My power supply issues *Updated!*

[JohnHinerman 10]

Little update for anyone who has not lost interest yet....

I spoke to someone at XS Power today about my options. I explained my situation, and was told that the D1200 will provide more power than the Optima Red Top, however using the Red Top along with a D680 will provide more power than just a D1200. The larger XS batteries will not fit the vehicle correctly. Either too large, or the wrong orientation for the terminal polarity. XS was very honest with me saying that the Red Top + D680 would work very well since I already have the Red Top.

Since I don't have easy access to XS batteries, I grabbed a 20L-BS AGM power sport battery off the shelf which has similar dimensions to the D680 (although I'm sure it does not have as good of specs as the XS D680) and installed it along with the Red Top using some short 4 gauge runs from the 20L-BS directly to the Red Top under the hood. Early testing shows MUCH better results than just the Red Top. I have not done much testing yet, but I have noticed that the light dimming is not nearly as bad, and my radar detector voltage gauge is acting in a much more normal way, with no visible huge voltage drops as before, and no "High Volt" warnings either.I will do some more testing with my DMM to monitor voltage drop, but so far it is looking pretty promising.

Here is the setup...

This 20L-BS is rated at 275 CCA and 18 AH @ 10 Hours.

The Optima 9334R is rated at 1000 CA and 800 CCA. This theoretically gives me 1075 CCA and a guess of about 1300 CA. From what I can see, this combo provides more power than just about any available "Standard" battery option.

Here are a couple of pictures......

Again, the idea behind this was obtaining the most battery power that I can fit into the factory battery tray under the hood. As stated before, I really don't have any great options under the hood without fabricating a lot of bracketry for a new tray, and inside the truck is worse as far as room for a battery goes. I am hoping that this will get me by for a little while, or longer.

Although the upgraded 180 Amp alternator which I installed is better than the original 136 Amp, I still think I should have something like a Mechman or DC 250-270 Amp alternator, however the cost really doesn't fit into my budget right now.

If this setup proves to be dependable, I may at some point either replaced the 20L-BS with a XS D680, or even replace the Optima with a D1200 as well as the 20L-BS with a D680 which I think would be about the best setup I could put together with my mounting requirements

I know that this is probably pretty boring stuff for most of you guys out there. It is not as exciting as huge woofer builds or anything like that, but I hope some of you will take a look and let me know what you guys thinks.

Thanks again for your help, and I'll keep everyone updated.

[BobPencille 0]

looks like an interesting fix for now let us know how it turns out. id try that but i got even less room under the hood.

[JohnHinerman 10]

looks like an interesting fix for now let us know how it turns out. id try that but i got even less room under the hood.

The original battery which came with the truck is 12"x6.5x7.375 group 94r rated at 700cca, no info on CA. I just simply slide the Optima all the way to one side, and measured how much room I had left on the tray. I then grabbed my motorcycle / powersport catalog and found the most powerful battery (that was in stock) that would fit in the remaining space on the tray, and that is what I came up with. I am fortunate enough to have access to things like batteries, cable, connectors, etc without having to pay for everything, which makes it easier sometimes to do some building or invent a fix or problem solver.

There was also a 310 CCA power sport AGM battery, but it was something that is special order, and not stocked for me. I was kinda impressed on how much of an improvement that second little battery provided. I really was skeptical about its performance. So far so good.

What kind of vehicle do you have? They make these little AGM battery in very small sizes. Here is a link to some specs. You might be able to find something to help out. Being that they are small, you could theoretically mount it just about anywhere in the engine compartment.

http://www.napaecatalog.com/WebProject.asp?CodeId=7.5.5.21&Archival=1&BookCode=nps09flx#

Edited February 7, 2012 by jdblya

[JohnHinerman 10]

looks like an interesting fix for now let us know how it turns out. id try that but i got even less room under the hood.

BTW, lets hope that this is a "good to go - problem solved fix" lol

[Shogen 325]

you should be okay for a bit... but maybe scale down the system a bit

[JohnHinerman 10]

you should be okay for a bit... but maybe scale down the system a bit

Scale it down huh??.... I don't know how...

[j-roadtatts 1,129]

Alot will depend on your listening habits. From what you discribed in your other thread I recommended a second battery for immediate power demand. The 180amp alt should be doing fairly well at recovery. I think you are on the right track.

[j-roadtatts 1,129]

As for me I sunk the D1200 into the floor in my trunk. Possibly you could mount a batt tray under the truck for more reserve?

[JohnHinerman 10]

As for me I sunk the D1200 into the floor in my trunk. Possibly you could mount a batt tray under the truck for more reserve?

Thanks pretty awesome. Is that battery solely for your amplifiers?

[dbsupra 69]

Nice!

I would still have a few more grounds like I mentioned in the original thread. May help out as well.

Also, don't forget Ah is an important number, not just CA

[j-roadtatts 1,129]

As for me I sunk the D1200 into the floor in my trunk. Possibly you could mount a batt tray under the truck for more reserve?

Thanks pretty awesome. Is that battery solely for your amplifiers?

The D3400 under the hood and the D1200 are wired in parallel to produce more ampere hrs. I have two runs of 1/0 gauge wire ran from the front battery as to get as much current to the amplifers as possible. I have a fuse within 18" of each battery. Don't forget to do the big3. Hope this helps.

[TCAS 1]

I really dont know why you need a ton of juice for the set up you have. Im running a DD M3a and C2C and with the car I own, with a 90 amp alt, and a die hard platinum, it doesn't dim the lights at all. I have my amp set to the subs rms rating of the sub and while just playing a test tone at 50 hz, my alt is only putting out 60 amps.

When you listed all of the equipment in your last thread, you stated "the amplifiers are a Alpine PDX-F6 with two 30amp fuses and a PDX-M12 with four 25amp fuses." I doubt you would even see the current draw being close to the total potential of your amps. So I really think you are going a lil over kill on the power and batteries. Unless you are trying to go into spl comps where you will be clipping the hell out of the amp where it would need a lot more juice.

Even though you may have set your amps with a DD1, that dont mean that everything you listen to will not clip. Usually when you are clipping, the voltage will drop and hence why your truck is trying to keep up? The only time I even see a drop in voltage is when my amp is clipping hard. I would try to ask your dealership whats up with the alt first before trying to add a ton of batteries you dont need.

[CrownVic 15]

I think that using a battery that small is a easy solution, that alot of people don't think about.

[JohnHinerman 10]

I really dont know why you need a ton of juice for the set up you have. Im running a DD M3a and C2C and with the car I own, with a 90 amp alt, and a die hard platinum, it doesn't dim the lights at all. I have my amp set to the subs rms rating of the sub and while just playing a test tone at 50 hz, my alt is only putting out 60 amps.

When you listed all of the equipment in your last thread, you stated "the amplifiers are a Alpine PDX-F6 with two 30amp fuses and a PDX-M12 with four 25amp fuses." I doubt you would even see the current draw being close to the total potential of your amps. So I really think you are going a lil over kill on the power and batteries. Unless you are trying to go into spl comps where you will be clipping the hell out of the amp where it would need a lot more juice.

Even though you may have set your amps with a DD1, that dont mean that everything you listen to will not clip. Usually when you are clipping, the voltage will drop and hence why your truck is trying to keep up? The only time I even see a drop in voltage is when my amp is clipping hard. I would try to ask your dealership whats up with the alt first before trying to add a ton of batteries you dont need.

I know what you are saying, but I'm telling you what is going on. As I said, I'm not sure if it has something to do with the PCM control over the electrical system or what, but it is def pulling on the system. I'll try to see how much current the amplifiers are actually pulling when I have some time this weekend. This doesn't happen onl at full volume, and them amps are not clipping.

This truck has a lot of electronics in it, and I'm not surprised that it is pulling a lot of current to run everything, and I can tell you that the addition of the small battery has made a big difference in the stability of the electrical system while playing the sound system at higher levels.

[JohnHinerman 10]

I think that using a battery that small is a easy solution, that alot of people don't think about.

It actually did make a big difference in the stability of of the electrical system. So far I am happy with the increase in power it has added.