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Unregistered guest | I am having some issues with my stereo, I have a 1500 mono block amp pushing 1, 12 inch sub, and the lights seem to dim while I am driving, I have a 2.4 farad cap on there also, the alternator on the durango is a 160 amp alternator, I dont know what to do to make it stop doing that and I am also wanting to go with 2 12's and if it is pulling that much with just one, I dont think I will be able to push two like they are supposed to be pushed. What should I do? Will a inline battery with the original help? |
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Silver Member Username: Need4bassWe-Be-Swamps, Louisiana Post Number: 157 Registered: Oct-05 | What size of power and ground wire did you run to the amp? Where is the ground wire connected? |
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Gold Member Username: CarguyPost Number: 4962 Registered: Nov-04 | Was your alternator stock or did you upgrade it? Some of the newer trucks seem to come with large alternators. However, that doesn't mean you have access to all of it. Most of the times, 60% - 75% of it is used by the car itself. Therefore, if you install 1500w amp, your alternator will not have enough power left for it. Thus, you get dimming lights. Don't get 2nd battery unless you listen often with car off. Upgrade to 200A HO alternator. It will get rid of the dimming light problem, guaranteed. If you haven't upgraded your stock power wires, do so. |
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New member Username: GezyonHavelock, NC United States Post Number: 1 Registered: Nov-05 | I have 1 gauge wire going all through my vehicle, and the alternator is stock 160 amp. I have been told by a few different audio people around here that adding the second battery and a regulator/isolator will help with that problem...... I dont know, I havent really dealt with too many big systems. |
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Gold Member Username: CarguyPost Number: 4967 Registered: Nov-04 | Adding 2nd battery and isolator is only a temporary fix. When you crank up the volume, the amp will demand high current. Whatever energy that's stored in the battery will get drained rapidly. Once that's done, there is only one other place left, your stock alternator. It is the only device that will produce power. Everything else just stores. Think about it. Yellowtop battery with isolator will cost you over $200+. HO alternator will cost $200+. Which do you think will be better for you in the long run? |
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Bronze Member Username: Mattc6465Post Number: 40 Registered: Oct-05 | i have a durango also i coundnt seem to find the stock alt rating. what year is you durango Gezyon? |
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Gold Member Username: Suleman36Maryland U.S.A. Post Number: 2460 Registered: Feb-05 | Isaac is right. You need to upgrade to a 200A HO alternator. www.excessiveamperage.com is a great place to find them. Just call them and talk to nathan / Great service. |
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New member Username: GezyonHavelock, NC United States Post Number: 2 Registered: Nov-05 | Matt: hey I have a 160 amp alt in there now, the easiest way to find out what one you have is do what I did, I called the dealership and had them run the VIN and see what came on the vehicle. If you have a regular Durango then you probably have the 136 amp but I think if it is the RT or the SLT Plus then it has the 160 amp. Also depends on the age of the vehicle. MO: yea, Nathan e-mailed me, I went to that site and was inquiring about one, and I guess some information was left out and he e-mailed me to find out the other information so he could get the price and the one I need. Just Information: there is a audio store around here where I live that had a Ford explorer that had 6- 12" sub woofers in it and 3 1500 watt amps in it, and they never upgraded the alternator and the stock alternator on it was only a 60 amp, but they had added like 6-8 deep cycle batteries to it, and man could they run the heck out of it and it hit sooo hard! So is Upgrading the Alternator a MUST or just a plus??? |
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Gold Member Username: CarguyPost Number: 4975 Registered: Nov-04 | Larry, how much do you think they spent on those batteries? 2 of them would equal the price of HO alternator. When those batteries get drained, where do you think it'll try and get the power from? If you think the guy's stereo pounded with 6 batteries (12.5v), wait till you hear the same stereo with HO alternator installed (14.4v). |
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New member Username: GezyonHavelock, NC United States Post Number: 5 Registered: Nov-05 | I see what you are saying, I think I still am going to go with the HO alternator, and maybe even throw the extra battery in the back for a little help, if you know what I mean? Thanks for the advice. |
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New member Username: GezyonHavelock, NC United States Post Number: 7 Registered: Nov-05 | I see what you are saying, I think I still am going to go with the HO alternator, and maybe even throw the extra battery in the back for a little help, if you know what I mean? Thanks for the advice. Yea, no matter how many batteries you have you still will be only pushing about 12.5-13.4 volts, so I completely agree with you. |
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New member Username: UnknownprotocalPost Number: 1 Registered: Nov-05 | i have the same problem with the whole blinking lights thing... but i drive a kia rio... and have a lot of things pulling power.... i want to get my alternator re-wound but im curious... is there a such thing as too much power? my bass amp is 1000 watt RMS my highs amp is 400 watt RMS i have a flip down screen, undercar neons, several in car lights, and aftermarket headlights and about to have HID foglights... i bought a second battery and put it in the trunk ran in parralell... i know i need alot of power and my stock alternator is 85 amp...( did i mention my headlights almost blink?, lol )... how much amperage should i try for? |
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Gold Member Username: CarguyPost Number: 5002 Registered: Nov-04 | You have a bad setup. First of all, your stock alternator isn't producing enough power for most of your devices. Secondly, having 2 batteries in parallel means, the alternator will have to work 2x harder to charge them. What you should've done was to get a battery isolator to separate the 2 batteries. One for starting your car, and 2nd (yellowtop) to run all your accessories. That way, if you abuse the power, the 2nd battery will die, but still enabling you to start the car and drive away. Starting the car will again recharge the 2nd battery. A better solution is to have HO alternator big enough for the accessories. I doubt you will be able to get one bigger than 160A for Kia. If you look under "accessories" thread, you will find links and contacts for HO alternator maker. |
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New member Username: UnknownprotocalPost Number: 2 Registered: Nov-05 | thank you isaac, do you think 160 amp is powerful enough? |
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Gold Member Username: CarguyPost Number: 5013 Registered: Nov-04 | You can never have too much power, well that's the theory. 160A will certainly be better than the stock 60A. |
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Bronze Member Username: GezyonHavelock, NC United States Post Number: 13 Registered: Nov-05 | About the extra battery, in my durango, I put a deepcycle battery in the back of it and ran it in parallel with my battery up front and now I am not draining the lights at all, and it hits harder then before. You can also add a bigger alternator for more power. The voltage before was dropping below 11.5, and now that I added that battery, the voltage has not even dropped below 12.7 and my amp is now getting the power it needs to push the tweleves. |
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Greggs Unregistered guest | what's that guys e-mail.. where is he out of???? i'm in iowa.. can he get it to me... how to install... ect??? |
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ReLOaDeD Unregistered guest | Hey I was wandering that if 1 Memphis 15" sub and a 1200 watt amp would be too much for my 90 amp alternator? I have no power windows , power locks, power seats etc. so wouldnt the car only be using up about half of the alternators power? thinkin about adding another 15 too and was going to turn the power down on the amp so that I wouldnt be running too much juice to the subs. Tips please |
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New member Username: RushpsSalt lake city, Utah Usa Post Number: 1 Registered: Nov-05 | One of my employees brought this to my attention, so I registered to shed some light on how an alternator works. An alternator just wants balance, that's it. It looks at the voltage in the battery and the load on the battery and adjusts the amperage to balance the voltage. If you add a second battery without an isolator, the alternator will "see" them as one. This will cause the alternator to reduce its power output. Your stereo will "feel" like it is working better but this is because you have longer playtime due to reserve amp hours. Now the bad part, if you add an isolator you will loose up to 1 full volt accost the diodes. So at the alternator you may have 14 volts and at the batteries you may have 13 volts. None of this will matter if you do not have proper grounds. Amplifiers should be grounded to the frame with the proper size wire, as well as the proper size wire to the positive side of the amp. At the engine you should have a cable from the battery negative to the alternator case (mounting point), then to the frame, then to the body, and back to the battery negative. A capacitor is a bandage. Its like a shock for your stereo, in the movies when you see the doctor put the paddles on the guy to shock his heart back to life, well the power comes from capacitors. They store lost of voltage but not many amps. The only time you should use a cap is if you system looses bass in a series of bass notes, the first one will feel crisp and then it will get mushy as the beat continues. If you listen to your stereo with the engine on all the time use an optima red, if you play it with the engine off use the yellow. The yellow was designed to power a boat around a lake when trolling. If you are going to run 2 batteries the best way Is to use 2 alternators, its not easy to do, just the best way to go. Everything I have touched on here is real world, not some multi battery bass machine that hits 150 db for 10 seconds, goes on its trailer and goes home. Hopefully that helps shed some light if it has raised questions feel free to e-mail me. Darren Owner Rush Power Systems |
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ReLOaDeD Unregistered guest | Again I want to know:::: Hey I was wandering that if 1 Memphis 15" sub and a 1200 watt amp would be too much for my 90 amp alternator? I have no power windows , power locks, power seats etc. so wouldnt the car only be using up about half of the alternators power? thinkin about adding another 15 too and was going to turn the power down on the amp so that I wouldnt be running too much juice to the subs. Tips please |
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Bronze Member Username: GezyonHavelock, NC United States Post Number: 21 Registered: Nov-05 | ReLOaDeD: Well the one 15" sub should not be too much for the alternator you have on your car, but if you add the second one too your car, you will be probably drawing too much for that alternator. Even if you only turn the amp up a third. If you do add the extra 15, try adding a yellow top optimum battery also. |
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Bronze Member Username: Lukewarm12ALtoona, PA USA Post Number: 16 Registered: Oct-05 | Everyone..... Since I came here for the same topic, and everyone seems to know what they are talking about, I need some advise. I have a 1999 grand Prix GT. I do not know the technical data on my Alt. or battery. This is what I do know. I have a 500 RMS Memphis amp running my 10's (bass) I have a 150 RMS MTX amp running my mids and I have a 50 RMS amp running my tweets (highs) I have one 4 gauge wire running back to a splitter which powers all three amps. Driving highway or above say 40 Mile an hour, everything is fine, but lower speeds all of my lights dim, and sitting at idle my rpm even droppes a tad when the subs hit. Now....my question is, what is the best fix. I know this can not be good for my engine to be loosing power every time my subs hit. I have been told just to upgrade my battery's ground wire to 4 gauge, and because my car has a big AC unit, my Alt should handle all the stereo equipment I have hooked up just fine. (only 700w) I have also been told to have my battery checked, and if it is old get a new one. I have been told to buy a cap, but I also have been told that they do solve the lights dimming, but that they are useless and puts strain on the Alt. And last I have been told to buy a bigger Alternator, which can get pricy. WHO out there knows enough about caps to know if they are useless or not, and anything else I should try. My opinion is first to upgrade by battery's ground to 4 gauge. If this doesn't work, test the battery. If this is fine, price a cap or bigger alternator, (both seem to be in the same price range, the alternator being a little mre expense. ANY SUGGESTIONS/INFO will be appreciated. |
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Bronze Member Username: GezyonHavelock, NC United States Post Number: 22 Registered: Nov-05 | Alright, here are a few things you can do to help out with your car. 1. If you buy a Capacitor you only need 1 farad for each 1000 watts rms that you are pushing, it is not a bad idea, they help out with the initial drain that the subs pull from the amp, and it gives you a little more cleaner sound. 2. You should have three seperate power wires going to each amp, the 4 gauge to the Memphis amp, and 8 gauge going to both the other smaller amps. 3. You should upgrade the wires going from the alternator to the original battery, from the battery to ground, and the alternator to ground also. I would at least run 4 gauge or even 1-0 gauge for these, I have 0 in my truck. 4. To help at idle and at lower speeds, it would be a good idea to upgrade the battery under your hood to a Yellow Top Optimum battery, you will be amazed at the difference only doing this will make, make sure it has close to 700 CCA (cold cranking amps) or more if possible. They are not cheap, stay with yellow top, not red or blue! 5. If after you upgrade the battery under the hood and you still have the problem, then you can think about either one of two things; putting another yellow top battery inline with the one under the hood, that way you will be getting maximum voltage back to the amps. On my durango, I was pulling some massize power and all my lights would dim and everything, and what I did was; upgrade all my wiring to 1 gauge,, I have a 2.4 farad cap, and I put a new battery under the hood and a 2nd optimum battery in the back inline with the one under the hood, and now my lights never dim and my amp has max power and it hits hard! |
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Unregistered guest | ok, durangoman I was wandering that if you were talkin about juss replacing my battery I have now with a yellow top battery not juss add it with whatI have. How much would a yellow top battery be? or could I solve the whole problem by juss getting a capacitor and not replacing the battery? ...Also how hard will the 2 15" memphis hit with 1200 watt amp and the capacitor , all this stuff would be in my 93' shadow 2-door hatchback so scale from 1-10 how hard would it hit compared to normal stuff people have? Again sorry for all the ?'s |
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Bronze Member Username: GezyonHavelock, NC United States Post Number: 23 Registered: Nov-05 | Well you would not be solving the problem with just adding a cap, they are just for the initial shock on the electrical system when your system hits. You will just for now need to add the yellow top battery under the hood, and you should be good for now. When you add the second 15 you will have a lot more low end bass and it will sound really loud in there because there is not much air space between you and the subs. The only way you would be able to see where it is hitting at is to go to a shop that has a db meter. then you will know exatcly what your system will do. The yellow top will run you anywhere from 135-200 dollars for one, but believe me they are worth it! Hope this helps. |
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hookdogg Unregistered guest | listen to isaac, plain and simple. |