Noob question about amp and battery

[speedyjuarez Premium Member]

Hey guys my setup is a

Kenwood head unit

Kicker PKD1 for wiring kit

Kicker component speakers front door

Kicker speakers rear door

Kicker 350.4 running door speakers

Kicker 300.1 running Toby Marshall Duel 4 ohm 200 watt sub

Kicker 1000.1 running Toby Outlaw 800 watts 4 ohm

The power wire coming from the battery is a 1/0 gauge to a distribution block that runs 4 gauge wire to the amps. The ground is also 1/0 bolted to the frame running to a distribution block then 4 gauge to amps.

My batter meter goes from 14 down to 11 or 10 while idling, and stays at 13 while driving. This is at full volume. Amps have been set with DMM at 50 hz.

My truck has the original alternator and battery, nothing special.

What should I upgrade first? Battery, add second battery or put in a HO alternator?

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[CaptainMaximus 10+ year member]

Have you done the big 3 yet? If not that should be no.1 all the time. Then upgrade primary battery to a sufficient car audio battery. After that, see where everything stands. Then I would do new alternator, then extra batteries. Either way, big 3 comes first. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fro.gif.c695f1f814b01c4ad99fe7f8cccadd29.gif

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

get rid of the distro block, get second battery and see how that goes

 

[speedyjuarez Premium Member]

Okay I did the big 3 upgrade with 6 gauage wire and my headlights still dim along with the dashboard. The battery meter still drops down to 12 or so. The alternater I have now is stock and I belive its like 60 amps, and the battery is from autozone. What should be my next move?

 

[UsAmpsFreak]

I'd do the big 3 again with reasonable wire, not 6 guage. The idea is to upgrade it and reduce resistance, not use what is basically already there. Other than that i'd double check your ground and measure it's resistance to ground. If it is also good the first thing i would do is to put the biggest baddest battery you can under the hood. Past that you're looking at upgrading the alt and/or adding an aux battery elsewhere. Good luck.

 

[speedyjuarez Premium Member]

Should I go up to a 1/0 gauge or something a bit smaller?

 

[Drich79 10+ year member]

Replace that 6 gauge with 1/0 gauge for the big three.

 

[speedyjuarez Premium Member]

Will do, should it be some fancy expensive cable?

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

Will do, should it be some fancy expensive cable?

No it shouldn't. I have kit already done and ready to install $65 fused. Shipped also year and make of truck. I may have an alt to

 

[Drich79 10+ year member]

Execution Audio 1 0 AWG 0 GA Gauge Big 3 Complete Fused Blue Wire Wiring Kit | eBay

Big 3 kit

 

[speedyjuarez Premium Member]

Okay so after the big 3 install my lights still dim, I turned up the amps some more and now my lights dim while driving when the bass hits.

I was thinking of a yellow top optima battery because I can get a discount on them, or should I spend my money on a HO alternator?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

Okay so after the big 3 install my lights still dim, I turned up the amps some more and now my lights dim while driving when the bass hits.
I was thinking of a yellow top optima battery because I can get a discount on them, or should I spend my money on a HO alternator?

how much is a discount whats the price your getting? there's many batteries that outperforms yellowtops.

In my opinion though, 60 amps is too small of an alternator it'll run the system but if you use the heater/Ac and blast some decaf, i think the voltage drop might be severe even while driving.

In this case i think the battery would only be a temporary solution, even though your not running ridiculous amounts of power, 60 amps is cutting it kinda close and it'll wear out the alternator faster when strained like that. I'd recommend upgrading the alt to prevent future troubles. it doesnt have to be a fancy super high output, but just somthing around 100-140 should last for this current setup unless you want to go bigger in the future then by all means go for the 160 amp or higher alts

Also, even if you did everything there's still a possibility that your headlights will still dim, you might want to try an HID kit for your lights if that happens.

 

[speedyjuarez Premium Member]

Yes I plan on adding on some more 15s next year, my dash board lights also dim.

The discount is only 20 bucks or so, 100 for a yellow top.

how much is a discount whats the price your getting? there's many batteries that outperforms yellowtops.
In my opinion though, 60 amps is too small of an alternator it'll run the system but if you use the heater/Ac and blast some decaf, i think the voltage drop might be severe even while driving.

In this case i think the battery would only be a temporary solution, even though your not running ridiculous amounts of power, 60 amps is cutting it kinda close and it'll wear out the alternator faster when strained like that. I'd recommend upgrading the alt to prevent future troubles. it doesnt have to be a fancy super high output, but just somthing around 100-140 should last for this current setup unless you want to go bigger in the future then by all means go for the 160 amp or higher alts

Also, even if you did everything there's still a possibility that your headlights will still dim, you might want to try an HID kit for your lights if that happens.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

ideally, you'd want to have everything beefed up before the upgrade. 100 is not that bad of a price for a yellowtop. Its all based on you man, you can pay the 100 for a band aid, should last you awhile to save up for the alt or just buy the alt now and add batteries later. with 2 15s, depending on how beefy they are, you might need at least two batteries in your system.

 

[speedyjuarez Premium Member]

I plan on having at least 4 15s