Amp pulling too much power?

[1stGenRocks]

bighauns: a cap will help your dimming issues since a cap holds extra power for when the amp hits hard. mount the cap close to the amp. you will still be draining your battery at idle though since alternators dont put out as much at idle

[helliviknow]

even if it peaks a few amps past 130 (and it cant for too long or bye bye fuse) its not doing that untill a big bass note. its gonna constantly be spiking from way below 130 to maybe just above. even if it can draw 130 and peak at 145, its gonna average way below 130. With a 90 amp alternator, it would work intermitently. I wouldn't crank it up more more than a few minutes at a time on the stock setup. I definatly think that with a 130 or so amp alternator and a optima deep cycle (even if it does take more than alt puts out wont hurt anything for a while) you would be good to go. I'm not a real big fan of caps. They help a little on the big notes but I don't think it would do any good on a system like this if its under 10 farad. peace

edit: if you use a cap too small and go into a series of very high bass notes it can hurt you too. Because if the amp drains the cap completly not only is it drawing everything from the battery but the cap is also trying to recharge and it would be worse than if there was no cap at all.

[bighauns]

I as well am not a fan of caps. I think they are kind of like a band-aid, they cover up the problem but really don't fix it. There are more proper ways of fixing issues.

As well, a cap will not necessarly help dimming issues constantly, because after a while the alternator is going to be straining and the cap will not be able to keep up, and then it will be even more difficult to charge it, leading to dimming issues.

But i do see what you are saying, if for short periods of time a cap may be okay, but again...it doesnt really solve it. You dont NEED a cap if you have the rest in place.

Deep Cycle Optima battery is totally the way to go though.

[1stGenRocks]

actually with a really loud system a cap is almost neccesary. the cap gets mounted near the amps in the back and then on spikes the amp can suck all the extra power from the cap instead of taking it from the battery which is all the way in the front of the car. even with heavy guage power wires there's still loss from the distance.

[helliviknow]

well a caps main purpose isnt even to supply raw amps. Its to maintain the voltage. When the amp is drawing really high amounts on the bass notes it can drop the voltage (diming lights). Say it gets really bad, and it drop the voltage to say 6 volts. If the amp is suppose to put out 500 watts on that peak it would really only be doing 125 or so. And that would be distorted! The cap is there because it can dispense energy far batter than a battery. It keeps the volts from spiking. But i still say with the proper battery (optima or similar) that discharges far greater than regular batterys at higher cycles and especially if its located in the trunk near the amp, a cap shouldnt be required.

[bighauns]

Exactly. That is why there is no need for a cap until the rest of the supporting pieces are in place. A cap is most definately not the first thing that should be put in. that is what I am trying to get at.

[bk_twistedyouth]

Well if i was you i would save the money and buy a extra battery to run off of your factory battery. It cost more but will give you the power you need, plus it will help if you run 0 gague wire. I have 2 L7 12 with a 1200.1 in a hatch back mazda mx3 i hit a 154.9

[smoke121212]

please do not bring back old threads, you are new but if you do it again the mods will probably chew your ass out.

by the way, welcome to AF.