power supply question

[viper167 1]

In the near future im going to be setting a new system in my car, im going to be running the sundown sae-1200d for my 2 sa-8's, and the sax-100.4d for my mid's and highs, and of course doing the big 3, and running a yellow top optima for my starting batt. now my factory alternator is a 110 amp. i was planning on running a tsunami 2 fared capacitor, so my question is for my set-up and system will this be sufficient, or will i need to upgrade my alt, or just add a batt.?

[jcarter1885 995]

In the near future im going to be setting a new system in my car, im going to be running the sundown sae-1200d for my 2 sa-8's, and the sax-100.4d for my mid's and highs, and of course doing the big 3, and running a yellow top optima for my starting batt. now my factory alternator is a 110 amp. i was planning on running a tsunami 2 fared capacitor, so my question is for my set-up and system will this be sufficient, or will i need to upgrade my alt, or just add a batt.?

No capacitor, just make sure you do the Big 3 in 4 guage or bigger wire (most usually do it 1/0AWG) and an XS Power D3100 or Kinetik HC2400 with a voltmeter to watch your voltage and you should be good.

[viper167 1]

In the near future im going to be setting a new system in my car, im going to be running the sundown sae-1200d for my 2 sa-8's, and the sax-100.4d for my mid's and highs, and of course doing the big 3, and running a yellow top optima for my starting batt. now my factory alternator is a 110 amp. i was planning on running a tsunami 2 fared capacitor, so my question is for my set-up and system will this be sufficient, or will i need to upgrade my alt, or just add a batt.?

No capacitor, just make sure you do the Big 3 in 4 guage or bigger wire (most usually do it 1/0AWG) and an XS Power D3100 or Kinetik HC2400 with a voltmeter to watch your voltage and you should be good.

so my factory alt should be ok? dont need to upgrade it ?

[Impious 1,476]

First, get rid of the capacitor.

Second, none of us can predict the future. There are a wide multitude of factors that need to be considered; Your listening habits, music choice, system settings, the health of the current electrical system, type and severity of any problems if any do arise, etc etc. We can not troubleshoot a problem that does not yet exist.

You need to first install all of the equipment and see how your current electrical system handles it once installed before adding or upgrading any additional electrical system components (batteries, etc). If you do have issues, you can report back with the type of problem you are having, the severity of the problem, and what circumstances the problem occurs in. From there we can assist you in troubleshooting. You may install it all and realize you have no problems with your current electrical system, which will do nothing but save you time and money compared to trying to troubleshoot a problem that doesn't yet exist.

[viper167 1]

First, get rid of the capacitor.

Second, none of us can predict the future. There are a wide multitude of factors that need to be considered; Your listening habits, music choice, system settings, the health of the current electrical system, type and severity of any problems if any do arise, etc etc. We can not troubleshoot a problem that does not yet exist.

You need to first install all of the equipment and see how your current electrical system handles it once installed before adding or upgrading any additional electrical system components (batteries, etc). If you do have issues, you can report back with the type of problem you are having, the severity of the problem, and what circumstances the problem occurs in. From there we can assist you in troubleshooting. You may install it all and realize you have no problems with your current electrical system, which will do nothing but save you time and money compared to trying to troubleshoot a problem that doesn't yet exist.

i was not expecting anyone to predict the future for me i just like to be prepared, and a system that has over 1000 watts of power obviously is going to need some assistance other then the starting batt. so i was just asking out of my other 3 options what would be the best solution.

[thebiggmann12 14]

i run my 1600 watt amp on a 4 year old battery and a 7 year old alternator at full tilt with the big three done and nothing else. i drop to about 12.8 volts. i have my gains set to 1500 watts on my amp with a dmm. my lights dim a bit but not too bad. check and see how much ur alternator puts out...or at least tell us what kind of car you have.

[viper167 1]

is a 95 mazda millenia and i did say in my 1st post that my current fac. alt. gives out 110amp

Edited January 18, 2010 by ivan95m

[Impious 1,476]

i was not expecting anyone to predict the future for me i just like to be prepared, and a system that has over 1000 watts of power obviously is going to need some assistance other then the starting batt. so i was just asking out of my other 3 options what would be the best solution.

The best solution is the one that solves the problem most cost and time effectively. There is no best solution until there is a problem to be solved. You currently do not have a problem, therefore there is no best solution.

And yes, a "1000 watt system" can very easily be handled by a stock electrical system if the listening habits, music selection, and system settings do not create a situation where the amplifiers are putting an excessive strain on the electrical system and the stock electrical system is in strong functional condition. Again, it comes down to variables.

If you want to "plan ahead"....save enough back in your budget to replace the battery and alternator as that is worst-case scenario. But there's no sense is formulating an actual plan or spending any money until there is some problem we are trying to correct.

[thebiggmann12 14]

110 amps...do the big three, and add an extra battery in the back and u should be fine.

[viper167 1]

110 amps...do the big three, and add an extra battery in the back and u should be fine.

ok thank you

[thebiggmann12 14]

np

[Impious 1,476]

[thebiggmann12 14]

lol

[shizzzon 461]

seriously, i would do what Impious is saying.

The way you are wanting us to answer is gonna cause you to possibly go overkill for no reason.

It's not like if your stock electrical isn't strong enough, it's gonna fail in days.

Good visual aid is if your lights are dimming on every bass note at the volume level u like to jam at, you need to upgrade or turn it down which i doubt that will happen.

First thing to do is add an additional battery. this will react faster to current demands than an alt will.

However, you must keep an eye on the charging conditions and periodically check battery levels to ensure they are staying charged.

Without the use of a h.o. alt and a second battery in the mix, never let your lights dim!

If lights start to dim with 2 batts and stock alt, then that's double work the alt may need to do in the near future to charge back up if it's consistent.

Plenty of people run stock alts on systems higher than 10,000w but they do so in quick sessions(less than 1 minute) and use battery chargers afterwords or they run it without dropping voltage to their batts consistently which means they keep the average volume level low.

[CrownVic 15]

also if your still thinking of running a capacitor dont. I have the same one i got and i hooked it up to see if it would stop my dimming. Well the dimming was less but my voltage witch used to stay above 14v dropped to 12.5 at the batt. So after taking the time to mount it all nice like i'll be removing that waste of space tomorrow.

[Duran 387]

also if your still thinking of running a capacitor dont. I have the same one i got and i hooked it up to see if it would stop my dimming. Well the dimming was less but my voltage witch used to stay above 14v dropped to 12.5 at the batt. So after taking the time to mount it all nice like i'll be removing that waste of space tomorrow.

Because your capacitor was discharged after the first bass note, and your alternator had to recharge it.

[viper167 1]

also if your still thinking of running a capacitor dont. I have the same one i got and i hooked it up to see if it would stop my dimming. Well the dimming was less but my voltage witch used to stay above 14v dropped to 12.5 at the batt. So after taking the time to mount it all nice like i'll be removing that waste of space tomorrow.

good to know thank you!

[ShagggDiesel 25]

also if your still thinking of running a capacitor dont. I have the same one i got and i hooked it up to see if it would stop my dimming. Well the dimming was less but my voltage witch used to stay above 14v dropped to 12.5 at the batt. So after taking the time to mount it all nice like i'll be removing that waste of space tomorrow.

good to know thank you!

If you want to "plan ahead".. the most I would do is just do the big 3 upgrade with 1/0 and hook everything up and call it a day. See how that does you, and if it's not keeping up, then that's where you can start taking routes such as adding the extra battery and a higher OP alt. Personally, I think your stock electrical will hold up fine.. My first system was a 1000W memphis pushing 2 12" audiobahns, all off of the stock electrical, and 4 gauge power cable. It held up just fine (12.3v was about the lowest the voltage got). The battery was about 5 years old and the alt only put out about 80-100 amps. If you just want to take a cheap route to be prepared, the most effective thing to do, like I said earlier would be to do the big 3. It's a nice thing to already have done anyway, just in case you plan on having a bigger install in the future. The better flow of electricity you have from the alt to the bat, the easier it is for the alt to keep a steady charge on the battery.

[viper167 1]

will do thanks everyone