Battery quiries

[matt_gotigers]

Hey, jus bout to get some audio stuff installed (sub, 2 chnl amp, 4 chnl amp, capacitor) and also 2 6" neons in the back and 2 12" led stick things that pulse with the music, jus wondering how the battery is gona handle it all and wondering when would you consider a 2nd battery for accesories!? Im driving a 93 hsv VP so if anyones got a similar set up let me kno plz! A few of my mates have vps and have blown a few fuses and stuff thru shitty wiring so wheres the best place to pinch power from? cheers, matt

 

[Morton]

Mate, I have a friend running two amps (around 400w through each), and three subs in the back of his Ford Telstar (4cyl, small alternator), and it's never had a problem - just a little voltage drop when he cranks it. (and I mean when he -cranks- it)

You won't need a second battery. The only problem I can see is perhaps if you're cranking the system heavily, with fog lights on, the rear demister, your heater on #4, all the neons going, and you're cruising gently along down the highway, that your battery may not recharge itself properly.

How powerful are your amps, and what gauge cable are you using?

Could depend on the efficiency of your amps, too. We hooked up my mate's 350w audiobarn amp with my Fusion sub in my car, and it was giving me quite a large amount of voltage drop on the beats. Roof light was strobing like a disco ^^ It wasn't putting much sound through the sub either. Then I re-installed my 200w Fusion amp, and it put out far greater volume without ANY voltage drop at all.

 

[matt_gotigers]

um the 2chnl amps 250W and i havent got the 4chnl amp yet coz im gettin it off a mate but i think its 600W does that sound right? the wire is 8 gauge (once again im only pretty sure)

 

[matt_gotigers]

p.s. the capacitor will stop the voltage drops if i had any...

 

[Morton]

If you're looking at getting a 600w amp, you may want to invest in some 4 gauge cable. You'll lose a little through 8ga, and the wires could get a bit hot, too.

With what you've got in there at the moment you should have NO problems. And if you do find you need more voltage, you should consider replacing your current battery with a single high-performance battery, rather than trying to run two batteries in the one car.