the rear battery alone. I would do this with a voltmeter applied at the amp power input and monitor the voltage while playing music. I would start at about 1/4 volume and see where the voltage stays, then half and monitor, then 3/4 and note voltage again.

Let me know how it goes. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Will do. At work right now won't be able to do it until later. I just talked to this Ray guy at batcap, he told me to add one of these (lol)

http://batcap.info/Products/25FaradCapacitor/tabid/97/Default.aspx

Looks nifty and all but really? If I do add something else though it needs to be small. I was thinking of a batcap 400 or 800 just to add a little bit more juice to the amps.

 

[loopkiller 10+ year member]

Will do. At work right now won't be able to do it until later. I just talked to this Ray guy at batcap, he told me to add one of these (lol)http://batcap.info/Products/25FaradCapacitor/tabid/97/Default.aspx

Looks nifty and all but really? If I do add something else though it needs to be small. I was thinking of a batcap 400 or 800 just to add a little bit more juice to the amps.

OMG that is so funny. They say to use their batteries because they are better than caps, but when they don't work, they try to sell you a cap anyways? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

Van you are doing everything right. As long as both of those batteries come back tested good, there is no reason for it to drop that far. Let us know what the battery testing says. They are going to need the CA or CCA ratings for both batteries in order to load test them correctly. IIRC that Batcap 2000 is rated at 2000 CCA. At least that is what their eBay listing says. Their website gives basically no info at all.

Their website blows....

 

[loopkiller 10+ year member]

Their website blows....

J/K dude! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[vandiar2 10+ year member]

OMG that is so funny. They say to use their batteries because they are better than caps, but when they don't work, they try to sell you a cap anyways? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

lol that is what I was thinking as well. they have another website though that list all of their products.. it is in transition still. batcap.info is the website. idk, what do you think loop? think adding a 400 or an 800 in parallel with the 2000 in the back would increase the difference in the drops? I think im going to go back and redo my big 3 again this weekend too. Whe I first did it I wasn't near as good with big wires as I am now. they might not be as "tight" in the crimps. if that is the case chances are they could have some corrosion too....also, would running a straight ground from the back battery to the front improve my voltage? right now I have my second battery grounded out on the chassis in the back. appears to be a good ground but idk.

 

[vandiar2 10+ year member]

J/K dude! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif:laugh:

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/moon.gif.9d317aec3339ffe7fde0638df52c628a.gif

The ebay site is better.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

I have not even seen good recommendations on their site. A few years ago the 300's or the 400's (don't remember which) were mighty popular around me and I know a few who had failures with them. IIRC this was before their 800 came out. One looked like a catastrophic failure but for all i know it was torn apart after a cell died.

 

[vandiar2 10+ year member]

lol that is what I was thinking as well. they have another website though that list all of their products.. it is in transition still. batcap.info is the website. idk, what do you think loop? think adding a 400 or an 800 in parallel with the 2000 in the back would increase the difference in the drops? I think im going to go back and redo my big 3 again this weekend too. Whe I first did it I wasn't near as good with big wires as I am now. they might not be as "tight" in the crimps. if that is the case chances are they could have some corrosion too....also, would running a straight ground from the back battery to the front improve my voltage? right now I have my second battery grounded out on the chassis in the back. appears to be a good ground but idk.

bumpage. would be great to have this answer. BTW Loop thanks for all your help bro.

 

[loopkiller 10+ year member]

lol that is what I was thinking as well. they have another website though that list all of their products.. it is in transition still. batcap.info is the website. idk, what do you think loop? think adding a 400 or an 800 in parallel with the 2000 in the back would increase the difference in the drops? I think im going to go back and redo my big 3 again this weekend too. Whe I first did it I wasn't near as good with big wires as I am now. they might not be as "tight" in the crimps. if that is the case chances are they could have some corrosion too....also, would running a straight ground from the back battery to the front improve my voltage? right now I have my second battery grounded out on the chassis in the back. appears to be a good ground but idk.

Do not simply add in another smaller battery. That is not going to get the job done. If anything, stick that 2000 under the hood and get yourself a bigger rear battery. I still think you have something wrong with your setup though. If Ray says that thing can do the 1500wrms, then you should not be having these issues.

Here is what I would do. Get that 2000 tested this weekend. Make sure it passes a load test. That is for sure priority numero uno.

If it does pass the load test, then simply put it back in the car. Make sure your amps are wired directly to the battery (both power and ground). Make sure those connections are solid. Inspect any fuses that are in use. Now that all of that is all good, time to test things out.

At this point, you should test the audio without the engine running and I would also install the front battery back in place, but I would remove the inline fuse between the front and back battery. That way, you know that the front battery is not the issue. The amps will run only off the 2000 and the front battery will only be powering the HU.

Now you need to test the voltage at the amps power and ground inputs with your DMM. You need to check the voltage with the music playing at 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 volumes. At each level, jot down the voltage.

This test should take you no more than 5 minutes I would assume. That should not fully drain the battery by any means. If it does, then you know it is for sure way too small to handle your system.

In contrast, I have just under 1000W RMS in my system running off my HC1400 under the hood and I can run my music at 3/4 volume (engine off) for hours and my car will easily restart. So if cannot run your music for at least an hour, I would say that 2000 is not up to par.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/moon.gif.9d317aec3339ffe7fde0638df52c628a.gif
The ebay site is better.

LOL! I guess if you simply want ANY info at all, it works fine. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wow.gif.23d729408e9177caa2a0ed6a2ba6588e.gif

Forget the fact that it is inflated and erroneous info at best. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

I like picking on you Buck, you are a good sport

 

[vandiar2 10+ year member]

Do not simply add in another smaller battery. That is not going to get the job done. If anything, stick that 2000 under the hood and get yourself a bigger rear battery. I still think you have something wrong with your setup though. If Ray says that thing can do the 1500wrms, then you should not be having these issues.
Here is what I would do. Get that 2000 tested this weekend. Make sure it passes a load test. That is for sure priority numero uno.

If it does pass the load test, then simply put it back in the car. Make sure your amps are wired directly to the battery (both power and ground). Make sure those connections are solid. Inspect any fuses that are in use. Now that all of that is all good, time to test things out.

At this point, you should test the audio without the engine running and I would also install the front battery back in place, but I would remove the inline fuse between the front and back battery. That way, you know that the front battery is not the issue. The amps will run only off the 2000 and the front battery will only be powering the HU.

Now you need to test the voltage at the amps power and ground inputs with your DMM. You need to check the voltage with the music playing at 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 volumes. At each level, jot down the voltage.

This test should take you no more than 5 minutes I would assume. That should not fully drain the battery by any means. If it does, then you know it is for sure way too small to handle your system.

In contrast, I have just under 1000W RMS in my system running off my HC1400 under the hood and I can run my music at 3/4 volume (engine off) for hours and my car will easily restart. So if cannot run your music for at least an hour, I would say that 2000 is not up to par.

LOL! I guess if you simply want ANY info at all, it works fine. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wow.gif.23d729408e9177caa2a0ed6a2ba6588e.gif

Forget the fact that it is inflated and erroneous info at best. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

I like picking on you Buck, you are a good sport

excellent bro thanks again! will start testing this weekend.

 

[vandiar2 10+ year member]

Adding something I noticed the other day. The dimming problem only happens on certain songs. Some songs I can play without any dimming at all. I think I am right on the verge of being able to handle everything. Maybe that batcap is bad.. maybe it is too small. IDK. I am going to do some voltage drop test on my big 3 too to make sure I am not losing everything there. Also, going to get that back battery tested though, it is right behind my **** box and I have to get someone to help me move it.