Seperate Battey

[bumpinstang77]

At what point (watts) in a car audio system is it necessary to get a seperate battery to run your system? Also If my max power is almost 2000 watts 1000 rms I should get a 2 farad cap right?

[sr20de4evr]

There's never a spot where it's necessary to ge a separate battery, that's more for the people who like to run their system for a long while with the car off. If you never do that then you shouldn't need a 2nd battery. You also shouldn't need a cap, I could argue all day and night why a cap is useless, but I'll just sumarize it into this. A cap should NEVER be your first solution to dimming problems, first upgrade the wiring (batt to ground, alt to batt, engine to ground), if you still have dimming then upgrade your battery, if you still have dimming then upgrade your alternator (this is debateable, but for the same cost as a cap why not get something that will actually help your electrical system instead of just acting as a bandaid), if you still have dimming THEN you can try a cap.

[bumpinstang77]

I'm not getting the cap because of the dimming Id on't care about that I just want it to make sure the power is always there for my amps.

[sr20de4evr]

no need for a cap, like I said, just upgrade those things and it should take care of any electrical "issues" you might have. Just to let you know I have ~1200rms total, and I hold a solid 14+ volts at both amps no matter how long or loud I've been playing the system. Even on a 30Hz test tone at idle at full tilt it holds 14.1V at the sub amp.

I have stock battery and stock 80amp alt, the only electrical upgrades I've done are the big 3

[faithandfame]

i dont know if i really agree with that a cap doesnt help. i have a 2 farad cap in my car now with a 1000+ watt system in my car. before the cap my headlights, gauges, and interior lights all dimmed, now i have no dimming at all with the cap.

[sr20de4evr]

I never said a cap doesn't help, I said it's a waste of money
There are other things you can do that either
1 - are cheaper and just as effective if not more so (big 3)
2 - cost the same but help out your electrical system way more than a cap does (battery, HO alternator)

I was in the same situation as you, 1200+ watts, massive dimming, etc. Spent $7 and upgraded the big 3, now I don't have any dimming and can hold a 14+V charge at both amps playing a test tone at full tilt at idle. Can you do the same? Put on a test tone or any solid bass line and see how long that cap holds up.

[Haibane]

Or, you could just buy yourself a nice little PG Cyclone if you can find one. LOL. I have been talking too much to some of these crazyer guys...

[PaulD]

sometimes caps work, sometimes they don't ......

as for HO alternators, just remember that they often put out very little power at idle - often less than the OEM one the car came with

[GCguy2169]

Instead of jsut upgrading all that stuff, how about jsut getting a 280 amp altenator, is this a good decision?

[sr20de4evr]

yeah that would work, but it would be insanely overkill with 1000rms

and upgrading the wiring will still help out your electrical system

[GCguy2169]

What do you mean by overkill? If I jsut install a 280 amp alt, or less, this can only supply my battery with enough juice it needs as well as sending power to everything else. If i got a 280 amp alt, I would surely have to upgrade wiring, but this seems like a cheaper solution?
Let me give you this scenario, I have a bud who has 4 Audiobahns 18's, hes runnin I'd say about 10 yellow tops, whats wrong with this, because if your telling bumpinstang77, that a seperate battery is not the way to go, then whys this kid got 10?

[sr20de4evr]

1000rms will never draw anywhere close to 280 amps, so it's overkill. He could go with a 160 and be perfectly fine, anything over that is just wasting money.

I'm guessing your friend with the 4 18's competes? If not then that was the biggest waste of money I can possible conceive, if so then he has all those because competitions are done with the car off, which fits perfectly in my very first comment in this thread, "There's never a spot where it's necessary to ge a separate battery, that's more for the people who like to run their system for a long while with the car off. If you never do that then you shouldn't need a 2nd battery."

[PaulD]

additional batteries are a LOAD on the alternator, once the car is started - not a source of more power. Most comp guys use like 7 or 8 volt batteries in pairs (wired in SERIES) to give them 14-16V to their amps. Each amp has at least one pair. They they use loosely regulated amps to get that extra dB or so.