bananapehl777
CarAudio.com Newbie
Hello all,
I'm brand new to this forum and I am really excited to connect with everyone else who's as obnoxious as I am driving their cars down the street! But I do have a question for those who are a bit more experienced than I am, as I don't want to waste money throwing upgrades at my system that it doesn't need.
I currently am running 1700W RMS in my 2005 Subaru Outback XT (it has all the bells and whistles, from heated seats to heated mirrors and wiper de-icer, basically there is a lot of factory electrical parts) and ever since I installed the system, I've had headlight dimming and sometimes at an idle, my engine RPMs will drop when the bass hits. Currently, I have a DC Power 270 AMP alternator, Big 3, and an Interstate MTP 35 as my only battery. My question is, is the headlight dimming and engine RPM loss due to the fact that my alternator is too weak for my system, or is my battery too weak for my system and I need to add a second one? I have a feeling I need to upgrade to a second battery, but others have told me that the symptoms I'm having is due to the alternator, and that adding a second battery will make it worse because it puts more of a strain on the alternator. I believe DC Power says at idle my alternator puts out 180 AMPs, but I'm not sure what that means, because I'm not sure if engine revolutions is the same as alternator revolutions (i.e. if my engine is idling at 700 RPM, is the alternator revolving at that too?) Any advice is greatly appreciated!
I'm brand new to this forum and I am really excited to connect with everyone else who's as obnoxious as I am driving their cars down the street! But I do have a question for those who are a bit more experienced than I am, as I don't want to waste money throwing upgrades at my system that it doesn't need.
I currently am running 1700W RMS in my 2005 Subaru Outback XT (it has all the bells and whistles, from heated seats to heated mirrors and wiper de-icer, basically there is a lot of factory electrical parts) and ever since I installed the system, I've had headlight dimming and sometimes at an idle, my engine RPMs will drop when the bass hits. Currently, I have a DC Power 270 AMP alternator, Big 3, and an Interstate MTP 35 as my only battery. My question is, is the headlight dimming and engine RPM loss due to the fact that my alternator is too weak for my system, or is my battery too weak for my system and I need to add a second one? I have a feeling I need to upgrade to a second battery, but others have told me that the symptoms I'm having is due to the alternator, and that adding a second battery will make it worse because it puts more of a strain on the alternator. I believe DC Power says at idle my alternator puts out 180 AMPs, but I'm not sure what that means, because I'm not sure if engine revolutions is the same as alternator revolutions (i.e. if my engine is idling at 700 RPM, is the alternator revolving at that too?) Any advice is greatly appreciated!