Rep Power: 333

first, i would like to know if its really true or just a myth that for every 500rms cont. watts you run, a 1 fared capacity should be in use along with it. inputs, stories, feedback, anything?


secondly, my friend and i are trying to hook up 2 15" subs in his civic with an 1200rms amp. EACH of those 15's are 1000rms btw. hes curious about his battery dying from so much power going thruout his entire audio system and wanted to know by hooking up a 3 fared capacitor with the amp thats gonna be powering the 15's, will he be safe? his music playing habits are usually in the 70% volume range and listens to super low bass notes music type (hip hop/trance/etc).

would he be better off buying a 2nd battery and place it in his trunk and run all the stereo power on just that battery? do they even make batterys just for ICE?


which would be his best and safest solution? (even if i havent listed the best)


thanks

 
Rep Power: 337

best advice is to hook up what he has and see what happens to his car, monitor voltages regularly, dimming, etc to determine the best course of action, if any, is needed to beef up the electrical system.

as for preventative action, its really kind of difficult, as each "upgrade" does something different, does something for a different performance upgrade (think of putting road race suspension and tires on a drag race car...). So I think for the best value, It would be the best to simply install what youve already paid for, and if there are no harmful side effects, then no worries!

and if there are, you can take corrective actions with no long term consequences to the car.

 
Rep Power: 320

its very costly but u can always get an isolator and an optima yellow top, and wire ur amps directly to the isolated optima that way when ur optima is out of juice ur system dies and ur stock battery is still in good working condition and keeps your car running just fine

you said he runs a 1200rms AMP w/ 2x 1000rms 15s? if the amp is only 1200, then he is only pusing 1200, I have 1k rms total between interior speakers and subs, I dont run it 100% of course, but I have a 1 farad cap, and an optima yellow top and Im currently not having any problems, I was running the stock batt w/ cap and my headlights wouldnt dim unless I had defrost on..

I'd prolly get an isolator and yellow top, it seems to be the safest route..

sounddomain.com sells isolators, caps and batterys, I know for a fact they have optimas, stinger, RF..

they price match 105% too.

however, like WhiteRabbit said, trial is the best route just try things and see how it goes, thats also the cheapest way to go.

 
Rep Power: 328

Generally, people say 0.5 farads per 500 watts, or 1 farad per kW. Caps are pretty much only for dimming however, they won't do jack **** for your electrical system. If you're worried about your electrical, I'd say go for the big 3, and do a cap last if you're still getting dimming, and it bothers you. That's all it is a corrective measure for.

 
Rep Power: 0

my alternator just went out, i have had my systme for about 4 months, 2 12, speakers, and 2 400 watt amps

420.00 it cost me for a new alternator

 
Rep Power: 0

^holy **** man, you should of gotten an aftermarket.. or did you?

 
Rep Power: 333

is the optima yellow battery specifically made for stereo systems or to handle a lot of electrical thruout the powerband?


would he be fine if he were to replace his car battery with optima yellow top, hook it up with the 2 15", the 1200rms amp and a 1 fared cap? any future alternator problems? he pretty much wants his car to live without any harm..

 
Rep Power: 0

Did you not have a cap??? if not then thats probely your problem becasue it couldnt keep with the amps.

 
Rep Power: 337

the yellowtop is marketed specifically for audio systems, but built like any other gel cell deep cycle battery.

the yellowtop is designed to be able to be drained fully without harming its ability to hold charge, unlike your starting battery. this comes at a cost of response time to provide the current.

alternately, that capacitor doesnt hold very much charge at all. in fact, its almost zero. but it comes at blazing speed, whatever is there.

I suggest you read http://www.betteraudio.com/geolemon/newmain/battcapalt/ to get some good information on what each upgrade does, the differences between deep cycles and starting batteries from a stereo performance standpoint, and a suggested order in which to upgrade. In this sitauation, I dont really recommend following that order, but to rather determine whats best after installing everything.

again, I recommend installing everything you have first, THEN seeing whats needed.

By installing everything you have first, you wont spend one unnneccesary penny. why get a deep cycle when its a starting battery you really needed to help? or if you just needed another farad of capacitance? what if you really do need that alternator, but spent your money on three batteries instead? what if you need nothing and you just wasted hundreds on needless items?

its best to install everything first, I suggest.

 
Rep Power: 333

im curious to know if anyone here ran a massive amount of watts with their factory battery and alternator? if so, how many watts and how long has it been? any problems/etc ?




instead of creating another thread about bass pounding subs and juiced amps built to pound subs, what are good brands of amps to look into specially for sub woofers? and besides looking at the audiobahn sub woofer line-up (which there known for 'notorious' bass), what subs can produce the massive bass like audiobahn?

i talked to a buddy and he says hi fonics brutus are great amps to run with subwoofers if your looking for a class D style. inputs?


thanks

 
Rep Power: 328

The cap's not gonna do anything to protect the electrical. It's gonna keep the lights from dimming, and that's it.

 
Rep Power: 328

Massive Bass? Audiobahn... ehh... sure if you like bling bling style bass. I'd compare lots of other things to them however. As for Hifonics amps. They're alright for budget bass. They have a good watt per dollar ratio. Meaning that for the price, you get a decent amount of power.

 
Rep Power: 337

my experience having 3kwatts on 100% stock electricals is that there are absolutely no issues whatsoever in any way shape or form as long as you drive more than *about* 30 minutes at a time. morning commute, long trips, etc.

furthermore, I found I had no troubles in short commutes as long as I waited a minute or so before turning the stereo on, and turning it off a couple minutes before reaching my destination. Of course, going to the corner mart presented a huge problem in this respect!

At the time, I lived in a town of 40,000 people. my average drive was 6 miles. If I blasted music from the moment I turned the car on to the moment I turned it off, my car was on the brink of losing charge after about two weeks. The car would continue to maintain starting and driving ability, but there was one catastrophic event. I was on a hill and stalled. Car was dead and had to push start it. after that, it went back to its partial charged state.

To correct this action, I could have chosen a medium sized or a pair of small sized starting batteries and put them in the trunk on an isolator designed to isolate the batteries at all times minus when the engine was running. diode isolator would probbaly be even better.

But I also wanted to give my car the ability to play for long periods of time with the engine entirely off (drive in movie). To accomplish this, I chose a single large deep cycle battery instead of a medium or pair of small starting batteries, off an isolator that is always always on with the engine running and always always off with the car off. every accessory from power windows to the power inverter runs off the rear battery, allowing the front honda battery (still oem battery that came with the car in 2001) to be dedicated for starting.

That fixed any high current issues for me with stock electricals.

 
Rep Power: 333

hmm interesting, instead of purchasing another battery for the trunk and have that trunk battery hooked up for your stereo/other electricals, would have going with a yellow optima top on the front ONLY be a wise choice? would that let you be able to play the system from the start to end without worrying?


thanks

 
Rep Power: 337

totally. you can think of it like a mix between the two. you wont get as much charge as a second battery on an isolator, nor will your car be safe from slower and slower starts.

if neither of these bug you, a single yellowtop or redtop under the hood would be another good alternative.