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Amp draining battery, new alternator?

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Old Oct 29, 2022
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Amp draining battery, new alternator?

Hi guys. I'm new here and I know nothing about cars. I'm a female and I don't want to go to some shop where a salesman can easy play me out once they figure out that I'm clueless lol. Anyways I have a 2019 civic lx 2.0 L. I recently got a 1000 watt amp and subwoofer installed. So naturally, it drained my battery completely in a matter of a few months. Anyways I went out today and bought a much better quality battery but I also know that the same thing is just going to happen again. I started looking for high output alternators and I couldn't seem to find any that fit my exact car. I checked all the major sites that sell them. Does anybody know where I can find one? Was thinking of being safe and just going for the 240 amp one. I'm also open to any other suggestions/ideas if anybody has any.
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Old Oct 29, 2022
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Re: Amp draining battery, new alternator?

A different alternator won't make a difference. The problem is there's a power draw when the car is off. You need to figure out where that's coming from. Do any lights related to the amp/sub stay illuminated?
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Old Oct 29, 2022
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Re: Amp draining battery, new alternator?

Originally Posted by FRSam
A different alternator won't make a difference. The problem is there's a power draw when the car is off. You need to figure out where that's coming from. Do any lights related to the amp/sub stay illuminated?
oh okay good thing I asked then lol. And no there’s no lights that stay on anywhere I have no idea where the draw is coming from
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Old Oct 29, 2022
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Re: Amp draining battery, new alternator?

Originally Posted by dviggi
oh okay good thing I asked then lol. And no there’s no lights that stay on anywhere I have no idea where the draw is coming from
It's very likely to be coming from either the amp or the subwoofer. Chances are one of them is running off a full-time circuit in the car - one that operates even while the car is off. I'm not knowledgeable enough in electronics to tell you much more than that. If you explain the situation, a decent local shop should be able to help you.
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Old Oct 29, 2022
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Re: Amp draining battery, new alternator?

what did you hook the amp remote wire to?
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Old Oct 29, 2022
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Re: Amp draining battery, new alternator?

Originally Posted by xRiCeBoYx
what did you hook the amp remote wire to?
so when I looked under the hood today it looked like it’s connected to that fuse box thingy.. like it’s underneath one of the screws that’s connected to the fuse box if that makes sense. I think that’s what it’s called at least
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Old Oct 29, 2022
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Re: Amp draining battery, new alternator?

Originally Posted by FRSam
It's very likely to be coming from either the amp or the subwoofer. Chances are one of them is running off a full-time circuit in the car - one that operates even while the car is off. I'm not knowledgeable enough in electronics to tell you much more than that. If you explain the situation, a decent local shop should be able to help you.
I was gonna go to a shop and have them install an on/off toggle switch to my dash so I can turn the amp & sub whenever I want … I wonder if that would help it to not draw power when the car is off
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Old Oct 29, 2022
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Re: Amp draining battery, new alternator?

I'd be worried if the amp remote wire was hooked directly to the "always hot" wires on the engine bay fuse box. I'd be willing to bet that's the amp power wire.

The remote wire would typically be blue with a white stripe, and should only be connected to something that has power when the car is in at least accessory mode. That way, the amp won't draw power when the car is off. If the remote wire was hooked up to an always hot wire, yeah, a switch would help alleviate that, but you'd have to make it habit to turn it on and turn it off when you turn the car on/off
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Old Oct 29, 2022
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Re: Amp draining battery, new alternator?

Originally Posted by xRiCeBoYx
I'd be worried if the amp remote wire was hooked directly to the "always hot" wires on the engine bay fuse box. I'd be willing to bet that's the amp power wire.

The remote wire would typically be blue with a white stripe, and should only be connected to something that has power when the car is in at least accessory mode. That way, the amp won't draw power when the car is off. If the remote wire was hooked up to an always hot wire, yeah, a switch would help alleviate that, but you'd have to make it habit to turn it on and turn it off when you turn the car on/off

It’s a thick red wire and it’s connected right there on that screw thingy

If I don’t do the toggle switch I wonder if I can just figure out somewhere else to put it? I have no idea what’s considered not “always hot” so I’ll have to look further into it

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Old Oct 29, 2022
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Re: Amp draining battery, new alternator?

yeah, if your setup makes any sense, that should be the power wire to the amp. The remote wire will be a small like.. 16-18ga wire likely hooked up to something under the dash or to the wiring harness behind the head unit. Unless whoever installed it straight up jumped the amp remote terminal to the amp's positive terminal
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Old Oct 29, 2022
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Re: Amp draining battery, new alternator?

Originally Posted by xRiCeBoYx
yeah, if your setup makes any sense, that should be the power wire to the amp. The remote wire will be a small like.. 16-18ga wire likely hooked up to something under the dash or to the wiring harness behind the head unit. Unless whoever installed it straight up jumped the amp remote terminal to the amp's positive terminal
ohhh okay. I feel like I saw blue wiring at one point when I took pieces of the dash off. Couldn’t tell what it was connected to tho. I wish you could just come fix it 😂
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Old Oct 29, 2022
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Re: Amp draining battery, new alternator?

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Old Oct 29, 2022
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Re: Amp draining battery, new alternator?

fr tho, you might need to do some digging. First place to look is at the backside of the amp where the connectors are. Should be 5 wires coming out of it: sub positive and negative, +12VDC (thick wire, some random color, traditionally red), ground (thick wire, usually black, otherwise some neutral color), and the amp remote turn on wire (which should be the thinnest wire coming out of the thing). That's what you want to trace and find out what it's hooked up to. Should be the same color for the entire length that wire is run, so just look for a wire that def doesn't look stock behind the head unit that matches color and that should be it. If you can tell us what it's hooked up to (color of the OEM wire and location under the dash should be enough), might be able to see if it was hooked up in a "proper" way
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Old Oct 29, 2022
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Re: Amp draining battery, new alternator?

Originally Posted by xRiCeBoYx
fr tho, you might need to do some digging. First place to look is at the backside of the amp where the connectors are. Should be 5 wires coming out of it: sub positive and negative, +12VDC (thick wire, some random color, traditionally red), ground (thick wire, usually black, otherwise some neutral color), and the amp remote turn on wire (which should be the thinnest wire coming out of the thing). That's what you want to trace and find out what it's hooked up to. Should be the same color for the entire length that wire is run, so just look for a wire that def doesn't look stock behind the head unit that matches color and that should be it. If you can tell us what it's hooked up to (color of the OEM wire and location under the dash should be enough), might be able to see if it was hooked up in a "proper" way
gotcha. I will def take a look tomorrow in the daylight and report back. Thank you for the help 😌
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Old Oct 29, 2022
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Re: Amp draining battery, new alternator?

or you could take to the shop that installed it and place a complaint - their fault likely...
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