second battery or bigger alt

[82buick 0]

i have a duralast gold 1000ca 850cca 115 reserve its new about 1 1/2 months old. and a 90 amp alt want to get a second bat what should i get. any suggestions would be great!

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

an alternator provides the current, the battery just stores it,

get the alt

[mrray13 30]

what denim said..and to add to it...

if you add another source of drainage to that little alternator, you run the risk of prematurely ending it's life. if it's already straining to keep up, imagine how it will feel when you add a second battery.

do the alternator first, then a second battery.

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Tirefryr 1,742]

Acutally how about a little more information first. System components would help, such as amplifiers, cable size, fusing, etc. YOu should be easily able to support a 1000 watt system. What exactly makes you think it is the amp draining the battery and not another draw somewhere? It could very well be a wiring issue as well. YOu have to go through it all before you can be sure. Otherwise, you're still chasing a problem, possibly creating more, and wasting money.

[82buick 0]

Acutally how about a little more information first.  System components would help, such as amplifiers, cable size, fusing, etc.  YOu should be easily able to support a 1000 watt system.  What exactly makes you think it is the amp draining the battery and not another draw somewhere?  It could very well be a wiring issue as well.  YOu have to go through it all before you can be sure.  Otherwise, you're still chasing a problem, possibly creating more, and wasting money.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i did the big 3.does the wire that connects from the battery to the alt. always has current running through it?

[Tirefryr 1,742]

Acutally how about a little more information first.  System components would help, such as amplifiers, cable size, fusing, etc.  YOu should be easily able to support a 1000 watt system.  What exactly makes you think it is the amp draining the battery and not another draw somewhere?  It could very well be a wiring issue as well.  YOu have to go through it all before you can be sure.  Otherwise, you're still chasing a problem, possibly creating more, and wasting money.

i did the big 3.does the wire that connects from the battery to the alt. always has current running through it?

There will always be a voltage potential on that wire. YOu have the 12 volts coming into the alt through that cable when the alt is not on, then when it is on, you have higher voltage running back to the battery to charge it.

[82buick 0]

Acutally how about a little more information first.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

First thing I would do would be to get the electrical system properly tested. IT could just very well be that your battery was on it's last leg or a defect. NExt, I would upgrade you cable. 4 guage is probably only enough for the 800.2, let alone adding the 400.4. RF is notorious for putting out much more power than they rate, and it's always good to be on the safe side.

BUT, before you do all this, make sure you do NOT have a draw somewhere that is draining the batt while the car is off. This may be tricky to find, but it happens quite often and the first thing people do is replace the alt. Then it happens again, and they realize they just ended up wasting money.

Another thing I have seen is the alt itself actually causing a drain. It's not too common, but I've seen it a few times.

As long as you have the components tested, wiring checked, and everything is properly maintained, I really don't see you having too much trouble with one battery and a 90 amp alt.

[mrray13 30]

except that as far as i know the rf 800.2 wasn't designed to run at 1 ohm bridged. 4 ohm yes and maybe (evidently) it runs great at 1 ohm bridged, but i'd wager at 1 ohm it's pulling mucho current and could be causing the issue...

but then again, i might be wrong..lol..

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[PaulD 0]

first thing is to check you current draw .... get a cheap multimeter from walmart or whatever that has a 10 A (amp) slot for the red lead.

Take the fuse out of the wire going to the amps to disconnect the stereo from the cars electrical system for now. Take the negative battery lead off, then put the black (-) lead from the multi meter on the neg (-) battery terminal, now put the red (+) lead (that's plugged into the 10A slot) onto the neg (-) battery wire that you just removed from the battery. The multimeter will complete the circuit ..... if it reads very low, like .2 or less, put the lead into the slot that says 200mA. It should read no more than 10-20 mA.

If it reads more than that, or read to high to put into the 200 mA slot - then you have a current drain somewhere. Have someone watch/hold the multimeter while you pull the car fuses, one at a time. Once you find the circuit that is shorted, the current will drop. Then you know what circuit is bad. Look on the fuse box diagram and see what few components are connected in that circuit.

If the reading is very low, put the fuse back into the stereo power wire and do the same thing over again ... remember to start in the 10A slot (that's to prevent you from damaging the multimeter. If everything looks ok, then you have a battery/alternator problem. You should be able to go to autozone and have it checked out.

Edited July 19, 2006 by PaulD