power issue, desperate

[Unregistered]

i have a pretty bad power issue in my car, it is an 88 crx, i recently replaced the alternator, and am using a optima yellow top, with a 2 farad cap, i am running a jbl 1200.1, and a crossfire 75.2, for subs and mids/highs respectivly.

in my car within 1 day of charging the battery the cap wont stay in the green, by 2 days it is in mid yellow, and by 3 days i have dificulty starting the car, and this is at normal volume (normal is very subjective i know, my normal means i can carry on a conversation without raising my voice),

to try to fix this i have, replaced the alt, batteriy, put a 1gauge ground on the battery, and a large terminal on both +, -, i use 4ga to bring the power to the cap, and 4ga to the 1200, 8ga to the 75.2, i have pretty solid grounds on everything, i just wish i didnt have to pull my battery twice a week to charge it,

i know this isnt normal, and am looking for suggestions so i can troubleshoot this problem, what i might have overlooked, what i coult try, that kind of thing, i am tempted to pull out all my equipment, and sell it to buy a newer car, and rebuy new stuff over time, kinda drastic, bu i dont want to be without music, and i dont want to have to recarge more often than fill up.

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[Plater 10+ year member]

It sounds more like the battery is being killed while the car is off check to see if the amps and stereo are turning off when you shut the car off. If you don't run the stereo and drive your car on a longer drive say 30mins, Your battery should be charged to close to full. Then turn your stereo back on and see if the battery starts to die. A good way to tell if there isn't enough power is by driving at night when you are stopped turn up the stereo and if your headlights dim this means the alter. can't keep up with the demand otherwise the problem is somewhere else.

 

[Unregistered]

hmm, what i am doing to test is just pull the fuse, and not run the system for a day or 2, to see how the power keeps up, but i think i aggree because in the past it didnt really matter if i kept it quiet, or played it loud, the battery life seems to stay about the same, so it could just be the cap constantly pulling power, or the amps not shutting off, if the fust test letts me drive, i am going to disconnect the cap, and see if that helps, and run with just amps, no cap, see if i cant eliminate the problem, i hope i can get this figured out _ thanks for the tip,

ps the replacement alternator is stock, not a upgraded hi-amp, if relevent

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

well you might upgrade your alternator cause its probably not being able to keep up w/ the pull of the system...

 

[mrray13 10+ year member]

also look to see if something else in the car is causing the drain.(hope not) could be that something else is not going off and costantly pulling juice.

question... have you replaced your hu? you listed all your other stereo equipment, but no stereo. is it still factory? if it is, have you hooked up a remote wire for the amps at a switchable source? if you haven't hooked up a remote, than your amps are on all the time, key on or off.

 

[Unregistered]

its the pioneer deh-8000r , its set on a remote turn on, so the amps do turn on and off with the hu, i think the alt might just be the prob, but i dont want to buy a custom one from stinger, and i dont know where else i can get one for my car, i belive it is the stero causeing the prob, because for the last few days with it off i havent had any starting problems, so i guess that could be it, but i previously had a rockford 600.4, and 800.4 in the car with no problems, on the stock battery, and that just about the same amount of power

 

[natem33 10+ year member]

First I would use a multimeter and check all of the amps wiring to see if there is any sort of power drain due to faulty installation. Another possibility is to disconnect one amp at a time and see if you can pinpoint a draw to one amp. It's possible that there is a short internally and is drawing small amounts of power with the car off. All due respect given to those above with similar advice.

 

[EPanther99 10+ year member]

with just those two amps that shouldnt be happening i know someone that has a zr1000 and a zr460 and has like 4 screens and dvde and vhs players in his suv and the only power upgrades are he has 2 batts and 2 caps with a stock alt and he has not a problem in the year it has been in there

 

[Phatillusion 5,000+ posts]

If you have used the methods already listed, then I would say it's probably your altenator, you don't neccesarily have to buy a new one, just go to a shop and get it rewound. Some vehicles come with different sized altenators, so what runs fine on one vehicle, may have trouble on another.

 

[Unregistered]

Take your car down to the shop and have them test the alternator for you, most places will do this for free, some charge a slight fee. Test it with the system on and off (they should ask you to do this, but make sure they do).

 

[Unregistered]

hmmm, i just put that alt in a few months ago, and am getting less then 13v out of it, i dont know if i really want to buy another one, is it possible when getting a alt rewound to have them boost the output, i know you can get kits for gm alts to do that, but this is just a factory replacment unit, because i dont want to buy a stinger alternator, for a car which i wont have for too much longer, i just dont know why i am having all these problms, my headlights dont dim, and the cap wont flex unless i turn it way up, it seems stable, but the power wont keep up, and im sure its the system, because after driving without it hooked up i havent had any probs, maybe i will just wait for my next car, and just hold on to my system

 

[mstrblk 10+ year member]

yay, i remebered my password, anyway, thanks for the suggestions, now i guess i need some advice on what i can do to boost the charging cappacity of my car

 

[natem33 10+ year member]

I still don't think that your charging system is the problem here. I would point towards an internal power drain within an amp.

 

[Unregistered]

well, i have the day off today, i think i will go ahead and test a few of the amps i have, and see if thats the case

 

[Unregistered]

Hey you said that your running a yellow top ???? Well a yellow top isnt made to run your car its made for accessories not for any thing elese so if you wanna keep that yellow top run dual batteries your old stock with your yellow. Dont believe me,use the same set up but just hook up your old stock battery and see what happens, over all a red top works the best for a single battery application.

~L7SoniX~