2nd Battery

[adblink182]

been having problems with my amp, looks like not enough power for it. I wanted to add a second battery, just wanted to know if anyone has done this and where did you put that battery?

someone told me you can buy some battery relocater kit that puts it in the trunk, I'm assuming you can use the same kit to add a second battery...

comments/suggestions?

[notladstyle@yahoo.]

you need a charger switch to add a second battery, you can buy it at autozone. After that just piggy back it to your amps wiring kit if its 4 gauge and you know how to do it safely. I would recommend you wire a capacitor in first.. one or two farad.

[adblink182]

why would you say a cap first?

[notladstyle@yahoo.]

Originally Posted by adblink182

why would you say a cap first?

Automotive amplifiers are designed for 14v use. All cars in the US regulate the power to around 14v. if you think theres 'not enough power' its is probably due more to the cars innability to supply the power fast enough rather than not being enough power to supply. A capacitor is designed to supply power much faster than a car battery could - hence you save money and get more performance.

[adblink182]

well I'll tell you exactly whats going on, might give you a better idea on a fix

I can drive around for about 10min or so with the music up full, subs pounding. Then the amp will cut out for 10sec....then it will come back on for a few min, then cut out for 10sec and so on and so forth

so my guess is the alternator isnt supply enough power, so its using up power from the battery, when there isnt enough power going to the amp, it then cuts out....while its off....alternator charges battery back up.....amp comes on, plays for awhile, uses the battery again....so and and so forth

what u think?

[jimmytroanoke]

Protection circuitry in the amp is being triggered. The alt. wont charge your battery in 10 sec.

[kustomkid54]

Originally Posted by adblink182

been having problems with my amp, looks like not enough power for it. I wanted to add a second battery, just wanted to know if anyone has done this and where did you put that battery?

someone told me you can buy some battery relocater kit that puts it in the trunk, I'm assuming you can use the same kit to add a second battery...

comments/suggestions?

Also, if the batt. goes in the trunk it has to be vented. If you are using it only at the strip your fine. Everyday driving, needs a vent.

[adblink182]

Originally Posted by jimmytroanoke

Protection circuitry in the amp is being triggered. The alt. wont charge your battery in 10 sec.

well if it was only dipping down below a certain level, maybe 10sec would be enough time to bring it back up over that level. I'm not talking a dead battery

i dunno thats just a guess. What else could it be?

[kustomkid54]

Originally Posted by jimmytroanoke

Protection circuitry in the amp is being triggered. The alt. wont charge your battery in 10 sec.

Did you read this from Jimmy?

[notladstyle@yahoo.]

Originally Posted by adblink182

well I'll tell you exactly whats going on, might give you a better idea on a fix

I can drive around for about 10min or so with the music up full, subs pounding. Then the amp will cut out for 10sec....then it will come back on for a few min, then cut out for 10sec and so on and so forth

so my guess is the alternator isnt supply enough power, so its using up power from the battery, when there isnt enough power going to the amp, it then cuts out....while its off....alternator charges battery back up.....amp comes on, plays for awhile, uses the battery again....so and and so forth

what u think?

You will get 100s of diff opinions as to what the problem is - but they all boil down to three things power, impedance, or heat.

Power: If your amp or subs is drawing too much power that it dips below 10v - this will happen in a typical car at about a 30amp draw the protection will kick on. This voltage only has to drop for a second for this to happen, the amp itself takes the 10 seconds to resart.

Impedance: If you have DVC subs hooked up hte wrong way to your amp eg. you take dual 4ohm and wire them to 2ohm on a crappy amp bridged or dual 2ohm and wire them to 1ohm on each channel, the amp will consume about twice as much power and will produce twice as much heat. one way or another the protection will kick as a result.

Heat: If you turn the gain too far up to get extra power. An average amp can handle a signal os up to 8v RMS and as low as .5vRMS. A typical deck has 2v Outputs and should be tuned to 2v, but ive seen people just max it out thinking they will get more power. Anyways, this makes the amp run hot which again kickes the protection circuit. You could also have a ghetto blanket covering your equipment which is overheating your amp.

If its the power then the cap will add around a 10a surge to the capacity of your electrical system,

If its impedance, fix the wiring.

If its gain, thurn it down and tweak your deck to the proper input.

[adblink182]

so no its not impedance because they are SVC subs and it can't be heat because the amp isnt even warm when it happens

so its power then. you said "the cap will add around a 10a surge to the capacity of your electrical system"

and a 10a surge is a good thing? lol so your saying a cap would fix the problem (hopefully)

[notladstyle@yahoo.]

Originally Posted by adblink182

so no its not impedance because they are SVC subs and it can't be heat because the amp isnt even warm when it happens

so its power then. you said "the cap will add around a 10a surge to the capacity of your electrical system"

and a 10a surge is a good thing? lol so your saying a cap would fix the problem (hopefully)

what gauge wire are you running to the amp? you should have minimum(pathetic swine lowly) of 8ga wire - 6 ga would do for a cheap honda civic with Dual™ subs - 4 ga for any decent system - and 2 ga for 600wattRMS and up

if your amp isnt warm I would look more at what you already have before buying anything extra, you may have a super duper 16ga wire running from the battery, or a really cheap fuse, or a leech in your line at some point. If you arent bold enough to tear up the carpet and find the wire, they just turn your headlights on at night without the car running and fire up your system. You should see at least a small dimming of your headlights on a stock system thats set up right. No dimming = bad wiring or crappy/defective amp or subs.

If you have 4ga wire and know theres no leeching they definitely get hte cap it will solve your problems.

[wylie]

A simple thing that will cause this is polarity as well make sure + = + and - = - if these are crossed you'll get the same symptoms.
I'd follow notladstyle@yahoo"s advise and start with the wiring and you should never have your gains past 75% or you'll be forever replacing parts.
.

[adblink182]

hmmm ic ic. Well I know for a fact its 4g wire...because I orignally had 8 and the place who installed it for me said i needed 4g for the setup I was going with. I will try the headlight thing tonight

in the mean time, I've seen 1 farad, 2, 3,4 etc

how do you know which one to go with?

[notladstyle@yahoo.]

Originally Posted by adblink182

hmmm ic ic. Well I know for a fact its 4g wire...because I orignally had 8 and the place who installed it for me said i needed 4g for the setup I was going with. I will try the headlight thing tonight

in the mean time, I've seen 1 farad, 2, 3,4 etc

how do you know which one to go with?

hehe this whole thread has gone without knowing your specs... cant suggest cap capacity without knowing what your working with.