What do i need to upgrade? Battery or Alternator

[paintballpro111 10+ year member]

Alright guys,

Newb to the site. Had a few questions to the electrical gurus. I need to know what to do next. I am rolling in a '96 Jetta 2.0L with a 90ah alternator. I have a regular main start battery. In the car, I am running RF components and RF coaxials. Initially they were ran off of the internal amp and I just had 2x RF P3D412 each running off of a separate TMA 500.1. This was done using 4awg to a distro which split to 8awg. I have since upgraded and now am running the internals off of a RF T400-4. I got rid of the TMAs and ran without subs for a while and ran the 4awg straight to the T400. I have just recently gotten a RF T1500-1BD and will be wiring the P3s in a 1ohm load. I just purchased some Knu 1/0 flex in order to upgrade the current 4awg run as i plan to possibly upgrade to a T2 at some point.

The question is:

1) Do i need to purchase a HO alternator

2) Do i need to get a secondary / new primary battery (deep cycle / marine / kinetik...and if so, which one, why, and rating. i.e. kinetik 600)

3) Can i hook up everything (as i dont have a T2 yet) and be perfectly fine with a distro, 13.8v, and 90ah

4) Do #s 1&2

This obviously isnt some monster build so i could be thinking overboard, but im assuming that in 1ohm, ill be running at least 1500 (given the birth sheet says 1771w) + whatever my T400 is putting out. From my understanding, 1000w RMS is enough to require 1/0awg. What about the other stuff?

Any help / suggestions would be great.

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[*SlappinAzz*]

It never hurts to upgrade, even at 200 watts.

 

[paintballpro111 10+ year member]

Ok, now what if i was to go the economical route? What is the absolute must...if any. Im not hooking up the 1500 until i can run the new line, but even then, im wondering what will be needed.

 

[abrhino 10+ year member]

plutonium space modulated alternator, a Kinetic force generated battery bank, and a flux capacitor

 

[paintballpro111 10+ year member]

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[*SlappinAzz*]

Get a deep cycle battery, and a new alternator, the alternator being the first one to get, as that is pretty much like the heart of the car.

And when you got those two under the hood, then place a smaller battery near the amplifier, and your good to go.

 

[MikeyF 10+ year member]

FYI, you don't know what your talking about ^. As it would be a great idea to get a H/O alt, he doesn't NEED one. OP, you can get away with upgrading your underhood battery, and should be fine with adding a second in your trunk. Check out the C&D Tech batteries, Kinetik 1800s, Powermaster, etc. Run them with 0g, as well as your big three. There has been a few people who have spoke of running 2200w off of their stock alt. I personally wouldn't recommend it, but you should be fine with 1500w. Just make sure you keep an eye on your voltage, and don't let it drop drastically. Now if money wasn't an issue, I would for sure upgrade the alt, etc. But if you are looking for the "Economical" way as you stated it, two batteries along with the Big 3 should do you good.

 

[paintballpro111 10+ year member]

^ Thanks for the info. $$ wouldnt be an issue, but after a 1/0 kit (which half will be unused anyway if i get a battery) and the t1500, i just have to figure out the last piece that i would really benefit from. My alternator has held up through multiple installs. Granted none were as demanding as this one, but you get the picture. Now, if i was to keep the same battery under the hood and just get a Kinetik 800-1200 for near the amp, would that be good enough? I could always get a 1200 for the prim and an 800 for secondary latter. How much do you think i really need? The big 3 will be taken care of when the wire comes in.

 

[*SlappinAzz*]

FYI, you don't know what your talking about ^. As it would be a great idea to get a H/O alt, he doesn't NEED one. OP, you can get away with upgrading your underhood battery, and should be fine with adding a second in your trunk. Check out the C&D Tech batteries, Kinetik 1800s, Powermaster, etc. Run them with 0g, as well as your big three. There has been a few people who have spoke of running 2200w off of their stock alt. I personally wouldn't recommend it, but you should be fine with 1500w. Just make sure you keep an eye on your voltage, and don't let it drop drastically. Now if money wasn't an issue, I would for sure upgrade the alt, etc. But if you are looking for the "Economical" way as you stated it, two batteries along with the Big 3 should do you good.

FYI, you need to shut your mouth. What do you think keeps voltage up, and charges the battery to keep it from going dead? "Alternator"

 

[MikeyF 10+ year member]

Corrrrect. Didn't say he shouldn't get one, I said he could get by without one. Ask around buddy, a H/O alternator is not always needed for a 1500w install. Even then, he is not going to see 1500w with imp rise/stock electrical anyways. I run 1200w (a little list with imp rise, etc) on stock electrical and my voltage stays at 13.8. I never said it wouldn't be a wise decision to go without one, but I said he could get by. You shot off at the mouth saying he needed a H/O alt first. Which yes, would be sufficient, but is not NEEDED. So clearly, you don't understand...

 

[*SlappinAzz*]

Corrrrect. Didn't say he shouldn't get one, I said he could get by without one. Ask around buddy, a H/O alternator is not always needed for a 1500w install. Even then, he is not going to see 1500w with imp rise/stock electrical anyways. I run 1200w (a little list with imp rise, etc) on stock electrical and my voltage stays at 13.8. I never said it wouldn't be a wise decision to go without one, but I said he could get by. You shot off at the mouth saying he needed a H/O alt first. Which yes, would be sufficient, but is not NEEDED. So clearly, you don't understand...

Uh wrong, Having Two batteries is straining an alternator not capable of keeping up, and decreases the life span of the alt. It is needed, and your only saying he doesn't need one because you don't have one. Go back to Car audio 101.

 

[MikeyF 10+ year member]

El OH el at you. I don't have one, because I don't need one. Yes, the two batteries can strain the alt lifespan, but as I said, HE CAN GET BY. A H/O alt is not NEEDED for a 1500w install. Yes, it is nice to have, but not a thing he MUST have in order to run his system. I'm sure there are quite a few people who can chime in on running 1500w WITHOUT a H/O alternator. Your retarded kid. I'm done bashing OPs thread. If you want to continue to not have an understanding on this, feel free to shoot me a PM.

 

[streetbeater07 10+ year member]

bottom line, big three & upgrade stock batt. Then, secondary batt & alt.

 

[streetbeater07 10+ year member]

El OH el at you. I don't have one, because I don't need one. Yes, the two batteries can strain the alt lifespan, but as I said, HE CAN GET BY. A H/O alt is not NEEDED for a 1500w install. Yes, it is nice to have, but not a thing he MUST have in order to run his system. I'm sure there are quite a few people who can chime in on running 1500w WITHOUT a H/O alternator. Your retarded kid. I'm done bashing OPs thread. If you want to continue to not have an understanding on this, feel free to shoot me a PM.

i ran 4000 + without an H/O alt...never had any dimming issues. BUT, i had a helluva battery bank. It is not a bad idea to upgrade the alt, although, not absolutely necessary with 2000 watt system total roughly

 

[*SlappinAzz*]

Your retarded kid.

You lost my all my respect.