Will I need a bigger battery

[jacksa]

Hi all, probably on here, but I am in the process of upgrading from the stock stereo system in my vx executive.

I am getting my new head unit and front speakers/amp installed by JB on Friday and will be putting my sub in myself once I finish building the box (most likely within a couple of weeks).
Dad thinks I will need to upgrade to a bigger battery to handle it all, but before I get one I thought I would see what you all think.
The speaker amp is a JL Audio 4 channel 400 watt RMS, and the amp I already have for the sub is an Audioline mono 300 watt RMS.

Thanks in advance for your advice,
Jack

[Nic92]

no you shouldnt need to upgrade to a bigger battery.

it might help if you stated what battery you have at the moment.

[jacksa]

I don't know much about batteries, so I'll just upload a picture of it haha

[DAKSTER]

If you have the amps wired correctly, they are directly to the battery, and therefore also directly to the alternator since its the same connection.

In theory, once the car is started you shouldnt need a battery at all, the power comes from the alternator. Dont know if you can do it to modern cars but on older cars you could start a car with a good battery, and while the car was running, disconnect that battery and stick a dead one in to charge it. Of course, you needed two people, one to hold the battery leads well apart from each other and anything else while the other stuck the battery in. Power fluctuations whilst doing this may kill modern computers though, I dont know.

If you need anything at all, (unless you are going to park your car with the engine off and become the local boombox in which case yes you will need a good battery), its not a battery its a better alternator. Its highly unlikely you will need either, its really not that much power in real terms.

EDIT: if you had a seriously powerful system, its possible I guess that a battery could help, in that it would be available to supply some extra grunt during peak power demand. Cant see that being the case with your amps though.

[jacksa]

I was thinking it might be the alternator if anything actually, and I never knew that about older cars, interesting to know.
Uploaded a pic just before you replied, if that helps.
Thanks

[DAKSTER]

Yeah modified my post when i saw the battery. Its enough IMO.

As to the changing batteries thing I was talking about..

If you think about it, the wires from the alternator and the wires from the car are directly connected at the battery terminals.. and if you remove them from the battery, they are still connected and still getting power from the alternator..

Voltage changes might occur momentarily when actually connecting or disconnecting the battery, and you certainly wouldnt want a spark ( as you may see sometimes if you hook a new battery up to a car and something was turned on ) so I dont think I would be game to try it on a modern car or the computers may be at risk.

[vn1989]

yeah shouldnt need a battery i was thinking about putting a battery in my spare wheel well in my boot to run my amps off and leave my spare wheel out but decided it was un needed

[jacksa]

Alright, thanks for the help guys. I'll see how it goes anyway.
Cheers!

[juzzyx]

You don't NEED a battery but getting one is a good start if your planning on upgrading.

Just get a capacitor and you will be fine. In my old VS equipe when the bass was going off, all my lights would almost completely go out lol, I got a 1.2 farad capacitor and never had a problem after that with dimming lights.

[sweefu]

You don't NEED a battery but getting one is a good start if your planning on upgrading.

Just get a capacitor and you will be fine. In my old VS equipe when the bass was going off, all my lights would almost completely go out lol, I got a 1.2 farad capacitor and never had a problem after that with dimming lights.

Your dimming lights would have been a problem of your wiring, a capacitor is adding a band-aid over the problem instead of treating the wound. I run 2500wrms through stock alternator and have never had any light dimming, many people do the same with proper wiring.

[wrx884]

u wont need a bigger battery or a cap or a better alternator. just make sure ur current battery is in good condition (holds charge) and ur regulator is keeping up with the charge rate. If anything "the big 3" will b the only thing u could do 2 improve the system.

[StoneX]

Simply for you, the only reason to get a bigger battery is if you run the stereo with the car off for long periods of time.

[jacksa]

Alright, thanks for the input guys. I never really just sit with music on, mainly due to not wanting a flat battery. But I'll keep an eye on it once it is all installed. Cheers