Upgraded alternator vs. battery vs. capacitor?

[ckunke002 10+ year member]

No not all cars have meters from the factory installed go to walmart, lowes, depot, etc and buy you a dmm they can cost as lil at $15 and go up to well over $100 a cheap one will do good for ur needs.

Are DMM's and Multimeters the same thing? And where would I hook it up to figure out what my voltage is?

 

[ckunke002 10+ year member]

DMM probably stands for Digital Multimeter huh? No need to answer my first question.. lol

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

Yes they are.... You would hook up to a pos and neg source to get the reading be it the pos/neg terminals on the amp or the pos/neg terminals on the batt. They also have many other uses but thats a different thread.. ITs worth the money man if you are gonna buy anything audio then you best buy a meter its like a screw driver its a most have if you are serious about ur audio and being safe.

 

[Dr. Slam 10+ year member]

No not all cars have meters from the factory installed go to walmart, lowes, depot, etc and buy you a dmm they can cost as lil at $15 and go up to well over $100 a cheap one will do good for ur needs.

Lol you do learn something new every day cuz I thought all cars had battery ( voltage ) gauges but I haven't been in a lot of different cars

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

^^ I have never owned a car with one maybe cause i stick with the poor man rides....

 

[Dr. Slam 10+ year member]

Yes they are.... You would hook up to a pos and neg source to get the reading be it the pos/neg terminals on the amp or the pos/neg terminals on the batt. They also have many other uses but thats a different thread.. ITs worth the money man if you are gonna buy anything audio then you best buy a meter its like a screw driver its a most have if you are serious about ur audio and being safe.

^^^ this! You'll save yourself a lot of trouble by dropping the cash for one of these

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

Shop IDEAL Resi-Pro Digital Multimeter at Lowes.com

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202867883/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

If u wanna go dirt cheap - http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202353293/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Equus-3300-Hands-free-Digital-Multimeter/14644665

^ Will still get the job done though

 

[ckunke002 10+ year member]

Well I just wrote out a long comment and apparently I couldn't post it because it had a link in it or something?

Anyways... will all digital multimeters do the same thing for me? As in read how many volts I'm running? Do I want to be having 12 or 14 volts? and lastly should my amp and my battery both be showing the same amount of voltage when tested?

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

All dmm's have the same general function the difference is the more $$$ ones are more accurate and usually have many more options to choose from. But for ur needs a cheap one will do just fine. The higher the voltage the better my car charges at 14.4 volts at idle with radio off but with radio on I can dip into the low 13's. If the radio is off then yes the batt and amp should both be the same voltage but once you turn the radio on the voltage will differ from the two. There is alot more to this but I dnt wanna write a book lol

 

[ckunke002 10+ year member]

You probably should write a book, you seem to know a lot. I know I would read it! Lol

My last question to you, I got the other guys opinion on this but I want yours. I currently have 1 300 watt amp powering all of my speakers. I REALLY want to get 2 12 inch subs and an amp and power them at 900 watts, which would put me at 1200 watts total. However, I don't have the money to upgrade my alt and battery and get 0 gauge wire and everything on top of the amp, subs, box and wiring, so what is your opinion on this? Should I just get 1 sub instead and end up around 800 watts or is there an easy way I could go for the 900 watt amp?

Also on a side note, is the DMM the tool that is used to set gains on amplifiers? I've always just done it by ear and sort of guessed.

 

[CAT MAN 5,000+ posts]

You probably should write a book, you seem to know a lot. I know I would read it! Lol
My last question to you, I got the other guys opinion on this but I want yours. I currently have 1 300 watt amp powering all of my speakers. I REALLY want to get 2 12 inch subs and an amp and power them at 900 watts, which would put me at 1200 watts total. However, I don't have the money to upgrade my alt and battery and get 0 gauge wire and everything on top of the amp, subs, box and wiring, so what is your opinion on this? Should I just get 1 sub instead and end up around 800 watts or is there an easy way I could go for the 900 watt amp?

Also on a side note, is the DMM the tool that is used to set gains on amplifiers? I've always just done it by ear and sort of guessed.

you can set gains with a DMM but i dont reccomend it. i use this technique but i do not like it at all. i usually use it to get where my rated power is then go a bit lower/hgher until i hear something different(clipping).

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

yes u can use a dmm to set ur gains but the problem with that method is that it does not tell you if your are clipping it just tlls you the amount of power the amp is producing. As far as your other question bro if money is n issue then u are in the wrong hobby this may not be whatt u want to hear but its what you should do forget all about the sub and amp right now and spend that money on building up your electrical. Buy some 0awg do the big 3 and buy yourself a good batt. This may take all ur funds but you got to have a good platform to build on.

I am not trying to sell u anything but if u need a big batt I got one for you that I will let go for a dirt cheap price.

 

[CAT MAN 5,000+ posts]

yes u can use a dmm to set ur gains but the problem with that method is that it does not tell you if your are clipping it just tlls you the amount of power the amp is producing. As far as your other question bro if money is n issue then u are in the wrong hobby this may not be want u want to hear but its what you should do forget all about the sub and amp right now and spend that money on building up your electrical. Buy some 0awg do the big 3 and buy yourself a good batt. This may take all ur funds but you got to have a good platform to build on.

I am not trying to sell u anything but if u need a big batt I got one for you that I will let go for a dirt cheap price.

x2 on everything.... i wet backazzwards on my build...now it cost me double //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

x2 on everything.... i wet backazzwards on my build...now it cost me double //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

We live we learn..

 

[ckunke002 10+ year member]

yes u can use a dmm to set ur gains but the problem with that method is that it does not tell you if your are clipping it just tlls you the amount of power the amp is producing. As far as your other question bro if money is n issue then u are in the wrong hobby this may not be whatt u want to hear but its what you should do forget all about the sub and amp right now and spend that money on building up your electrical. Buy some 0awg do the big 3 and buy yourself a good batt. This may take all ur funds but you got to have a good platform to build on.

I am not trying to sell u anything but if u need a big batt I got one for you that I will let go for a dirt cheap price.

I'm goin to take your advice.. I'll do these things first. I've been looking into the big 3 for quite a while, it shouldnt really take all that much cash right? Just like 10 or so feet of good 0 gauge and a fuse? And are you talking about a 2nd battery or replacing my main battery? Or do I need both replaced for a 1200 watt system? And what battery do you have for sale?