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Dual battery or capacitor setup ideas??

DmanVT

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Hi all, i have a 99 vt commodore and have a full boot install with 24" monitor and all.

I am a little worries about flattening my battery to start so i was thinking of putting in a dual battery system but charging both batteries first.

They have these dual battery isolators on ebay, can anyone suggest a cheapish isolator that will do the job, i am probably not going to upgrade my alternator and if i get a new one it will be the same type as stock.

Dual Battery Isolator 12V Ideal for Dual Battey Setups in 4X4 By Low Voltage | eBay

Also secondly, when i crank it up a bit the lights start to dim and voltage drops quite a bit on the gauge.
Just wondering would a capacitor be worth getting for that?? sometimes they can make it worse but would i see any gains if i purchased say a 1.5 farrad cap or something?

I am also considering doing big 3 soon which i think will help a bit?

Here is the system im running in the boot ( which i hope to hook up to aux battery if i get one)
p1060769small.jpg


1x hifonics brutus 1200w rms monoblock running 2x eclipse 600wrms subs in parallel
1x dominator shitty brand 4 channel ( yet to upgrade ) 400w ( is all thats written on it so im guessing max)
1x 300w inverter for xbox360 (136w ) and 24" monitor (<50w)
1x Air compressor ( not running all the time ) but for airbag suspension can't remember how much power it drags


any help would be greatly appreciated

Cheers, Darcy
 

m1lky

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Dual battery and alternator upgrade. Caps are a waste of time and money
 

DmanVT

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yer i thought so, how much would i be looking at for an upgraded alternator?? so im guessing by upgraded its like a v8?? or cop alternator??
 

wraith

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Can get your stock alternator rewound last I checked. Would be more looking at switching to a better main battery first then start looking into other ideas.
 

DmanVT

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ahh ok well firstly ill do big 3 and go from there main problem is lights dim
 

MAG00

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In the order I would do it:

>>Big 3
>>Upgrade original battery
>>Upgrade alternator
>>Add a second battery
 

DmanVT

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ahh ok thanks mate
 

yZoH

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If you are serious about it,
Second battery
Ditch A/C
2nd stock alternator.

You'll love it
Cheers
Mat
 

DmanVT

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thanks for the input ill try big 3 first and see how it goes and keep working from there, thanks everyone
 

MAG00

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Just a little more information for you, put basically..

The lights dimming is due to voltage drop across your wires. Performing a big 3 wire upgrade with thicker wiring decreases the resistance of the wire, which decreases the power dissipated across your wiring as by ohms law voltage = current * resistance and Power= current * voltage.. or power = resistance * current^2. Thus, less resistance = less voltage drop = less power dissipated = more power for the rest of your system, including your dimming lights!

If this doesn't work as effectively as you would like, you'll need a battery that is capable of supplying more current!

Capacitors are merely a bandaid solution that resist the change in voltage of your system, not really recommended. Do it right, do it properly.
 
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